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HOMEBREW Digest #3581
HOMEBREW Digest #3581 Thu 15 March 2001
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
***************************************************************
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Contents:
Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2) (William & Kazuko Macher)
Duco cement or Epoxy (Phil Harkness)
Ring Around the Neck--Excellent Beer ("Penn, John")
Re: Bigbrew ? (Jeff Renner)
Wyeast Cider#3766 experiences ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
Moorhouse yeast? (Paul Shick)
Star-San duration (Denis Bekaert)
Re: pellet hops & manifold ("Houseman, David L")
CIP of CC's ("Jim Busch")
Re: White Labs Belgian Saison Yeast ("Tomusiak, Mark")
The Talented Mr Renner (Brad Miller)
mild report ("Eli Daniel")
checking in (Beaverplt)
Re: checking in (The Man From Plaid)
A few more questions ("Hedglin, Nils A")
Re: White Labs Saison Yeast (RBoland)
Frig Toasted? ("Steven Parfitt")
Next Question about Home Brewing. (angela patterson)
(fridgeguy)
Berliner Weisse Syrup Source ("Mark Tumarkin")
Pitch Yeast Volume ("Steven Parfitt")
Secondary Fermentation (Dave Burley)
Brew Day From Hell (" Jim Bermingham")
GFCI and Fridge (Tom Clark)
dark colored extract brews, albany to VT trip, ("Czerpak, Pete")
Cleaning a CCV (Ant Hayes)
Victory IPA (promash) question (leavitdg)
Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Ken & Bennett Johnson)
Oktoberfest "Ales" (Delano DuGarm)
Shopping for a Refractometer ("Donald D. Lake")
Ayinger yeast (Marc Sedam)
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*
* Drunk Monk Challenge Entry Deadline is 3/17/01!
* http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/ for more information
*
* Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Entry Deadline is 3/20/01!
* http://www.maltosefalcons.com/ for more information
*
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:01:25 -0500
From: William & Kazuko Macher <macher@telerama.lm.com>
Subject: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2)
Hi again,
[should learn not to be so long winded...]
I have the tendency to over do everything. When at Home Depot I
noticed that they had 20-foot lengths of half-inch tubing, so I made
mine new chiller double length, giving me an effective length of
about 38 feet. That is nineteen feet each way. It is possible to solder
the outer 3/4-inch tubing toghether, because the couplings go on
the outside of the tubing. The inner tubing must be one continuous
piece, as a coupling will just about completely fill the void between the
two tubes, and block cooling-water flow.
I installed a valve at the outlet end and reduced the
output to 1/4-inch ID, as this was the size of the silicon tubing that
I used at the outlet of the previous chiller. With this 1/4-inch outlet
size, I can still get 4 liter per minute flow [about 1 GPM]. I know I
could get more by increasing the outlet tubing size, but I will wait
to see how fast I can pump out of the boil kettle with the existing
manifold in the bottom.
The neat thing about this chiller is that it is hidden in the floor
joists above my basement brewery. The old chiller was kind of in
the way above the brewing tubs [formerly know as laundry tubs].
This one is totally out of the way and actually invisible both
visually and from the practical standpoint. Well, at least unless you
are looking for it.
A chiller like this would be totally impractical to market because it
would be expensive/impossible to ship economically [I think]. But
if you build it yourself it is cheap and effective. My guess is that a
total 20-foot length would be adequate. With my 38-foot
effective length I can probably cool at a 2 to 3 GPM rate, but the
limitation will be the ability to get the hot wort out of the kettle
without sucking the hops tight against the manifold and plugging
things up. So I will initially go with a flow rate of 1 GPM and see
how that works. 1 GPM is certainly better than 1/4 GPM.
I needed copper within copper as I use steam to sanitize my chiller
and I was afraid to have anything else on the outside. Previously, I
ran hot water through my chiller, but since I have a steam-injected
RevRIMS, I figured that I should build a chiller that could take the
temperature of steam without worry. This one does quite nicely.
Half-inch copper tubing will hold a bit of wort as the kettle goes
dry, but my normal practice of pushing remaining wort out of my
chiller with boiling water, that I have on hand for cleaning
purposes, should make this a non issue. [It did on Sunday]
With the setup as it sits right now I am able to pressure sanitize
this CF chiller and hold the temperature at around 230F by closing
the ball valve at the exit end. I had planned on using this valve to
limit flow through the chiller, but this does not appear to be needed
with the outlet reduced to 1/4 inch.
Let me say the dial thermometer on the exit end is calibrated down
at the 70 degree F. point, so that is why I do not know the exact
temperature at this point when the valve is closed and the chiller
is under steam pressure. That temperature should be around 240 F
if measured accurately.
And for those concerned about pressure sanitizing with steam:
My max steam pressure is 15 psi, set by the rocker on the pressure cooker.
Our local water pressure is much higher than that, about 70 or 80 psi. I have
never had a pipe burst here in the house due to water pressure. In fact, I do
not think I have ever head of copper tube pipe burst due to over-pressure.
Freezing yes, but that generates extremely high pressures. Also, a
friend of mine uses the same copper tubing to pipe air from his compressor
and it is 100 psi plus.
Along this line, does anyone know the rated bursting strength of the copper
tubing sold in the US with the red paint on it? This is the thinnest wall
stuff.
I will grant you that I may have a piece of defective tubing just waiting to
burst at 15 psi and so I guess I better hook up my compressor and test at
100 psi, just to be safe.
OH! Almost forgot. Why use a V to describe this thing? Well, because there is
enough flex in the ridged copper tubing to allow it to be spread
apart at the inlet/outlet end, for gravity draining purposes. When
this is done the thing looks like a long, skinny V laying on its
side...on second thought, it looks like an A laying on its side...Or
could that be a U laying on its side...or...or...
Hope someone finds this of interest.
Bill Macher Pittsburgh, PA USA
PS...
Since starting to write this a few days ago, I brewed a beer Sunday
and 1 GPM out of the boil kettle was no problem at all. It was sooooo nice
filling two carboys with chilled wort in five minutes or slightly less per
carboy. I was [I am sure no one is surprised] able to get the wort down to
62F without opening the cooling water valve all the way. I actually did not
want this cold of a temperature but seeing it was part of the learning process.
I would say I am pretty happy with this thing...
Whooooo Hooooooo!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 09:09:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Phil Harkness <pharkness@beerguys.every1.net>
Subject: Duco cement or Epoxy
Bob Shotola asks whether to use duco cement or epoxy
to glue the two halves of a carboy back togther.
Have you considered welding the two halves together,
using a pipette or glass rod as a welding rod? I'm
sure this would work the best. IMHO, anyway.
I don't think Bob's post captures the essence of
homebrewing so much as it captures the essence of
some of the ridiculous posts to the HBD. Honestly
folks, do you give a rat's behind about the inane
ramblings from Australia we're periodically subjected
to? And for goodness' sakes people, it seems like
some of you probably post to the Personal Hygiene
Digest before you go to the bathroom for a number two.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:41:12 -0500
From: "Penn, John" <John.Penn@jhuapl.edu>
Subject: Ring Around the Neck--Excellent Beer
I once made a chocolate mint stout (~8%abv) which lasted a couple of years
and was still quite tasty. No signs of overcarbonation but there was a
distinct white ring around the neck of the bottle. I asked about the ring
on the HBD some years ago and many responses said that it was infected.
Some said it was probably the cocoa used in the ingredients which appears to
be the correct answer. I"d just like to point out that a ring around the
neck isn't enough information. Ingredients can be responsible for the ring.
It's also very hard to determine what the ring looks like without some kind
of photo. Two other signs of infection that many have pointed out are the
continual deterioration of the beer with time and most likely an
overcarbonation with time. If you do have a ring, look for other signs
before deciding that you have an infection. Check your recipe for the use
of any new ingredients you've never used before (like cocoa). I did have a
nice infected batch once and there was a ring around the neck as well as a
kind of milky look over time at the top of the bottle. This also exhibited
other typical signs of an infection. Sorry to go on so much about the ring
around the neck but I just wanted to point out that it's very hard to
diagnose an infection with the only data point being "some" kind of ring
around the bottle. If it does appear to be infected, drink it quickly as it
gets worse with time. Or make a lot of beer bread with it.
John Penn
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:42:46 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Bigbrew ?
From: "Rick Duyck" <rnrduyck@sympatico.ca> of Windsor, Ontario Canada
has a great idea:
>Does anyone have any info on Bigbrew 2001? I like to brew a batch of the
>same recipe beforehand so everyone at the party can taste what they are
>brewing.
I am flattered to say that the AHA has designated 2001 as the "Year
of the Classic American Pilsner" and my CAP recipe, "Your Father's
Mustache" is one the featured recipes.
From http://www.beertown.org/AHA/BIGBREW/index.htm
"This year there are three recipes to choose from, a Classic American
Pilsner provided by Jeff Renner (for more information on this style
see the Sept/Oct 2000 issue of Zymurgy or email Jeff Renner), a Cream
Ale provided by Scott Abene (AKA Skotrat), and an American Brown Ale
provided by Paul Gatza. All recipes for 5 gallons."
Jeff
- --
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, c/o nerenner@umich.edu
"One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:59:48 -0600
From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders@paddockwood.com>
Subject: Wyeast Cider#3766 experiences
Hi!
A question for the great brewing collective: has anybody used Wyeast Cider
#3766? Any thoughts, experiences, comments, positive or negative?
Thanks in advance,
cheers,
Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiae sugant."
Saskatoon, SK
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:20:19 -0500
From: Paul Shick <shick@jcu.edu>
Subject: Moorhouse yeast?
Hello all,
Does anyone on the digest have any ideas about what
yeast Moorhouse uses in their Black Cat Mild? Has anyone
run into the bottled version of this (or their Pendle Witches
Brew) in the US? If so, do they look bottle conditioned or
filtered/force carb'd?
It would be great fun to try to duplicate the "Champion
Beer of Britain," but to have any chance of getting close to the
mark, we'd need a yeast with a reasonably close profile. Any
hard information (or wild speculation) would be much appreciated.
Paul Shick
Cleveland Hts, OH
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:18:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Denis Bekaert <Denis-B@rocketmail.com>
Subject: Star-San duration
I have used Star-San for my sterilization step for the
last 18 months and have never had a contaminated brew.
It is bit more expensive than other products so I'd
like to reuse the clean solution over again later in
the week. Does anyone know how long Star-San will be
functional after dilution? It is an acid so it should
remain functional, but I'd like to be sure. I keep it
in a covered primary pail at about 68 degrees F.
Thanks!
Denis Bekaert
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:04:08 -0600
From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman@unisys.com>
Subject: Re: pellet hops & manifold
Dana writes "My current brew-kettle drain manifold is simply a circle of
3/8" copper
tubing with slots cut in it. Unfortunately, pellet hops plug it up unless I
use at least 1oz of leaf hops also. Does anyone out there have a simple
manifold design that can handle 100% pellet hops? Do I have to go to a false
bottom?"
I too used a copper manifold in my kettle. However I made mine from 1/2"
soft copper because the 3/8" copper did tend to get clogged. I sawed slots
in the bottom 1/2 of the manifold, about every 1/4" along the length. I
whirl pooled at the end of the boil and waited about 15min before knockout.
Most of the hops settled into the center and the manifold was towards the
outside of the bottom of my 1/2bbl Sanke keg kettle. Those hops that settled
on the manifold were on the top and the drawn was mainly from the bottom.
This actually worked very well. My issue with it was that the design of the
Sanke keg and the placement of the manifold and the height of the slots in
the manifold meant that I lost siphon while there was more wort in the
kettle than I wanted to leave. So I went to NO manifold, simply an outlet
port on the side of the keg facing with the direction of my whirlpool. This
too work with minimal hop fines making it into may CFC. But leaf hops
clogged up my ball valve. So I have gone to a false bottom, which I didn't
expect to work well with pellet hops, and it's outperformed my best
expectations. Hardly any hop fines and it sucks the kettle dry. I futzed
with different schemes for a long time and settled on the tried and true
false bottom. But my original copper manifold did work great; just left
more wort in my kettle than I wanted to give up.
Dave Houseman
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 14:26:06 +0000
From: "Jim Busch" <jim@victorybeer.com>
Subject: CIP of CC's
Steve asked how one CIP's a CC tank.... I can explain how I do it,
which is to emulate how micro's CIP a unitank.... I should probably
explain my setup first. I had a custom CC tank built to my specs
from a brewery tank manufacturer and sized it to hold between 1 and
1.3 BBLs plus head space. I think the whole tank capacity is around
48 gallons but Ive never had more than 39 gals of beer in it at a
time. This size is large enough to include a manway that pressure
seals when the tank is spund. The top of the tank is welded to the
sides so that the only openings are the manway and the ports that
are welded on for fittings. Picture a small version of the typical
micro uni. The top has two fittings, a 1/2" triclover that I run
through a T, one side of the T is a pressure gage and the other is
connected to a tube for blowoff (or CO2 input for racking). The
other top fitting is a standard 1.5" triclover and on the inside of
this is a standard CIP spray ball. The bottom cone has a standard
1.5" triclover with butterfly. A racking arm with pivot seal and
elbow inside is welded/triclovered 2/3rds up the cone and a Zwickel
port is attached to 1/2" triclover just above the cone on the
sidewall of the tank. A thermowell completes the fittings, which
connects to a standard digital controller to cycle the glycol system.
The glycol loop enters the tank through the manway and returns
through the manway as well.
Here is an overview of operation of this tank. On brewday you
connect the 1.5" hose with SS triclover ferrule to the top spray
ball and the pump, other end to the bottom cone. Add about 5 gals of
water and iodophor, open Zwickel valve, open racking port valve, open
bottom cone valve and turn on pump. The spray ball forcefully ejects
solution to the top of the uni and down the sides, which also drips
out the open ports. While this is running you can open and close the
Zwickel and racking ports to be sure the insides get sanitized. Run
about 10-15 mins and empty. Air dry, add yeast, add wort, run O2,
connect blow off and wait for ferment.
Days 1-3 blow down trub. When near terminal, spund tank. Monitor to
ensure you dont go above 15 psi. Start crash cooling according to
your beers aging profile. Remove yeast. Rack clear, carbonated beer
to kegs via racking port and under CO2 pressure. Open tank, vent
CO2. Rinse. Connect up CIP hoses, run hot caustics and/or PBW for
15-30 mins. Open up connections, especially racking port/arm and
Zwickel and brush clean for organic debris removal. CIP with
Iodophor and seal tank. I will plug PBW here, caustics are nice
enough but dangerous and the tank really sparkles when I use PBW
instead of NaOH. And the best part of PBW is I soak my lauter tun
screens in it until the next brewday and they come out spotless.
There is nothing "cost effective" about this setup, so Steve's
original comment questioning the cost to benefit ratio is well taken.
But as others have noted, you spend on the toys you wish to have and
consider important to your lifestyle. I drive a 12 year old Bronco
that is worth much less than my unitank and I find this to be
prefectly in balance. And I still ferment in my lauter tun (makes a
great open fermenter) for yeasts that just have to be top cropped.
Prost!
Jim Busch
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:59:53 -0800
From: "Tomusiak, Mark" <tomusiak@amgen.com>
Subject: Re: White Labs Belgian Saison Yeast
> Mark Post asks about the activity of White Labs Saison Yeast. I have
> brewed with this yeast a few times, and have found that it behaves very
> much like other Saison yeasts such as Dupont and Brewer's Resource saison
> strain - tremendous initial activity followed by a long, slow (but
> thorough) fermentation.
>
> Initial fermentation is very vigorous, frequently requiring use of a
> blow-off tube due to the tremendous amounts of foam and yeast produced.
> One would think after this display that the beer would be finished, but a
> check of the gravity at this point will reveal disappointing attenuation.
> You have to be patient - the beer will continue to ferment, albeit slowly,
> and I have had no problems getting down to gravities as low as 1.007 -
> 1.008 (148 F mash temp) given enough time. Cheers,
>
> Mark Tomusiak
> Boulder, Colorado
>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:09:10 -0800
From: Brad Miller <millerb@targen.com>
Subject: The Talented Mr Renner
Has Jeff Renner been living a lie or just moonlighting?
http://www.king5.com/localnews/hometeambiosdetail.html?StoryID=234
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 15:55:27 -0500
From: "Eli Daniel" <elidaniel@mediaone.net>
Subject: mild report
Hi, all.
I finally got around to trying out Jeff Renner's mild recipe last weekend;
everything has gone (more or less) well, and I can't wait to try the
finished product.
We scaled Jeff's recipe down to 5.5 gallons, and replaced Briess Ashburne
malt (which I couldn't get) with 2 parts DWC Belgian pale and 1 part Vienna.
Jeff actually suggested using a higher proportion of Vienna, but I had
already bought the grain...
As per Jeff's recipe, I intended a two step infusion mash (rests at 149F and
160F), but wound up hitting 154 instead of 160, where I rested for a few
minutes while I heated up some more water. Perhaps becuase of the step mash
(I usually do single infusion), the efficiency was higher than expected, and
we wound up with an OG of 1.040, a little high for a mild.
During the boil we (well, mostly my girlfriend, actually) took the
opportunity to make up a batch of Ray Kruse's spent grain dog biscuits,
which appear to be a success.
We pitched a starter of ~750 ml of Wyeast 1335 (British II), and foam was
climbing out of the blow-off tube when I checked it 12 hours later.
I dropped the fermenting beer shortly after the kraeusen seemed to be
starting to recede, and replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock (a
mistake, as it turned out). Apparently, the addition of oxygen gave the
yeast a kick in the pants, and I discovered foam coming out of the airlock
an hour or so later. I cleaned up the mess, trying to keep things sanitary.
Hopefully nothing too nasty got in there in the meantime.
All in all, a mildly successful brewing adventure :). I'll let the
collective know how it turns out.
Eli Daniel
Somerville, MA
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:09:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Beaverplt <beaverplt@yahoo.com>
Subject: checking in
Well Pat, you asked for it. I'm an infrequent poster
and daily reader so I guess that makes me a lurker.
Pat asked to hear from some of the rest of us so here
goes.
Most of the posts I read seem to be from what I call
quasi-professional brewers. That is not to say you
brew professionally, but with enough frequency that
you probably could turn pro or at least be a high
draft choice (pun intended).
Some things I've wondered
1. If you brew as often as every week or every other
in 10 gallon batches where does all that beer go? I
hope you're sharing.
2. Are there others who read this who are, like me,
infrequent brewers (6 times a yr or less)? Probably
the reason I don't post more is I don't feel qualified
to answer anybody's questions. My own questions seem
to be answered before I ask them.
3. There's a lot of discussion about harvesting yeast.
Is it really worth the effort when a smack pack or dry
yeast costs so little? I'm not knocking it, I've just
wondered and never asked. My thoughts at this point
are that unless you brew often it's better to buy than
harvest.
4. Someone should sell a rennerian coordinates
calculator. Everyone should know how close they are to
the center of the brewing universe.
5. How do I Cip my Zwickel?
6. Has anyone thought of starting a list of brew pubs
to visit when traveling? There's always questions
about it?
7. Will Graham ever bless us with his presence again?
That's it for now. By the way. Made big points with
SWMBO on my last beer. She wanted a cherry beer that
had a good balance of beer and cherry taste. I used an
extract recipe off Cats meow that sounded good and it
turned out great.
=====
Jerry "Beaver" Pelt
That's my story and I'm sticking to it
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 16:44:38 -0500 (EST)
From: The Man From Plaid <pbabcock@hbd.org>
Subject: Re: checking in
Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...
On Tue, 13 Mar 2001, Jerry "Beaver" Pelt wrote in response to my "Have you
seenmy old friends Abraham, Martin and John"-type note:
> 6. Has anyone thought of starting a list of brew pubs
> to visit when traveling? There's always questions
> about it?
There used to be a "pub and micro review" FAQ maintained years ago. I
would not surprise me that this is no longer.
If some brave individual would like to take on the job of collecting and
compiling regional brewpub and micro reviews, I'm game: Space on the HBD
server will be granted to the worthy individual(s) who wish to take it on.
I invision a mySQL-based regionally searchable list. A workable solution
may be to have a "committee" gather the reviews and put them into a format
for some other talented individual to incorporate into a database for
serving on the HBD website. Any takers?
- --
-
See ya!
Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock@hbd.org
Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org
HBD Web Site http://hbd.org
The Home Brew Page http://hbd.org/pbabcock
"The monster's back, isn't it?" - Kim Babcock after I emerged
from my yeast lab Saturday
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 14:38:18 -0800
From: "Hedglin, Nils A" <nils.a.hedglin@intel.com>
Subject: A few more questions
All,
Thanks again for all the answers. I'm still getting them from my initial
post. I'm excited to find such a supportive community that I can bug in the
future. I racked my Honey Porter to secondary fermentation & it tasted
pretty good in spite of the bad smells. Also, it's gravity was just a few
points lower than the recipie's FG so I'm guessing my OG was pretty close to
the recipe's OG & I just the cold water in with the wort so I was taking the
gravity of the concentrated wort. Here are a few more questions I came up
with:
1) One of the guys I started brewing with suggested putting vodka in the
airlock, instead of water, since it was sterile & the alcohol wouldn't
affect the fermentation if it got sucked in. But I mentioned this to
another brewer friend & he was worried that the high proof alcohol might
actually have an adverse affect. Any comments on this practice?
2) I've seen some recipes where the exact same hops are added at 60 min, 30
min & 5 min left in the boil. I know the 60 min is for bittering & the 5
min is for aroma & flavor, but it just seemed strange to be adding the same
hop so many times. What affect will the 30 min hops have that the 60 & 5
min ones won't?
3) Another suggestion was to move the fermenter a day or so before you rack
it, so any disturbed sediment can settle down again. I'd do my racking in
my kitchen which is about 6 degrees warmer than my basement. Would this
increase in temp, at the end of the primary or secondary fermentation, cause
any problems?
Thanks,
Nils
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 01:19:30 EST
From: RBoland@aol.com
Subject: Re: White Labs Saison Yeast
A significant slowdown in saison fermentation rate may be due to the decrease
in wort temperature as the initial vigorous fermentation subsides. The
owner/brewer of the Blaugies brewery in S.W. Belgium gets his saison yeast
from Dupont as do many of the small breweries in the area. We were surprised
to hear that he ferments his wort at about 82 F and comments that the yeast
gets sluggish at cooler temperatures. Cooling is used if the wort temp gets
above 90 F for too long. I don't know whether the White Labs Yeast is the
Dupont strain, but if so, keep the temperature up to keep the yeast going.
BTY, we had the same experience as Mark and Tomme with a saison brewed with
yeast harvested from a fresh Blaugies bottle and fermented in a room at about
70 F. I'll try it again in the height of summer when the basement is always
in the mid 80's. This could be a great, and forgiving, summer beer!
Bob Boland
St. Louis, MO
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:44:41 -0500
From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98@hotmail.com>
Subject: Frig Toasted?
Bob,
First, Get that extension cord and test to see if the problem is the Frig,
or the GFI. If the Frig comes back to life with the extension cord, there is
the possiblilty that the surge when the compressor starts is kicking the the
GFI due to changes in component tolerences with age.
How old is the GFI? Greater than five years?
If the Frig doesn't start on the extension cord (it may trip a breaker if it
has a stalled rotor), then the frig is most likely to blame. Could be a bad
start cap or bad motor start winding. I don't think a bad thermostat will
cause such a problem. You will have to get a local repair person to look at
it.
Good luck.
Steven - Ironhead Nano-Brewery, to be.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:59:52 -0400
From: daniel.angela@ns.sympatico.ca (angela patterson)
Subject: Next Question about Home Brewing.
Hey Gang.
I have not yet made the leap to all grain brewing and was wondering if any
of you know of a really good quality malt extract kit or recipe to reproduce
a good quality ale. Also I need a good suggestion for a yeast that will work
well in swinging temperatures (I heat with wood and oil and it cools down in
here to about 17 C from 22C at night.
Daniel
Nova Scotia
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:58:43 -0500
From: fridgeguy@voyager.net
Subject:
Greetings folks,
In HBD #3580, Bob Sutton asked for help with troubleshooting his
fridge that trips a GFCI after experiencing a power failure.
I've had to replace GFCI's periodically both in commercial
environments and at home. I believe they are somewhat sensitive to
the many voltage spikes, etc that are common on the power line. In
fact, I had one actually explode due to a close lightning strike last
fall.
A power failure may have been preceded by a period of low voltage or
there may have been a period of high and/or low voltage before power
was fully restored. Any of these variations can damage whatever is
connected at the time.
If the GFCI doesn't trip when a substantial load is applied (try a
blow dryer, it is probably ok. To check the fridge, unplug it and use
a multimeter set on the highest resistance range to measure the
resistance between either of the flat blades and the ground pin on
the power plug. Ideally the meter should indicate infinity. If the
resistance is below 2-3 megohms, there is likely to be a problem that
needs to be investigated.
The compressor motor windings are a likely culprit (do the same
resistance check on each of the compressor terminals with the wiring
disconnected. Each terminal should show infinite resistance with
respect to ground (use an unpainted part of the compressor can for
ground).
If the compressor checks ok, check each of the various other
components for a path between the power path and ground.
If the fridge passes all resistance checks and still trips a known
good GFCI, replace any start or run capacitors on the compressor
motor.
GFCI's look for a current imbalance between the hot and neutral
conductors. This usually indicates a path to ground. However, the
compressor uses two motor windings and sometimes one or more
capacitors to aid starting torque. The cap acts as a storage tank for
electrical current and may cause a brief current imbalance on the
line.
Good luck with your troubleshooting effort. Please let me know what
you find.
Hope this helps!
- ----------------------------------------
Forrest Duddles - Fridgeguy in Kalamazoo
fridgeguy@voyager.net
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:13:55 -0500
From: "Mark Tumarkin" <mark_t@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Berliner Weisse Syrup Source
Several people have written asking for the source for the Gobber syrups for
use with Berliner Weisse.
Both the Red (Himbeer or Raspberry) and Green (Waldmeister or Woodruff) are
carried by
GermanDeli.com
P.O. Box 92773 Southlake TX 76092
877-437-6269
http://www.germandeli.com/GoebberSyrups.html
One odd thing though; the blurb on the above URL page says:
"Delicious Syrups. Mix with Soda water or regular water for a sweet drink.
Pour over ice cream, pudding or mousse. Add to a dark beer to make your
special recipe; one of them being the Classic Berliner Weisse. Must be
refrigerated after opening."
I'm not sure what they're talking about in addding to a dark beer - Berliner
Weisse is one of the lightest of beers - in color, IBU's, gravity etc. I'm
sure you could add the syrups to any beer if you enjoy it, but no way it would
be a Berliner Weisse.
anyway,hope you enjoy it,
Mark Tumarkin
Gainesville, FL
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:24:26 -0500
From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98@hotmail.com>
Subject: Pitch Yeast Volume
I'm a homebrewer of many years who has recently begun upgrading to All
Grain.
In the past I simply pitched a full blister pack into the wort (5.5Gal
batch). This was consistently followed by good fermentation within 24 hours.
I'm a little confused by the recomended pitch rates I have been reading.
As an experiment, I am currently making a starter from the remains of a
batch of Kolsch I made last week. I rinsed the blister pack with a half cup
of wort, and put it in a beer bottle with a fermentation lock. This was feed
an additional 1/2 cup later. It now is in a wine bottle with a pint of
starter solution consisting of 1pt water and 1/4 cup DME.
I have about a quarter inch of yeast a the bottom of the bottle when it
settles. This amounts to around 13CC of yeast. This is about 1/33 of a pint.
When people talk of pitching a pint of starter in a 10 gallon batch, are
they talking about a pint of yeast sediment? Or, a pint of starter with how
much yeast in it?
Do I need 16 times as much yeast as I currently have to make a good starter?
(half pint for 5.5 gal batch).
Thanks.
Steven - Ironhead Nano-Brewery, to be.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:30:26 -0500
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley@compuserve.com>
Subject: Secondary Fermentation
Brewsters:
Glen Esk says there is chemically no difference in primary and secondary
fermentation.
The use of these terms is confused in literature but there is a
difference. Primary fermentation is that time period when you are afraid
the beer will explode out of the fermenter and secondary is the quiet but
active period after the primary.
Chemically there can be a difference also as during this secondary
fermentation a different set of sugars and even some dextrins will be
getting fermented as the major source of carbohydrate, although they were
getting fermented during the primary also. This explains one aspect of the
slower fermentation besides the lower concentration of sugars and the
flocculation of the yeast.
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:41:29 -0600
From: " Jim Bermingham" <bermingham@antennaproducts.com>
Subject: Brew Day From Hell
I would like to report that the CACA I brewed that rainy day from hell
turned out great. Now if I can get the cows to cooperate I will try to
duplicate it. By the way David, are you sure you know which one of us in
the picture is the horse?
Jim Bermingham
Millsap, TX.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:42:46 -0500
From: Tom Clark <rtclark@eurekanet.com>
Subject: GFCI and Fridge
Bob Sutton .... If I were in such a predicament, I'd make sure the metal
frame of the fridge is solidly grounded to an good earth ground, then
plug it into a circuit not on a GFCI. The leakage that is causing the
GFCI to trip is probably not enough to trip a circuit breaker. It may
even be caused by moisture which could dry out if it is able to run for
a while. If it trips a circuit breaker, you may have major problems...
Tom Clark - resuming lurk mode
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:47:40 -0500
From: "Czerpak, Pete" <Pete.Czerpak@siigroup.com>
Subject: dark colored extract brews, albany to VT trip,
Scott Snyder from CT is having some trouble getting a light colored brew
from extract. Back in my extract days, I had this same problem until I did
two things. First, switch to always using XL dry malt extract unless I was
brewing a porter or a stout (and maybe even then) and then use the largest
pot possible and do a full boil. This means for a standard 5 gallon batch
where you probably evaporate 1 gallon over the boil length, use a 6 gallon
pot and start off with as close to 6 gallons of wort as you can get with
boilover comfort important. Also, be sure to take the water off your heat
as you add your extract and stir it in. This will help as well but more so
for people using liquid malt extract where it will settle to the bottom.
Brand name of malt extract makes a difference too - I had good luck with the
Muntons variety. carmelization doesn't just mean on the bottom of the pot,
but it can happen as well if the sugars are too concentrated in your wort at
boiling conditions.
There was mention of travelling thru Albany on the way to the NE Kingdom in
VT.... ( I have a previous post of breweries in the Albany area if you
search the past HBD from 2000).
On the way from PA I would stop in Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown. Cool
pretty short tour and great US made Belgians. In Albany, make sure to stop
at the Pumpstation and visit with George DePiro. He has a GABF winning Kick
Ass Brown Ale. A great IPA and nice dry stout were on tap last friday.
Friday is also cask night so try the cask. They have good food and are kid
friendly as well. Their normal dining room (near the firepalce) is non
smoking.
Working up I-87 heading north, there is the Malt River Brew Pub in Latham,
Troy Pub and Brewrey (in Troy), and Davidson Brothers in Glens falls. I
prefer Malt River or Davidson Bros. and both are pretty close to the
highway. They tend to have a pretty large selection of their brews. And
they each have pub food too.
In Burlington, stop at magic hat brewery for a tasting (no food, only a
brewery - they have a great IPA and their barley wine may be finally
available). VT Pub and Brewery in downtown is good and they have a nice wee
heavy and probably smoked porter. Food is pretty good too.
In the northeast kingdom, find Trout River Brewery. You may be able to find
Rock Art brews as well. If you can find any McNeils on tap or bottle, try
it out - very good.... They are in Brattleboro but have no food, only great
brews. Long Trail and Otter Creek are both okay as well.
Pete czerpak
Albany, NY
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 16:03:22 +0200
From: Ant Hayes <Ant.Hayes@FifthQuadrant.co.za>
Subject: Cleaning a CCV
There have been a couple of posts regarding cleaning a small CCV.
Mine has only about a 60 litre volume, and no ports big enough to get my
hand in. It is too small to warrant a CIP system.
After emptying the fermenter, I clean it as follows:
1. Rinse thoroughly using a garden hose, until the water coming out the
bottom valve runs clean.
2. Close valves and put in about 15 litres of 70C caustic solution (2%
sodium hydroxide in water) and seal.
3. Pick up fermenter and do my Donkey Kong impersonation for a few minutes
(good lat workout). I then stand the fermenter upside down for 15 minutes to
dissolve the top trub ring, followed by another few minutes of vigorous
shaking.
4. Empty caustic down the drain (sorry)
5. Rinse 3 times with about 15 litres of water.
6. Store sealed between fermentations holding 5 litres of 2% Peresan
solution.
Every five brews or so, I dismantle the 2 ball valves and soak the parts in
caustic, before rinsing and reassembling.
This is a lot more work than cleaning my plastic buckets with bleach and a
scourer!
Ant Hayes
Gauteng; South Africa
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 10:48:32 -0500 (EST)
From: leavitdg@plattsburgh.edu
Subject: Victory IPA (promash) question
Promash's Victory IPA calls for a rest at 124F for 5 minutes. Is this
due to the 1/2 lb of "soft white wheat malt" that is called for in
their recipe? ie, is this raw wheat? If not, then I'd say that there
is no need to rest here...and in fact it may hut head retention, no?
[the recipe, was 8lb 2 row, 1.5 lb Victory, 1 lb munich, .5 lb
soft white wheat malt, .5 lb crystal, and .5 lb carapils...)
..Darrell
(brewing my "Anniversary Ale" tomorrow)...and looking for ideas for this
yearly Pale Ale...
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:48:28 -0800
From: Ken & Bennett Johnson <fearless1@abac.com>
Subject: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller
Hey all,
I propose a toast to Bill Macher. I commend you on your technical ability.
I am going to make a few suggestions here Bill. I am not knocking what you
did, believe me. I've built a few chillers so I am just trying to help. I
have long wondered why the idea of all copper chillers is so appealing. In
my mind, when the chill water flows inside copper on both sides, it must
accept heat from both sides. Lets say ambient temperature in your brewery
is 70 degrees. Lets say your chill water is 55 degrees. You are hoping to
pitch into 57 degree wort. By the end of the chiller, it is not so much the
wort the chill water is accepting heat from, but rather the ambient
temperature of the brewery. I would submit that since the chill water
should never reach 70 degrees, it is accepting ambient emperature heat
during the entire run. I am not a big fan of using regular garden hose
either. Garden hose has very little insulating properties. The thicker
vinyl hose is expensive, but it also offers excellent insulation. I know if
you tried it you would see the benefits of it. If you have enough room to
store this baby, I am very jealous indeed!
Also, this chiller only has 1/16 clearance between the two tubes. Volume is
very important to these chillers. More volume of chill water will absorb
more heat. You can't solve this dilemma by simply forcing more chill water
through faster. Higher velocity will reduce the ability of the chill water
to absorb heat. A lot of water, moving slowly past the inner (hot wort
filled) tube, will perform the best. It will also use the least amount of
chill water!
You mentioned that this chiller would be easy to disassemble and clean.
Maybe that information is in part 2. But I am wondering how this is
possible if you assemble it with solder. I am always surprised that so many
people get so hung up on being able to disassemble and actually SEE that
the inside of their counterflow chiller is clean. I understand this
thought. But, with all the fantastic cleaning agents out there, it's almost
a moot point. If you understand and implement regular cleaning procedures
on equipment, you will have no problems. And honestly, do any of us know
the name and address of a brewer who has had an infection that definitely
came from a counterflow chiller? Another urban myth? I really want to meet
this dude. I love these technical equipment discussions! Again, congrats
Bill Macher. We all toast your accomplishment! Hope I helped you. I am
always willing to share what I have learned with my homebrewing brethren.
All you have to do is write me.
Ken Johnson
mailto:fearless1@abac.com
http://www.fearless1.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:10:43 -0800 (PST)
From: Delano DuGarm <ddugarm@yahoo.com>
Subject: Oktoberfest "Ales"
>I believe Hacker-Pschorr has the "ALE" designation on
>its Oktoberfest
>label.
>I don't know if it's brewed as an ale or not... it is
>quite tasty.
This sort of labeling problem is caused by certain
state liquor laws, which require beers above a certain
strength to be labeled ale or stout, and forbid beers
below that strength to be so labeled. Hence Celis had
to call its Belgian pale ale "Pale Bock" (it wasn't
strong enough to be called ale), while Coors
Winterfest for several years had the word "stout" on
its label, though it certainly wasn't any sort of
stout. I think that Texas is (or was) one state with
such label laws, though most states have odd
regulations concerning alcohol.
I've seen stronger German beers, especially
doppelbocks, with American labels that use terms like
"ale" or "malt liquor" because of these sorts of legal
requirements, not because of any stylistic concerns.
Delano DuGarm
St. Croix Falls, WI
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 11:19:20 -0500
From: "Donald D. Lake" <dlake@gdi.net>
Subject: Shopping for a Refractometer
Now that the secret brewing slush fund has been topped off, I am
shopping for a refractometer. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I've seen them priced from $100 to $199 by brewing related vendors.
What's the best value out there?
Don Lake
Orlando, FL
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 12:09:52 -0500
From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam@unc.edu>
Subject: Ayinger yeast
Hey all,
I've unsuccessfully tried to get the Ayinger yeast strain
commercially. Is there anyone out there willing to swap a vial
of this stuff for something? I have some decent hops and a
couple of tasty homebrews for ya. But you can't have my
Ultras...
they're mine...all mine! Some Magnums and Chinook leaf hops,
tho'.
- --
Marc Sedam
Chapel Hill, NC
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #3581, 03/15/01
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