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HOMEBREW Digest #2412
HOMEBREW Digest #2412 Tue 06 May 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:
Oak for Casks (Michael Newman)
POLAR WARE STAINLESS SPOON (Chris McAtee)
CIP for RIMS (The Holders)
Dominion Cup Competition (Jeff Hewit)
Recipe Request: TRAQUAIR House Ale Recipe (all Grain Please) (Scott Abene)
Re: Botulism ("Mark Ellis")
Re: SA Stock Ale (Brad Kazmer)
Invert Candi/Gelatin (eric fouch)
re: NA beer (bdebolt)
Franziskraner (Chris Webster)
1995 AOB/AHA Tax reports (Scott Abene)
50 Year old Info (Charles Burns)
Nitrogen, ("David R. Burley")
Re: Corn (Jeff Renner)
Re: Gelatin fining (Jeff Renner)
Re:U Flecka & Angela's Ashes (Alex Santic)
Clubs (Eamonn McKernan)
Hops Growing Question. (Jon Yusko)
homebrew alcohol content ("Nathan L. Kanous II")
Beer page (Kevin Kane)
Corn Grits vs Meal (DJBrew)
Immersion Chiller and Boil-Over (MCer1235)
Re: Broken Thermometer (RedlackC)
One solution for compressor cycling on your refrigerator (LINUSNLILA)
Homebrew potency (Randy Ricchi)
Enamel Kettles ("Curiouser and curiouser...")
Pressure Follies - Trial brew goes awry. Strange beer results. (Charles Rich)
re: seal on 5 gallon Gott cooler ("Robert Marshall")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 06:35:58 -0400
From: Michael Newman <MWNewman@compuserve.com>
Subject: Oak for Casks
As Graham Wheeler pointed out in HBD2407 it was not usual to use English
oak for casks in the UK.
E R Southby's Practical Brewing of 1895 says:
- --Casks are generally made of foreign oak, although in some country
districts where oak is abundant, the coopers and brewers occasionally use
English oak. This latter has to be sawn into staves, as the grain is not
straight enough for splitting. Foreign staves are all split, and then
roughly planed.--
- --The qualities of foreign oak staves used for casks are as follows:-
- --Stettin, which is the best quality of all, but is now very scarce.
Memmel, this is what is now generally used for the best quality.--
- --Odessa, Blumeza, and Riga are some of the other qualities.--
- --Vats should be made of English oak.--
I assume that English oak in this context is the species Quercus robar
(English Oak) or perhaps Quercus petraea (Sessile Oak) but I have no hard
evidence. What species the other types of oak consist in I have no idea.
Certainly Q. petraea and Q. robar grow throughout northern Europe.
Graham was right to say the English oak was rarely used to make casks but
it is important to remember that the term English oak can mean two things:
1. Oak grown in England
2. A tree of the species Q. robar
If the latter definition is used (which is the usual usage in the UK) then
casks made in England would quite often me made of foreign English oak (if
you see what I mean).
But if these various foreign oaks are in fact Q. robar and this is also
English oak why does English oak have to be sawn when foreign oak can be
split. Anyone?
Michael Newman
Warminster, UK
MWNewman@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MWNewman
Beer isn't the only thing in life; it's much more important than that.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 10:12:46 -0600
From: mcatee@cadvision.com (Chris McAtee)
Subject: POLAR WARE STAINLESS SPOON
I was given a SS spoon by POLAR WARE at a HWBTA trade show in Banff, Alberta.
This is an amazing machine! Very heavy duty, 21" long (whole inside length
of a Sanke keg), won't fall into your boil, and the spoon part fits into a
pint mason jar! Very good quality, not like some of the cheaper made in
India types. I'm not affiliated with Polar Ware, just a satisfied customer!
They are probably expensive but worth it!
Chris McAtee
Calgary, Alberta
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 May 1997 12:28:22 -0700
From: The Holders <zymie@m4.sprynet.com>
Subject: CIP for RIMS
Does anyone have any recommendations for a CIP solution for use in a
RIMS with copper piping and Brass solenoid valves?
Something readily available would be preferred to an industrial CIP
solution.
TIA,
Wayne Holder
Zymico(tm)
Long Beach CA
"Is that 1 tsp, or 1 Tbs of spit?"
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/zymie
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 21:18:14 -0400
From: Jeff Hewit <jhewit@erols.com>
Subject: Dominion Cup Competition
The James River Homebrewers Club is accepting entries for the Dominion Cup
Homebrew Competition now thru May 31, 1997. Judging will take place on June
7th, 1997 at the Legend Brewing Company in Richmond, Virginia. The
Competition is sanctioned by the American Homebrew Association and all
Homebrewers are invited to enter. Entries will be judged in ten style
categories with a ribbon and merchandise prize awarded to Best of Category
winners. The Best of Show winner will also receive an engraved Dominion Cup.
CONTACT: Lindsay Weiford, Competition Coordinator at (804)537-5228, Leave
message with name and address.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 04 May 1997 20:58:17 -0500
From: Scott Abene <skotrat@wwa.com>
Subject: Recipe Request: TRAQUAIR House Ale Recipe (all Grain Please)
Hi all,
My Homebrew grubbing neighbor from down the street finally bought me a beer
today...
It was a TRAQUAIR House Ale (made by the oldest brewery in Scotland)
Has anybody tried to make this brew?
Anybody got a good all-grain recipe for it?
Let me know.
-Scott "Bow Down to Plaid... It is the Only Way!" Abene
################################################################
# ThE-HoMe-BrEw-RaT #
# Scott Abene <skotrat@wwa.com> #
# http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat (the Homebrew "Beer Slut" page) #
# OR #
# http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/Brew-Rat-Chat/ (Brew-Rat-Chat) #
# "Get off your dead ass and brew" #
# "If beer is liquid bread, maybe bread is solid beer" #
################################################################
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 13:41:10 +1000
From: "Mark Ellis" <mellis@gribbles.com.au>
Subject: Re: Botulism
Hi Peoples,
I just thought that I would throw in my 2 cents worth as I work for a
Pathology company and I went and had a chat with one of our
microbiologists. Anyway, the main points he outlined was:
1. Clostidium bacterias are anaerobic, Yeast is essentially aerobic.
Therefore in a normal prepared wort, which should be highly aerated, the
Clostridium will die off as they cannot live in a oxygen rich environment.
Basically, our friend and foe here are at exact opposite ends of the scale.
2. Clostridiums are heat sensitive. Optimum temp is in the region of
35C.Raising to anything above 45C would spell big trouble for this
bacterias life expectancy.
There be my 2 cents worth.
Mark Ellis
mellis@gribbles.com.au
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 00:56:42 -0500 (CDT)
From: Brad Kazmer <kazmerbn@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
Subject: Re: SA Stock Ale
Thanks to all for help in designing a recipe for Sam Adams Stock Ale
Here's a summary of the information received:
Beer: SA Boston Ale
Malts: 2-row Klages/Harrington, Caramel 60L.
Hops: Saaz, Fuggles, Goldings
Yeast: Ale
Flavor Characteristics: Very spicy and herbal aroma balanced by malty and
sweet finish, fruity.
Color: Deep Red-Amber
Alcohol by Wt: 3.9%
OG: 1.053/13.31
Special/Unique Ingredients & Procedures: "Stock Ale" - It begins with a
warm ale fermentation, but it's krausened and aged at cooler temperatures.
Dry hopped with Goldings
Maximum Aging: 20 -30 days
7.5 # Alexander's light malt extract (they use only 2 row
klages/harrington from Great Western malting)
.75 # caramel malt 60L
.25 # malto dextrin powder (for body)
1.5 oz. Fuggle (6% alpha)-60 minutes
.5 oz. Saaz (3% alpha) -20 min.
1 oz. East Kent Golding 5 min.
1 oz. Saaz 5 min.
.5 oz. Fuggle 5 min.
Wyeast # 1338 European (for the malty, sweet finish)
Steep grain with 1.5 gal soft at 150F for 30 minutes in grain bag, strain
with 1 gallon 170F water. Bring to boil, slide pot off heat & add extract &
maltodextrin. Add .25 tsp. Irish moss if you have it. Stir. Return to
heat, add boiling hops at first boil, start timer for 60 minutes. When 20
minutes remain, add second hop & boil 15 more minutes. At 5 minutes
remaining add EKG, Saaz, & Fuggle. If experience tells you to add more
finishing hops, do so. Remember this is your beer and I'm making an
educated guess!! Strain out hops, cool with wort chiller or ice bath, add
to cold water in fermenter and pitch Wyeast 1338 at 75F (Remember to make a
pint or quart starter for best results!). Ferment at 65F until done, bottle
and carbonate (at room temp) for another week, then cold condition, in your
fridge, for several weeks before consuming.
There's a recipe from a homebrew club in Maryland which can be found on
their website (I don't have the address).
Thanks to all
Brad
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
| '|E Brad Kazmer |
| # kazmerbn@vuse.vanderbilt.edu |
| # |
| _#_ "Mister, I ain't a boy, no I'm a man, |
| ( # ) and I believe in the promised land" |
| / O \ |
| ( O ) -Bruce Springsteen, |
| ` ----- The Promised Land. |
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 07:53:27 -0500 (EST)
From: eric fouch <S=fouch%G=eric%DDA=ID=STC021.efouch%0004972576@mcimail.com>
Subject: Invert Candi/Gelatin
- --Boundary (ID i.g+01I_IIEXO5,ERW9-34Q4.ODGI2IG)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
- -----------------------------
Application message id: STC010 970505084916675371
Posted date: MON MAY 05, 1997 4:49 am GMT
Importance: Normal
Grade of Delivery: Normal
- -----------------------------
- --Boundary (ID i.g+01I_IIEXO5,ERW9-34Q4.ODGI2IG)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Description: 7 BIT ASCII
Date: Monday, 5 May 1997 8:46am ET
To: STC012.HOMEBRE3@STC010.SNADS
From: Eric.Fouch@STC001
Subject: Invert Candi/Gelatin
In-Reply-To: The letter of Monday, 5 May 1997 3:13am ET
HBD-
For my "Bastard Belgian Ale" I prepared an "invert candi sugar": I cooked
2 cups of cane sugar, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/4 cup water and 1 tsp 10% H3PO4
to 150 C (half way between soft crack and hard crack on a candy thermometre).
I tried two batches, one I dropped (carefully) into cold water, one poured
onto a cookie sheet heavily dusted with powdered sugar. (The powdered sugar
method was a little less messy.)
Anyway, the resultant substance had a wonderful tang to it, and I used a
pound of it in my "BBA". Did I make anything besides slightly acidified
sucrose? I was hoping to perhaps create some isomerized flavour compounds.
I used Belgian Strong Ale Wyeast 1388. Anybody used it before? I haven't
found any references to this yeast anywhere.
I always use gelatin (about a tsp. in a cup of boiled, HOT water) in the
secondary (sometimes the primary with no racking) and I get very clear beer,
and compleat carbonization in the bottle in about two - three weeks. I also
have noticed substantially less stuff in the bottom of my bottles.
Cheer
Eric Fouch
Efouch@steelcase.com
Bent Dick YactoBrewery
Kentwood, MI
- --Boundary (ID i.g+01I_IIEXO5,ERW9-34Q4.ODGI2IG)--
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 08:15:43 -0500
From: bdebolt@dow.com
Subject: re: NA beer
On Friday Chas Peterson asks about alcohol content in NA beer.
First to relay my own experience, which was sent to the digest about two
years ago (search for more details).
I tried a similar technique, heating beer to about 180F for 15 minutes,
then drank it with no noticeable alcohol affect. To really test out how
well this worked I then heated/boiled beer for various times (without
being concerned about flavor) and measured the ethanol directly by gas
chromatography.
Basically you need to drive off about 30% of the volume of your beer
before you will get down below 1.0%. In order to really drop the
alcohol you must remove a certain amount of water with it. Heating
(without boiling) will lower the alcohol, but not as low as I assume you
want. If you could heat it under a vacuum and boil at lower
temperatures you cold minimize some of the negative effects, but you
might get arrested for operating a still -).
I'm not aware of any cheap way to measure ethanol content accurately. I
had access to a gas chromatograph so that's what I used. Good luck.
Bruce DeBolt
bdebolt@dow.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 09:36:21
From: Chris Webster <Chris_Webster@meridianvat.com>
Subject: Franziskraner
Does anyone have a similar recipe to the German(?) beer Franziskraner?
Please email privately. Thanks
Chris W
chris_webster@meridianvat.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 09:25:12 -0500
From: Scott Abene <skotrat@wwa.com>
Subject: 1995 AOB/AHA Tax reports
Hi All,
I have finally gotten to scanning and placing in Zip format the AOB/AHA 1995
Non-profit Org Tax reports and they should be available as a Zip file on my
www site (http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/aob-aha-666/) as of Thursday morning.
Special thanks to Jim Liddil who took the time almost 2 months ago to mail
this info to me. Sorry for the delay Jim.. I had four new websites to put up
for work and they pay me..
If anything I think this information is Interesting.
C'ya!
-Scott
################################################################
# ThE-HoMe-BrEw-RaT #
# Scott Abene <skotrat@wwa.com> #
# http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat (the Homebrew "Beer Slut" page) #
# OR #
# http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/Brew-Rat-Chat/ (Brew-Rat-Chat) #
# "Get off your dead ass and brew" #
# "If beer is liquid bread, maybe bread is solid beer" #
################################################################
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 97 08:45 PDT
From: cburns@egusd.k12.ca.us (Charles Burns)
Subject: 50 Year old Info
Futher discussions of malt specifications by Russ B and Dave B in hbd#2411
point out the basic reasons behind my less than scientific experiments:
>Russ Brodeur asks:
>>Does anyone out there have any information to share regarding the
>>proteolytic enzyme content of various malts, both pale and not-so pale??
>
>Dave B responds (in part):
>DeClerk (50 yr old info) says the proteolytic content of Pale Ale Malts
>(that is British Pale Malts in those days ) is about 60% of the
>Contintental (lager,pils) Pale malts. I am not sure how valid this is
>today.
>
Whine mode on...
How good (accurate and useful) is 50 year old information? Granted,
fundamental biologic realities haven't changed much over time but certainly
agricultural processes have and certainly malting technology has. Isn't it
time for someone to redo the DeClerk studies and publish the results? I'd
bet there are a **bunch** of people that would gladly pay for current,
accurate information.
Whine mode off,
CharlEY B (spelled with an EY and last initial B in N. Cal)
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Burns, Director, Information Systems
Elk Grove Unified School District
cburns@egusd.k12.ca.us, http://www.egusd.k12.ca.us
916-686-7710 (voice), 916-686-4451 (fax)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 11:50:18 -0400
From: "David R. Burley" <Dave_Burley@compuserve.com>
Subject: Nitrogen,
Brewsters:
Further on the nitrogen post, most of the posts were correct - a few missed
the point. I'm going to summarize the correct ones and add some new stuff
all in one place, so it will be easier to understand how it all fits
together.
Henry's law points out that the solubility of any gas is dependent upon the
pressure of that gas and INDEPENDENT of the other gas pressures.
Translated that means that higher nitrogen pressures will not affect CO2
solubility and vice versa.
Remember all of this Henry's law stuff is AT EQUILIBRIUM. Which takes a
looong time to get to - like infinity in theory - but in a practical world
depends on the gas and other stuff and can occur rapidly or slowly.
Luckily for us CO2 equilibrates slowly and explains why we can have bubbles
in our beer and deliver a beer without all foam. The rate at which CO2
comes to practical equilibrium is such that it requires about a day. And is
dependent on lots of things like physical agitation, temperature and the
surfactant content of your beer - i.e. the soluble protein and other things
which stabilize the CO2. ( For you skeptics, think about bottled water
versus beer) Beer will go flat in about a day if the CO2 in the head is
replaced with nitrogen or air, since the CO2 comes out of the beer
attempting to bring the CO2 pressure back to the pressure at which it is in
equilibrium with the CO2 dissolved in the beer. If the headspace is large (
like your room) the CO2 keeps on coming out and can never come to
equilibrium. If the headspace is small like the headspace in a bottle
which has been opened, some of the liquid removed and then resealed ( e.g.
a plastic twist top coke bottle), CO2 will come out, reducing the condition
of the carbonated liquid in the bottle until it comes to a new equilibrium
at a lower pressure than before it was opened. This is because the amount
of CO2 is limited by what was dissolved in the liquid and the small amount
in the original headspace .
If you want to use a mixture of nitrogen and CO2 the mixture ratio should
calculate out such that, at delivery pressure, the partial pressure of the
CO2 should be about 5-10 PSIG in the headspace. So if you are delivering a
long way through a narrow diameter hose and have a headspace total pressure
of 20 psig, the mix should be between 30/70 CO2/N2 and 50/50 CO2/N2. I
doubt most homebrewers will need to do this as they can use the small 5#
cylinder of CO2 and can carry this, a cooler to hold ice and the keg to the
consumption site.
Now the Stout head is an entirely different issue as a special tip on the
delivery spout is used to force air or nitrogen into the FOAM - not the
beer. ( Called a "sparkler" in some places) The idea is that air or
nitrogen is not very soluble in the beer ( about 1/100 that of CO2) and
once it "breaks through" into the bubbles, by the mechanical action of the
sparkler, it will not escape as quickly as CO2 which can dissolve in the
beer in the bubble wall and escape. The nitrogen stays in the bubble and
gives that long lasting silky head and flat beer that Guiness and other
stouts are famous for.
- ----------------------------------------------------------
Chas Peterson says
>I recently was requested by a friend who cannot have alcohol to make a
">no-alcohol" beer. In reading the contributions to THE BREWERY on this
>Subject, I was able to take a case of dissappointing IPA, heat it to 180
for
>15 minutes, and then force cool, rack to a keg, and force carbonate.
Chas. You did NOT remove the alcohol from the beer by this method. You
may have pasteurized it. If your friend is a recovering alcohlic do NOT
serve this to him under ANY circumstances. So-called non-alcohol beer
available commercially still has some alcohol in it. You cannot make it
without special equipment that involves membrane exchange or other physical
method to remove most ( but not all) of the alcohol.
You said:
>The last thing I want to do is trigger some sort of relapse....
> Now I drank a pint of this stuff
>on a completely empty stomach yesterday, and didn't feel any significant
>effects of the residual alcohol.
I have read and heard from friends and employees who are recovering
alcoholics, that alcoholics cannot take even small quantities of alcohol
without triggering a relapse (e.g. they need alcohol free mouthwash,etc),
so unless your friend knows he can drink "non-alcohol" beer safely (which
he probably cannot) do not try to serve him any beer - commercial or
otherwise, no matter how "safe" the beer may appear to be to you. You will
both regret it.
Serve him some good strong Melita coffee black or with real cream and he
will thank you. Today and tomorrow.
- -------------------------------------------------------------
Keep on brewin'
Dave Burley
Kinnelon, NJ 07405
103164.3202@compuserve.com
Dave_Burley@compuserve.com
Voice e-mail OK
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 12:08:19 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Corn
In Homebrew Digest #2411 (May 05, 1997), "David R. Burley"
<Dave_Burley@compuserve.com> writes:
> Darren Gaylor says:
>
>>I .. want to try a double mash with
>>A non-gelatanized corn adjunt. The bulk food section of our grocery
>>Store carries both corn meal and grits. Which would be better
>>For brewing purposes?
>
>I always use grits as you have less chance to plug up in the lautering step
>since grits are larger than cornmeal in most cases. Also Grits are white
>corn and most corn meal is yellow ( although the white is available). I
>cook the grits in water until they thicken, add cold water to bring the
>temperature down to about 150F and add water and the grist to bring it down
>to the strike temperature. Take it through all the holds 122F, 135F and
>155-158F. I also make a goods mash on occasion in which 10-15% of the
>malt is added after cooling and a quick mash is carried out on the adjunct
>to reduce its viscosity. Which method you use is determined by the amount
>and type of adjunct added. I use this method with cream of wheat and rice
>or pearl barley (chipped to a small size in my mill before cooking) also.
>I have never tried these, but assume the "instant" cereals are
>pre-gelatinized by heat or treated chemically.
Daren, don't limit yourself to lawnmower beer. Brew to a gravity of
1.048+, keep the corn to 20-25%, and hop to 30-35 IBUs with noble hops for
flavor and aroma, especially with first wort hopping (FWH) and you've got
yourself a Classic American Pilsner. See my article in Brewing Techniques
, Sept/Oct'95 and the cover article in the new issue of Zymurgy for
details. Brew yourself an American classic!
I agree with the suggestion of using grits, although I've used cornmeal,
too, and only noticed that I got a tablespoon or so under the picoBrewing
Systems brand slotted false bottom. No clogging.
A few other points, however. Grits do come in yellow. I'm not sure what
color brewers grits are, but when I ordered Briess grits through a brewing
supplier, thinking Briess would carry brewers grits (I found out later they
don't), I got a 50 lbs. bag of "Insta Grains (R) IYCG Yellow Corn Grit
(Instantized)" from Briess' food division. I called customer service and
the rep wasn't sure if "instantized" meant that they were fully gelatinized
and could be added straight to the mash or not, so she checked and called
back to say they were and could be. I since have become suspicious that
they should be cooked a little while. I have tried cooking them for about
five minutes as breakfast grits (can you say "y'awl?"). They cooked fine,
but I noticed a kind of roast corn flavor. It was pleasant, but unusual.
I suspect it came from whatever precooking, probably steaming, they used to
"instantize" the grits. I haven't detected this as any off flavor in a
dark beer using them at 20%, and my Classic American Pilsner with 22%
grits, where any off flavor would be very noticeable, is still lagering,
but there was no such flavor in the wort.
At any rate, I cooked these for brewing just as I would raw grits since I
wanted to duplicate turn of the century technique from Wahl and Henius (2nd
edition, 1902, pp. 716-717, available on-line thanks to Spencer Thomas at:
http://hubris.engin.umich.edu:8080/Wahl/
Wahl and Henius recommend boiling corn grits for 75 minutes with malt (45
for corn meal), with 30% as much malt as corn, which works out to 5
oz.malt/lb. corn. They suggest a mash-in and 15 minute rest at 100F to
solubolize enzymes, then a rapid boost to 158 with a 30 minute rest, then a
rapid boost to boil. Use plenty of water - they say one barrel (31 gal)
per 100 lbs material, which is roughly 5 cups/lb. I have had good luck
with this. You could pressure cook this for less time, as I have, or even
more for more Maillard reactions. For rice (but who would want this for a
CAP?, but maybe a good choice for lawnmower beer), they recommend 25% malt,
or 4 oz./lb rice, and more water - one barrel per 75 lbs. material, or
roughly 6-1/2 cups water per lbs rice/malt.
BTW, I can't imagine that processors gelatinize cereals with chemicals.
Steaming is the usual and most obvious method.
Jeff
-=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner@umich.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 12:14:59 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Gelatin fining
In Homebrew Digest #2411 (May 05, 1997), George_De_Piro@berlex.com (George
De Piro) wrote:
> Somebody (sorry, can't remember who) asked if their would be enough
> yeast left in suspension to carbonate the beer after gelatin fining.
>
> In my case, the beer is a lager and has been at 33F (0.5C) for 2
> months, and is remarkably clear. If I wanted to bottle condition it,
> I would add a fresh dose of yeast. It may carbonate without the extra
> yeast, but it would take a long time (and maybe not work at all).
My experience has been that it works just fine with the original yeast,
with a 3 month lagered Bock in one case. I did make sure that I sucked up
a little yeast from the bottom of the lagering carboy, not that I could
easily have avoided it. They carbonate normally, with a *very* thin layer
of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. The Bock took a BOS.
Jeff
-=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner@umich.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 12:35:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alex Santic <alex@salley.com>
Subject: Re:U Flecka & Angela's Ashes
kathy <kbooth@scnc.waverly.k12.mi.us> wrote:
>On another subject, I'm reading "Angela's Ashes" the Pulitizer Prize and
>National Book Award winner. Da is an Irishman with the "cravings". It
>ought to be required reading for us beer enthusiasts.
For the record, Angela's Ashes is by Frank McCourt. Frank used to teach at
Stuyvesant High School, a special math & science public high school in
New York City. He was my creative writing teacher, and one of the coolest
and most beloved teachers in the school.
Throughout his time at Stuy, he used to tell his students stories about
growing up poor in Limerick, Ireland. After his retirement, these
biographical and autobiographical snippets developed into a book.
Angela's Ashes quickly hit the New York Times best-seller list and then
won the Pulitzer Prize for biography a few weeks ago.
Alex Santic
NYC
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 13:22:28 -0400
From: Eamonn McKernan <eamonn@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Clubs
A few people have been asking about what homebrew club activities
are effective and what aren't. I can offer one datapoint, but we're more
of an organisation than a club.
The Canadian Amateur Brewers Association boasts a membership of
several hundred brewers. For the type of activities that we stage, this
number represents basically a minimum size. Our major activities are
typically day long events with multiple speakers and brewery tours.
Smaller groups would find this harder I presume. But at least the brewery
tours should be workable. We are restarting our flavour perception
seminars soon. We expect a fairly strong demand. Most homebrewers would be
interested in how to identify and diagnose problems in their beer.
Finding someone with the technical knowledge to do this properly might be
difficult for small clubs, but getting a few members to deliberately
reproduce a few types of faults (hot ferment, over use of adjuncts,
infections... other suggestions...?) and get a panel of judges to taste
the beers would likely draw a good number of people.
As for things that don't work, we have had practically no
response to our brew buddy program (partnering beginners with advanced
homebrewers) or to our brew doctor program (evaluating/diagnosing
homebrew sent in). Since they're both free to members, I can confidently
state that cost is clearly not an issue here.
In sum, as a small national organisation CABA has found that
staging large events draws a strong response, and offering personalised
services is not successful. I bet the opposite is true for local clubs.
I hope this is the type of response you were looking for,
Cheers,
Eamonn McKernan
CABA secretary
eamonn@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca
------------------------------
Date: 05 May 97 13:36:10 EDT
From: JONY@rsa.cirrus.com (Jon Yusko)
Subject: Hops Growing Question.
My hop plants are now about 1 1/2 feet high and I need to create a
trellis for them to grow upward. I am not sure what type of wire,
string, etc to use that won't damage the vine but will also sustain
the weight of the heavy vines. I talked to a local gardening rep,
and he said not to use wire since it will cut into vines. True?
Any feedback or previous experience would be appreciated.
mmmm.. fresh Chinook cones!
-Jon.
- -----------------
Jon Yusko
jony@rsa.cirrus.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 14:40:10 -0400
From: "Nathan L. Kanous II" <nkanous@tir.com>
Subject: homebrew alcohol content
Greetings. I think Domenick Venezia came closest with his:
1. your homebrew is generally stronger than the commercial beers you are
comparing it against or
2. the homebrew contains some other nutrient or substance that increases
your alcohol uptake rate or
3. The situations under which you drink commercial versus home brews
affects the way that alcohol affects you. For example, homebrews are
often drank alone without food.
4. You are drinking the wrong commercial brews.
>From Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (no, I
know it isn't a pharmacokinetics text, but Applied Pharmacokinetics
doesn't discuss ethanol), we find "ethanol is rapidly absorbed from
the stomach, small intestine, and colon". Watch out for those vodka
enemas. They go on to state "many factors modify the absorption of
ethanol from the stomach. At first absorption is rapid, but then it
decreases to a very slow rate even though the gastric concentration
is still high. If the emptying of the stomach is delayed, for example
by the presence of food, the subsequent absorption of ethanol from the
instestine will also be delayed. Absorption from the small intestine
is exremely rapid and complete, and it is largely independent of the
presence of food in the stomach or intestine. Indeed, the time of
gastric emptying and, consequently, of the onset of the phase of
extremely rapid intestinal absorption may well be the prime factor
that determines the wide variety of rates of absorption of ingested
ethanol that is seen in different individuals and under different
conditions."
So, if you hit up Burger King before you drink budmilloors, you delay
gastric emptying (that's why a high fat breakfast took farmers through
the entire day) and delay the absorption of alcohol (rate of absorption,
not extent). However, if you and your friends drink homebrew on an
empty stomach, absorption occurs much more quickly due to the fast
transit into the small intestine.
TTFN.
Nathan in Frankenmuth, MI
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 12:23:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kevin Kane <kkane@uidaho.edu>
Subject: Beer page
For those of you who're looking for info on brewpubs around the
U.S. and the world, check out Eric Wooten's Beer and Homebrewing Page.
The URL is
http://pekkel.uthscsa.edu/beer.html
Eric has a fairly comprehensive list, but if you know of a place
that's not on the list, do him a favor and send a _short_ review of your
favorite brewpub (i.e. most notable styles and what you liked). Since
others use this info, be sure that the address and phone number for the
pub are correct. Eric assumes that you have the right data.
There's a great deal of info on homebrewing on that page as well,
including recipes and guidelines for homebrew. Many thanks, Eric!
-Kevin
Kevin M. Kane, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
University of Idaho
Moscow, ID 83844
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 16:07:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: DJBrew@aol.com
Subject: Corn Grits vs Meal
Corn Grits that you buy at the store are white corn but it is not just ground
up corn. These are Hominy Grits which means they were processed with lye
during there manufacture. These can been be used for brewing but will give a
different flavor than corn. They corn GRITS that are used by the macros is
yellow and the term grits is just refering to the size which is about half
the size of a BB. I would suggest looking for course corn meal or course
polenta. Polenta is corn meal but it is generaly larger than meal because it
is cooked with water to make a mush. Most corn meal in the store is used more
like flour to make bread so it needs to be finer.
Hope this helps,
Dan Soboti
DJBrew@Aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 17:50:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: MCer1235@aol.com
Subject: Immersion Chiller and Boil-Over
Yesterday I used my new coverted 15.5gl kettle for the first time and I had a
problem.
Everything was fine until I put in my immersion chiller. I left to do
something else and my 8gl batch boiled over. The chiller had some oxidation
on it, but I thought that it would not be a big deal.
What could have caused it?
Thanks in advance,
Rene'
P.S. Can anyone tell me which method is better for lautering small mashes;
Phil's Phalse Bottom, EZ Masher or the Zapap (sp?) method? I think private
email would be best.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:45:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: RedlackC@aol.com
Subject: Re: Broken Thermometer
Thank you all who replied to me in regards to my thermometer that broke in
my mash. Based on the info that I received I've decided to press forth with
the batch.
The responses were as follows:
Drank beer w/ same problem w/ no ill effects - 1
Pitched beer w/ same problem - 1
Red stuff is wax or safe epoxy - 2
Beads are iron & NOT lead - 2
Lead soluble in acids (wort) - 2
After checking the "lead" beads w/ a magnet they do not appear to be lead
after all, but rather some other sort of metal which is attracted to magnet.
At least now I can breathe a sigh of relief. There's nothing worse than
having to pour out 5 gallons of delicious malted beverage.
Thanks again,
Chris Redlack
Rockville, MD
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:53:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: LINUSNLILA@aol.com
Subject: One solution for compressor cycling on your refrigerator
Hey Y'all
I have one solution for a refrigerator temperature controller that cycles on
and off too often. I reasoned that my beer refrigerator temperature
controller was more "interested" in controlling the temperature of the
liquids in the fridge, rather than the temp of the air in the fridge. After
all, the specific heat of air is magnitudes lower than that of water, so the
hot air that is exchanged when you open the door to see how your beer is
doing, which I do a lot more than is necessary, is not really enough to raise
the temp of the liquids in the fridge by much. So what I did with my temp
controller, which can be set for a narrow "deadband", is immerse the
thermocouple (probe) in a 12 oz mason jar of water. The temperature of the
12 oz mason jar of water changes at about the same rate as any bottled beer I
have in the fridge, so it won't freeze, but not nearly as quickly as the air
temp in the fridge, so the compressor doesn't have to work as hard. It works,
too; it keeps the water temp +/-2 degrees F of the setpoint, without cycling
very much.
Hope this helps someone else!
Cheers,
Linus Hall
Nashville, TN
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 21:06:39 -0400
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi@ccisd.k12.mi.us>
Subject: Homebrew potency
Someone asked last week why homebrew seemed to more quickly intoxicate a
person than budmilloor type beers. I have a few theories. 1)Homebrewed ales
are fermented at higher temps than mega lagers, and therefore probably have
a larger percentage of higher alcohols in their makeup. While I don't
claim to be an authority, I believe higher alcohols are more toxic than
ethanol, and therefore more intoxicating. 2) Many homebrews are heavily
hopped, and hops supposedly have a sedative like-property. 3)Homebrews are
more flavorful than budmilloor-type beers, and this stronger flavor can
cause a non-homebrewing drinker (we homebrewers know better!) to think they
are drinking something stronger, so you get a kind of placebo effect.
R.B.Ricchi
"Should anyone thirst, let them come unto me and drink"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:11:25 -0700
From: "Curiouser and curiouser..." <RUDERMAN@Spark.esca.com>
Subject: Enamel Kettles
Hi all,
I've been brewing with an enamel pot for the last 3 or 4 years. I use this
pot to heat water and to boil wort (I use a Gott cooler to mash the grains).
Lately, I have notices that when I am heating water for the mash, a strong
burned malt aroma seems to be coming from the pot. The pot does not look too
dirty (at least visibly) and I can not see any burned in bits of wort on the
floor of the kettle.
I know I am not supposed to use soaps with the pots for cleaning (I have
been using a pad for teflon pots without soap for cleanings), but what
recommendations do people have for cleaning enamel pots? Ideally, I'd like
to be able to get rid of the buring aromas. Do those who use stainless steel
kettles run into this problem as well (if so how do you remedy it)?
Thanks in advance for your answers,
Robert Ruderman
(ruderman@esca.com)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:11:34 -0700
From: Charles Rich <CharlesR@saros.com>
Subject: Pressure Follies - Trial brew goes awry. Strange beer results.
Greetings HBD'ers,
Just a datapoint. This weekend I took a whack at pressure cooking first
runnings (promising), pressure bittering at high temps (playing with
fire), and out of consideration for Charlies Burns' recent dismal
results with protein rests, over-saccharification and decocting(!) with
ale malt, I left out the protein rest to revisit the difference. If he
can wreck his beer at my encouraging, I can wreck one too :-)
I chose a Best Bitter (BJCP 4b) because it wants a malty note for =
style,
and might be more forgiving of heavier hopping. for a ten gallon (39 l)
batch I used:
12 lbs British 2-row pale ale (26 kg)
3 lbs Belgian Munich (6.6 kg)
3/4 lbs Belgian Biscuit (1.7 kg)
3/4 lbs British Crystal (~80L) (1.7 kg) for color (unnecessary,
see below)=20
I would normally have added more Crystal of a lighter color for caramel
flavor but I anticipated forming my own such flavors in p-cooking the
first runnings. I also would normally have added 1 lb (2.2 kg) of =
flaked
corn and 1 lb flaked wheat, but left them out to keep the protein
picture simple, although the Munich contributes a bunch.
I mashed at 154F (68C) with recirculation, for forty minutes and let =
the
temp ramp up to 162F (74C) over another 40-minutes to finish. I don't
expect any significant difference due to proteins. Charlie B.s =
problem's
earlier were from too much beta-amylase activity, but I wanted to
revisit the dextrin body vs. protein body question he implied. Won't
know until ferment is finished.=20
So far, so good. I drew 2-1/2 gals (9.5 l) of 1070 first runnings and
put them in the p-cooker for a forty minute cook at 250F (121C). For
pressure bittering, my rough -swag- calculations indicated 1/8 oz =
(3.5g)
of 7.0 aa. hops for the ten gallon batch but I couldn't believe it. I
meant to add a scant 1/4 oz (7g) Irish Northdown, since the wort was
heavy too, but instead, misread the scale and used 1/2 oz (15g). Big
mistake.
In a much earlier post Charlie Scandrett had mentioned that mega =
brewers
can accomplish full alpha-isomerization in only two minutes at 284F
(140C). I assumed that if they used a normal charge of bittering hops
(I had to start somewhere) for 2 minutes at 284F, since I would boil at
250F for forty, that 1/8 - 1/4 oz would get me near the ballpark if not
in it. I collected the remaining wort and let it come to boil with a
first wort hopping with Fuggle and EKG while the first part p-cooked.
After pressure cooking it for forty minutes the wort was brilliantly
transparent and ruby-brown. I found in it clumps of hot break the size
of oysters. It was quite bitter *but with no hop flavor*. The
malty/caramel flavor was prominent and almost picquant, very well
developed. The bitterness stood apart from it with no flavor
integration. I will do this again (and probably again and again) but =
at
either a lower temp like 222-238F (105-114C) or for shorter times. =
This
will probably just have to be arrived at with experience, and should
vary with beer style.
As it turned out 1/8 - 1/4 oz (for ten gallons!) would have been about
right, but my real objection to the process is that the resulting
bitterness is devoid of flavor. This is a case where mega brewers
simply have a different agenda and the cost savings for a home brewer,
IMHO, aren't worth screwing up flavor and well known bittering behavior
for. After adding this portion to the FWH things tasted better but
still lacked dimension in the bittering. Since I had to boil for SMM
evaporation and hop flavoring, I made little 1/2 oz additions every 20
minutes to work in some flavor. The result is overly bitter, I'd guess
60-80 IBU, the malt flavor swells later in the taste and is not
objectionable but surprising. I would subdue it next time by cooking
for 30 minutes at 232F (111C) and hope to keep it better integrated =
with
other flavors. I won't bother to pressure hop again, except as a =
stunt.
I'm fermenting this a few degrees higher than normal to develop more
esters and diacetyl to help compensate the bittering. I think by the
time it comes out of the fermenter it will be drinkable enough not to
need a big salvage plan -- just odd.
Cheers,
Charles Rich (Seattle, USA)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:36:31 +0000
From: "Robert Marshall" <robertjm@hooked.net>
Subject: re: seal on 5 gallon Gott cooler
I purchased the Bulkhead Cooler fitting from HopTech. They're $10,
but they're pretty good.
My mashtun fit perfect, with not a drop out the seal. The sparge
water tank leaked, but its because I didn't have the bulkhead fitting
on properly.
IMHO well worth the money!!
Their number is 1-800-DRY-HOPS
(usual disclaimer about no connection).
Later,
Robert Marshall
robertjm@hooked.net
http://www.hooked.net/users/robertjm
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #2412, 05/06/97
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