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HOMEBREW Digest #3744
HOMEBREW Digest #3744 Tue 25 September 2001
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
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Contents:
Mini Kegs and Bulk CO2 ("Daniel Ippolito")
CO2, Old malt extract, and Brewing in Microgravity... ("Greenly, Jeff")
Conditioning ("John Herman")
RE:Competition details (Jay\) Reeves" <jay666@bellsouth.net>
carboy magnifying glass (carlos benitez)
Rogues Gallery (Pat Babcock)
DeKoninck Recipe ("Tomusiak, Mark")
Re: Beer in Utah (BillPierce)
Freshops (JGORMAN)
New Castle clone (IndSys, SalemVA)" <Douglas.Moyer@indsys.ge.com>
Rust in Pop tank (Phil Wilcox)
Motor Speed Control!!! ("Mike Pensinger")
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Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 00:49:41 -0400
From: "Daniel Ippolito" <DCippy@beer.com>
Subject: Mini Kegs and Bulk CO2
A long while back, I made the decision to move to kegging
but didn't have the resources to move to a five gallon
system. So, I went with mini kegs and thus far am pleased
with the results. However, the darn taps for the things
are $50+ each and I'd love to be able dispense more than
one keg at a time.
My Question: Is there a way to hook several of these
things to a CO2 tank?
I'm not technically inclined. . .The simpler, the better
but I'm not against drilling some extra holes if I have to.
My switch to 5 gallon kegs is inevitable, but I still don't
have the funds. I can swing the tank and regulator, though.
Thanks,
Dan
Beer Mail, brought to you by your friends at beer.com.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 03:14:52 -0400
From: "Greenly, Jeff" <greenlyj@rcbhsc.wvu.edu>
Subject: CO2, Old malt extract, and Brewing in Microgravity...
On a couple of topics...
A) I noted with interest the thread concerning CO2 "purity," and decided to
ask a qualified friend of mine. He told me that the purest form of bottled
CO2 gas is used for welding (!) and that CO2 slated for food service use can
contain 2-3% impurities by volume. I would have thought the reverse would be
true, but he told me that the CO2 in welding is used for a specific process,
and the welds would be dramatically weakened with the addition of O2 or some
of the other gases that can be present in food-grade CO2. Go figure...
B) A while back, I was experiencing some difficulty with off-flavors in my
beer, especially a sherry or cidery finish. My theory is that I may have
been brewing with old liquid extract. I haven't been able to put this to the
test as my time has not been my own due to the recent crisis. (I work at a
hospital near the Shanksville site, and we've been on alert for some time)
The store that I buy my supplies from is not a homebrew shop; rather it is a
gourmet food store, with a little back corner that has some cans and bags of
malt, some carboys and like that. Recently, I went in to buy some yeast, and
I asked the person behind the counter how often the stock was rotated. I was
told that it hadn't been found necessary to do so, that the malt was canned
and kept just fine on the shelf. I checked the dates stamped on some of the
cans; at least I think that they were dates. If they were, the malt was 4-6
years old in some cases. I am going to mail-order some ingredients and make
a batch that I know I can be consistent with, and see what happens.
C) Carlos sent in an interesting message concerning brewing and carbonation
in microgravity. Makes me wonder whether the shape of the fermentation
vessel would have any effect on the fermentation process in null-G...Any
thoughts, Mr. Alexander? <JK> 8-D Completely off-topic, but I am the son of
a retired NASA engineer, who was involved in the Gemini, Apollo,
Apollo/Soyuz, Skylab and STS programs in astronaut training and QA. He likes
to tell stories about some of the cosmonauts that he trained during the
Apollo/Soyuz and later, the Shuttle flights. It seems that during joint
mission training, the Russians would bring their own food supplies, as they
found American issue food to be fairly unpalatable. They would often have
tubes that were labeled borscht or whatever, but inside would be fine vodka
that would often get passed around in comradely good fellowship. This, of
course, NEVER went on during the flight, although during Apollo/Soyuz, the
story goes that one of the cosmonauts brought out a couple of the
now-familiar tubes and handed them to Vance Brand and Deke Slayton, who both
promptly got a mouthful of borscht. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good...
Jeff
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 06:21:18 -0400
From: "John Herman" <jherman5@nyc.rr.com>
Subject: Conditioning
I'm looking for info on how long beer should be conditioned. For a regular
ale ( maximum gravity of 1.060 ) I have my ale in the secondary for 2 weeks
and in the bottle for 3 to 4 weeks. This works, but what about stronger
beers? Are there tables? I'm planning on making a 1.080 gravity winter
warmer and want to figure my timing.
Any thoughts?
Peace to all in this time of sadness.
John Herman
jherman5@nyc.rr.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 06:14:25 -0500
From: "James \(Jay\) Reeves" <jay666@bellsouth.net>
Subject: RE:Competition details
> From: David Harsh <dharsh@fuse.net>
> Subject: Competition details / Certified CO2 / Beer and Sweat 01 and 02
>
> Len Safhay <cloozoe@optonline.net> asks:
>
> > Are the bottle
> > labels left on during the judging? If so, an obvious flaw is evident.
>
> It would be, but they are not. Bottle labels are only there for the
> organizers to keep track of the bottles until they are numbered and
> labelled with the competition ID code. Note that the guidelines
That's been the case for every competition I've judged in, with the
exception of one, and I would like to hear some thoughts on this
competitions practice.
The bottle tags are left on the bottles during competition, however the
judges do not see the bottle, but the stewards do. The stewards decant the
beer in the glass and bring this to the judging table.
Problems I see with this is, 1) volatiles can dissipate quite rapidly,
possibly before the sample makes it to the judging table, 2) even though the
steward is shown how to decant the beer, they may not (and usually didn't)
take the finesse needed for lively beers or heavily sedimented beers, or the
care to get a proper head, 3) the steward does see the brewer/club name of
the entry, which means there's a possibility for bias in handling before
arriving at the judging table.
The only reason I have heard for this practice is that the bottle is not
judged.
-Jay Reeves
Huntsville, AL
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 06:13:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: carlos benitez <greenmonsterbrewing@yahoo.com>
Subject: carboy magnifying glass
Jim Dunlap posted:When I looked down there
was smoke coming from the ground and the grass
was smoldering. Apparantly
the sun was shining thru a 14 gallon carboy that
was out of its plastic
carrier, filled with bleech water.
Don't be so sure that this won't happen wiith
regular carboys (straight sided ones) - I had one melt
right through the plastic milk crate it was in ! -
same situation - sunny day, carboy was filled with
cleaning solution and bada bing -ooey gooey milk crate
on the porch.
=====
BIBIDI !
Brew It Bottle It Drink It
Carlos Benitez - Green Monster Brewing
Bainbridge, PA, U.S.A.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 09:21:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock@hbd.org>
Subject: Rogues Gallery
Greetings, Beerlings! Take me through your lager...
Heh! Just took a "stroll" through the "rogues gallery" on the
HBD site. It really brought a smile on (Nice photo, Bob :^). I
thought I'd pop a note to the Digest to remind y'all that there
is the means to introduce yourselves to your online
acquaintances here. Go to http:\\hbd.org and select "User Bios"
from the left-hand menu. Sure would like to meet you :^)
- --
-
God bless America!
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: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 07:52:56 -0700
From: "Tomusiak, Mark" <tomusiak@amgen.com>
Subject: DeKoninck Recipe
Greetings all...I received quite a few e-mails from folks interested in my
DeKoninck recipe, so I thought I would go ahead and post it. The basic
inspiration for the grist came from Wheeler and Protz's "Brew Classic
European Beers at Home", but as I indicated in my earlier post, I think the
most critical part is the yeast selection and the fermentation regime.
Ingredients for 5.5 gallons (75% efficiency assumed):
6 lb DWC Pilsner Malt
3 lb Weyermann Vienna Malt
0.5 lb DWC Biscuit Malt
2 oz DWC Chocolate (for color - any chocolate would do)
0.6 oz Saaz, 2.9 alpha, FWH
1.7 oz Saaz, 2.9 alpha, 60 min
0.8 oz Saaz, 2.9 alpha, 20 min
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale (use a starter)
Target gravity 1.048, 28 IBU
Mash at 135 F for 15', 152 F for 60'
Primary fermentation at 70 F for 1 to 2 weeks, lager at less than 40 F for 4
weeks, bottle or keg (preferably keg).
I like the flavor that the biscuit malt provides, but I might be tempted to
cut it back a little bit. I don't think the first wort hopping is
essential, you could just add some aroma hops at the end of boil instead
(provide you still target 28 IBU). Cheers,
Mark Tomusiak
Boulder, Colorado
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 14:23:45 EDT
From: BillPierce@aol.com
Subject: Re: Beer in Utah
In HBD #3743 Todd Bissell asks about beer in Utah.
I recently spent five months living in Salt Lake City and can comment on that
subject. Utah is not quite the beer desert some people might think, although
there are a number of quirks unique to the Beehive State.
Approximately 90 percent of Utah residents are nominally Mormon, although the
percentage varies from less than 50 percent in Salt Lake City to 99 percent
in some other areas of the state. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (LDS) does not condone the consumption of alcohol, and devout Mormons
do not drink. Not all Mormons adhere to the LDS prescription, however, and
some are known to indulge occasionally. A popular joke asks why if you
invite one Mormon to go fishing you should also invite another. The answer
is that if one of them sneaks one of your beers the other will tell the
bishop.
Beer is available at supermarkets but it is limited to 3.2 percent alcohol by
volume or 4.0 percent by weight. That includes all of the usual megabeers as
well as a number of microbrews that are brewed in the state or otherwise meet
the alcohol limitations. There is no beer sold in stores on Sundays but some
bars are open. There are quite a few private clubs that require a monthly
membership in order to drink. This includes any establishment that has live
entertainment.
Stronger beers are available at the state liquor stores, although the
selection is limited. Not all state liquor stores carry the same selection.
In greater Salt Lake City there are designated "wine stores" that have a
somewhat larger variety, including a few Belgians, for example. Prices for
beer at supermarkets are in line with other states, but prices at the state
liquor stores are high, where beer is sold by the bottle and a microbrew or
import can be $2 a bottle.
There are quite a few Utah brewpubs and a number of microbreweries. Outside
of Salt Lake City/Park City/Ogden, however, there are only two brewpubs, both
in Moab. Brewpubs and micros are allowed to brew and sell only lower alcohol
(3.2 percent ABV) beer, with the exception of a (quite decent IMHO) barley
wine from Uinta Brewing that is available only at the state liquor stores.
In my opinion several of the Salt Lake City pubs and a couple of the micros
brew very drinkable beer. There are some tricks to brewing lower alcohol
beers with adequate flavor and body, and the brewers (I worked as one) are
rather adept at using them to good effect. Obviously not all styles can be
brewed, but the alcohol limitation is not always as big a problem as someone
from out of state might think.
Homebrewing is not officially legal in Utah, but it is not expressly
forbidden and a rather flourishing homebrew community exists. There are two
homebrew shops in Salt Lake City that have a good selection and do a good
business, and a couple of homebrew clubs. There are no formal homebrew
competitions, as the state has issued an opinion that they would be illegal.
The 2002 Winter Olympics, which will be held in February and March, have
created some unique issues, which the state has not been overly flexible in
addressing. All strong beer served at private functions must be purchased
from the state liquor distribution system, which has led to a number of
corporations ordering and arranging to have imports not normally found in
Utah available for their receptions and other parties.
Your friend will find himself in a distinct minority in Vernal, which lies
squarely in the part of the state where Mormons predominate. But he will not
find himself quite alone. The nearest brewpub is a couple of hours away in
Park City, and he can drive a little more than an hour to Colorado to buy
strong beer. If he homebrews he may find himself quite a popular guy among
those who do drink.
Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Now in Highwood, IL
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 15:26:00 -0400
From: JGORMAN@steelcase.com
Subject: Freshops
Freshops has no more Rhizomes this year. Does anyone have another source for
hop bines?
Jason Gorman
Leap Resident Engineer
Phone: 616-554-2519
Fax: 616-247-3355
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 15:47:39 -0400
From: "Moyer, Douglas (IndSys, SalemVA)" <Douglas.Moyer@indsys.ge.com>
Subject: New Castle clone
Brewers,
This weekend I have the opportunity to try to sucker a friend into
homebrewing. For his first batch, he would like to make "something like
Newcastle Brown Ale but slightly less bitter". This will basically be a demo
brew, on my equipment, with him getting the results. Accordingly, I would
prefer an all-grain recipe. I don't think I'll have time betwixt then and
now to run out and purchase "Clonebrews", so can someone please share a
recipe that has been successful???
Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Salem, VA
Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 16:56:51 -0400
From: Phil Wilcox <pjwilcox@cmsenergy.com>
Subject: Rust in Pop tank
Hi All,
I just got a new used pop tank. Unfortunately for me it seems to be
shot. From the outside it looked like it had a leak on the liquid
fitting, but it did seal and was pressurized. Upon closer inspection it
looked like rust. It was rust. How do you rust a Stainless Steel keg? I
don't know...
The outside cleaned up pretty easily. But the inside of the keg is a
different story. the liquid fitting is very corroded. I couln't get the
poppet out without damaging it. the long dip tube was rusted on the top
and bottom, which were easy enough to clean up with severe elbow grease
and a scotchbrite pad. The inside however, looks like hell. I don't
think I would ever want to use it, on beer anyway.
The inside bottom of the keg, all the way up to the weld line has rust
lines all over it, like 2 inches of rusty water got evaporated from the
keg. I tried Hot One-step in high concentration. Nothing. I tried
Oven-cleaner. Nothing.
Should I bother with a hot PBW wash? I thought I would hook both
fittings with long dip tubes and from there up to my kettle recirc loop
and fire up the brewery with boiling pbw for an hour or so...
Or should I take it to the nearest brewery hand have them give it a good
caustic wash followed by an acid wash?
Or lastly find a 24" extension for my Stainless Wire brush Drill
attachement I use to clean scorch marks from scotch ales...
What say ye?
Phil Wilcox
poison frog homebrewery
Jackson, Mi
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 17:41:08 -0700
From: "Mike Pensinger" <beermkr@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Motor Speed Control!!!
Well I just wanted to let the collective know that I made a batch of
American Pale Ale yesterday and tested my Pulse Width Modulator SSR
controlled pump. It worked like a champ! All I have to do now is build the
heater chamber and the HERMS will be converted to a RIMS.
I havent posted any pictures of the new controller but will soo so check
back. I also wanted to thank c.d. pritchard publically for his help in
ironing out my problem. I got the schematic for the PWM from his
OUTSTANDING web site.
Next on the agenda... RIMS chamber built around a heater pad instead of an
element.
Beers!
Mike Pensinger
beermkr@bellatlantic.net
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~beermkr
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #3744, 09/25/01
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