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HOMEBREW Digest #4299
HOMEBREW Digest #4299 Thu 17 July 2003
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
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Contents:
Keg Cleaning ("Steve Holden")
re: Scotland and Ireland ("Davison, Patrick")
RE :squishy wheat and Keg Cleaning ("Sven Pfitt")
Bent Dick/Showtunes ("Eric Fouch")
Berry Conversions (Travis Dahl KE4VYZ)
Barley Crusher ("Stephan Bergman")
Hoegaarden Wit for marital bliss... (Chuck Brandt)
unmalted wheat ("Dave Burley")
re: Scotland and Ireland (Jay Hellhound)
August AHA Club-Only Competition/Mead Day recipe ("Gary Glass")
RE: More Roeselare: sour ale tips (Warren Place)
Re: vienna malt. ("john w")
Re: keg cleaning ("Dean Fikar")
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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:16:13 -0600
From: "Steve Holden" <spholden.ga1@comcast.net>
Subject: Keg Cleaning
>>Dave Houseman asks: "I'm curious what others do on a regular basis
in cleaning kegs from one batch to the next."
Here's what I do FWIW
1. Rinse keg with nozzle from hose or the pressure washer (every guy needs
one of these) to remove any heavy crud.
2. Fill with water and 5 oz of Divo-pak-T (sodium hydroxide & potassium
hydroxide I think) and soak 90 minutes. (Be sure to let solution flow
into poppets, dip tubes, and pressure release valve)
3. I generally used compressed air to move solution to next keg. (For that
scrubbing action in the keg post/poppet.)
4. Rinse well
5. Refill with fresh water and add 0.5oz of iodine. Seal keg and
pressurize. Carefully let a little solution squirt out of the 'in' and
'out' posts and pressure relief and wait.
6. Move sanitizer out with co2. Let it blow when its empty to get most of
the sanitizer out.
7. Store with residual sanitizer and co2 pressure. Having to bleed the
pressure off when I open the keg for filling is nice reassurance that there
are no pressure leaks.
I figure the keg should be sanitary whenever I may need it again. Thanks to
the Bay Area Mashers for the write up on no rinse iodine sanitizing.
After rebuilding and sometimes after cleaning, I will also pressurize and
submerge the keg in a cylindrical garbage can to check for the tiniest of
leaks.
- -------
Also, Thanks to those who shared the 'keg lube on the poppet trick'. Its
the simple obvious things that are overlooked. I wonder how many more years
it would take to figure that out on my own.
- -------
A note about Star-San. The concentrate ate the color out of SWMBO's kitchen
counter top. The only way I can guess how it happened was I dribbled down
the bottle and capillary action sucked it around the bottle. Made a ghostly
white two inch circle in the black finish.
Thankfully most brewing operations are outside now. Little chance for the
big boy and his toys to ruin mama's nice kitchen.
Steve Holden
West Valley, UT
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:23:16 -0400
From: "Davison, Patrick" <Davison@nsf.org>
Subject: re: Scotland and Ireland
On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 16:24:41, Glenn Ferrell wrote regarding his honeymoon:
"We plan to spend most of our honeymoon in Scotland with four days in
Dublin, Ireland.
In Dublin, I want to take the Guinness tour, sample some of the fresh stuff
and
check out a pub or two, hopefully with some traditional music.
Can anyone offer suggestions for our visit to Dublin and tell me what I
should
check out, beer wise, in Scotland. I'll be there two weeks this time."
I visited Dublin with my wife last summer. We did the Guinness Disneyworld,
uh, Storehouse, tour and found it thoroughlly enjoyable, though I was a bit
disappointed to learn the tour does not include the actual brewery (unless I
missed that line). My favorite stop in the storehouse tour (aside from the
complimentary pint on the top floor) was the barrel section. Inside one of
the barrels there was an old film showing a cooper at his trade. Being a
novice woodworker as well as a novice homebrewer, I was thoroughlly
impressed.
It's hard not to find a pub that offers live music; many pubs advertise live
music daily. There's a group of musicians who frequent the pubs with their
instruments and play a combination of traditional and improvised music, as
well as the occasional showtune, in 'pick-up' groups. It seems anybody can
show up with their instrument and join in, and it's nothing shy of
incredible (did I happen to mention I'm also a novice musician as well as a
novice woodworker and homebrewer?).
You may wish to research your trip with the following website:
http://www.dublinpubs.net/index.htm
If you want to walk off the beer, I would also suggest the Irish National
Museum and the Old Library and Book of Kells exhibits at Trinity College.
Enjoy!
Pat Davison
Wearing long sleeved shirts and mosquito repellant to avoid West Nile
mosquitos while watering my hops in Ferndale, MI
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:56:29 -0400
From: "Sven Pfitt" <the_gimp98@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE :squishy wheat and Keg Cleaning
Brian Lundeen responds to Steve Alaxander :
>Steve Alexander writes:
>I would not recommend mashing with damp malt or even recently dried malt.
>Yes the enzymes are >present and you can make beer, but the crushing is
>very difficult.
>
>Me: This reminds of a question I had regarding some wheat I purchased.
>
>The first sack of unmalted wheat was so hard I thought my Armstrong motor
>was going to seize up >during milling. Unfortunately, that supplier of good
>cheap wheat got out of the business.
>
>This last sack I bought from a different supplier was completely different.
>My Valley Mill had a heck of a >time just getting it started. It just
>wanted to sit there while the rollers rotated freely beneath the >grain. I
>had to open up the gap some to get it going, and when it did it didn't
>really look crushed. >Just sort of "squished". IOW, it didn't break it up
>into fine particles, just smashed it down but the >kernel >still largely
>held together.
>
>Would this be indicative of too high a moisture content? Am I likely to
>suffer from mold problems as >this stuff sits in storage? I mean, I like
>Wits, but it's still going to take me awhile to go through a >whole sack.
>
>Cheers
>Brian, in Winnipeg
I normally run the wheat through my Valley Mill twice, sometimes three
times. I run it through at least once by itself, and the last time I mix it
with the malted grain and run it through. I get a better crush that way.
Speaking of Wit bear, I recently tried Bulgar Wheat in (Vulgar Bulgar Wit)
two batches of Wit. The only downside is that it produces a dark wit which
looks more like an APA. Flavor and efficency are great.
Bulgar Wheat is ground, processed wheat that has been steam cooked
(pre-gelatinized!), and I had no problems with 50% unmalted wheat causing
stuck sparges, etc.
No grinding required!
Cheap, $0.65/lb
As for cleaning kegs. After emptying one, I rinse it with hot water to
remove the obvious gunk in the bottom. Then add a gallon of water and some
starsan, rinse the lid and 'O' ring with hot water and reassemble it. I
shake it and add some CO2 to pressurize. I depress each poppet to let some
SS water out, and pull the pressure release to do the same. Then I let it
set 24 hrs with occasional agitation. When I get around to it, I transfer
the SS soldution to anothe keg, then let the original keg dry with the lid
off. I store the kegs with the lids in place. I flush with Starsan solution
before use again. Once a year I dissassemble all kegs not in use, and wash
everything with PBW, sanitize with Qantinary Amonia (sp), rinse, reassemble
and flush with starsan.
Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery http://thegimp.8k.com
Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] Rennerian
"There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks." Wings Whiplash - 1968
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:23:50 -0500
From: "Eric Fouch" <airrick147@registerednurses.com>
Subject: Bent Dick/Showtunes
I heard from a little bird a question was raised
regarding my whereabouts, well-being, and choice
of brewery names.
The Bent Dick YoctoBrewery was the name of my first
brewery. It was taken down and retired during my move
from Kentwood, MI to Caledonia MI.
It was so named so as to indicate something small
and useless. I planned to use that picture of President
Nixon waving both hands with the double "V" pose on the
labels, but never got around to it.
I have, since the move, built an all-electric brewery to
replace it. 15 gallons, 4500W. Works pretty nice, too.
Some old guy who reads this list had pictures of my
brewery up, but I think I pissed him off, and he took it
down. (Please call me, Fred. Can't we talk this out?)
My seventh brew on it (a brown ale) won a Grand Rapids
Brewing Company brewing contest, and I'll be brewing it
on their system (7 bbl) for their sixth tap. Brew date should
be mid-August. I'll let you know when the tap party is.
Everyone's invited!!
I'm still pondering a worthy name for the new brewery.
I haven't been keeping up with the HBD much, but upon perusing
the last few issues, I find myself alarmed with Mr. Gump's
penchant for showtunes.
Say it ain't so, Jethro!!
Eric Fouch
The Chicken Ranch
Caledonia MI.
Buff it up
Buff it up
Buff it up
Buff it up
Yeah- Thing's shiny NOW, baby!
- --
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:49:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Travis Dahl KE4VYZ <dahlt@umich.edu>
Subject: Berry Conversions
Fresh berries are starting to show up at the farmer's market and I've been
looking at recipes for fruit beers (and meads). The recipes almost always
call for a specific weight of fruit (and w/cherries, they usually call for
x pounds of _pitted_ cherries). At the farmer's market, however, the
fruit is usualy sold by the pint/quart. Any idea what sort of conversion
needs to be done here? (Specifically, Im thinking of the cherries that
will need to be pitted and then weighed.) How many quarts do I need to
buy if I want 10 or 15 lbs.?
-Travis
[1.8, 98.3] Apparent Rennerian
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:37:22 -0500
From: "Stephan Bergman" <yeastfarmer@hotmail.com>
Subject: Barley Crusher
Just curious as to if anyone else out there has used the Barley Crusher? I
had great customer service with these guys (no affiliation) and am very
happy with the mill. Just thought I would ask if anyone else has used one.
Stefan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 12:53:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chuck Brandt <cdbrandt@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: Hoegaarden Wit for marital bliss...
Lately, SWMBO has taken quite a fancy to Hoegaarden Wit (went so far as
to pick up her own case a few weeks ago...). Since she's never been a
big beer fan, I'd like to capitalize and expand this fancy (hopefully)
by whipping up a homebrew version. Anyone have any thoughts on the best
fermentation temp/yeast and/or spice combination to recreate this
classic in an extract + specialty grain mode? Any help you can provide
towards perpetuating my marital bliss would be most appreciated...
Thanks,
Chuck Brandt
[193, 87.5] apparent Rennerian
aka Pittsburgh
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 14:30:36 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley@charter.net>
Subject: unmalted wheat
Brewsters:
Brian of Winnepeg asks how to use unmalted wheat as he is having a hard ( so
to speak) time milling it. He suspects the supplier.
Well, all unmalted wheat or barley, independent of the source, is hard (
called "steely ends" for a reason by maltsters sometimes when certain
individual grains don't malt properly) and you don't mill it. You must cook
it like you would any other unmalted adjunct. That's the secret. This bursts
the starch granules so that the enzymes in the mash can get to the starch.
You've probably been wasting most of the wheat you've been putting in as
milled unmalted and uncooked wheat.
Put the unmalted wheat in a pan with a measured amount of water to cover and
about an inch or so extra - more won't hurt, bring it to the boil, remove from
the heat and let it sit overnight or so to swell up. You can cook it a little
longer if you wish and are in a hurry. Just so it softens all the way
through. You can now pass it through a cooking food mill, your food processor
or whatever. Too fine and you may have some clarity or lautering problems, so
the idea is to have it look like grainy oatmeal with each kernal's insides
exposed for the mashing. Put this right into the mash with the milled, malted
grain ( grist) and water. Take into account how much water you put in the
cooker as you will need this for your total mash water calculation.
Malted wheat ( most often used in beer) you can dry mill with no problem, just
need to reset your mill nip. In all cases for malted wheat and barley it is a
good idea to mill twice. Once coarsely to crack the grain (to release
undamaged husk from barley) and then a second pass to fine mill it. You will
find your extraction efficiency will improve tremendously and it will actually
be faster than a single fine pass.
As an aside, in this use for unmalted grain, never use seed grade wheat or
barley, as these most often have various fungicides added. Use feed grade you
get from the animal feed store. I always rinse before cooking and after
weighing the adjunct.
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:59:14 -0400
From: Jay Hellhound <whiplash@juno.com>
Subject: re: Scotland and Ireland
Warning: Please PgDn if you dont want to read a travelogue!
First of all, congratulations Glenn on your upcoming nuptials!
Since the digest was a little thin today I don't feel too bad about
posting a little off-topic:
As for the Guinness tour. Let it be known that I LOVE Guinness. That
being said,
I was disappointed by the tour. Don't get me wrong, Just being at St.
James Gate
was a thrill I will never forget. But the tour was not cheap and was
mostly
promotional. I felt that I shouldn't have been charged to walk through a
Guinness commercial, especially one where Arthur was so unabashedly
deified. At
points they give the impression that he invented beer! Don't miss the
cooperage
exhibit, it's pretty much the best part. Also, The best guinness you will
ever
have is in the Gravity Bar overlooking Dublin.
I highly suggest taking the Jameson Irish Whiskey tour. The sightseeing
bus that
we took to and from St. James Gate also went past the Jameson tour. They
charge
for the tour too, but I actually felt like I learned things, so it was
worth it.
At the end they give everyone a shot of Jameson and have a few people do
a
'taste test' of different whiskeys and scotches. Good fun was had by all.
Had a hard time finding 'traditional music' in Ireland. It's easier to
find a
session out here in Quincy, MA than it was in Dublin, Galway and the
islands.
You can go out and throw a rock and hit a great bar in Edinbrough (please
do not
throw rocks in Edinbrough) so I won't go into all of them. Our favorite
was
called The Kings Work, good beer and the best mussels I have ever had.
Next door
is a place called The Real Ale, very cool.
BTW, Absinthe is legal in the U.K., if you are in a good bar they go
through the
whole ritual associated with preparing it. Everyone should try it once
just to
say they did
Non-beer related: The highlight of my Celtic Vacation was visiting Doune
Castle
(not far from Sterling/Wallace Mnmnt.) otherwise known as The Rude
Frenchmen's
Castle, Swamp Castle, The Castle Anthrax, Camelot, and the place where
they have
the argument about the unladen swallow. A great place to visit if you are
obsessed with a certain low-budget movie from the 70's. If you ask at the
gift
shop, they will lend you coconut halves to run around and make a jack*ss
of
yourself with.
While I have the mic I better ask a beer-related question. Does anyone
know what
kind if hops they use in Harpoon's Catamount Pale Ale?
Jay,
Brewin' Rehab Homebrews at the Boilover Brauhaus in Walpole MA 02081
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 16:47:56 -0600
From: "Gary Glass" <gary@aob.org>
Subject: August AHA Club-Only Competition/Mead Day recipe
The August AHA Club-Only Competition is being held in Denver, hosted by the
Foam on the Range club. There was an error on the homebrewing calendar at
www.beertown.org reporting that an LA club was hosting the competition
(Pacific Gravity is hosting the November competition) that might have caused
some confusion. The entry deadline for the competition is July 25, so get
those entries in now! For more details on the Club-Only Competitions, see
http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/club.html.
This year's Mead Day (August 2) recipe provided by "The Compleat Meadmaker"
author, Ken Schramm, is now up on the website as well. You can check it out
at http://www.beertown.org/events/meadday/index.html. Be sure to register
your site!
Cheers!
Gary
[1126.8, 262] Rennerian
Gary Glass, Project Coordinator
Association of Brewers
888-U-CAN-BREW
(303) 447-0816 x 121
gary@aob.org
www.beertown.org
July is American Beer month! Discover the Flavors of Independence,
http://www.americanbeermonth.com
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 17:16:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Warren Place <wrplace@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: RE: More Roeselare: sour ale tips
From: "Raj B. Apte" <raj_apte@yahoo.com>
"New Belgium Brewing Black Ale, for example, has a
great Brett culture in it"
Can this brett. be isolated from the bottle? I had a bottle this
weekend and the beer looked pretty well-filtered to me.
Warren Place
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 15:28:25 -0500
From: "john w" <j2saret@hotpop.com>
Subject: Re: vienna malt.
Inspired by a post from OZ, last summer I brewed a vienna ale using all
vienna malt. It was the most changeable beer I've ever brewed. I wonder if
that is a characteristic of single malt beers or of the particular malt?
- ----But i recently made a Vienna from 100 percent vienna malt. You don't
need anything else.(except hops, water and yeast of course)-----
John
Duluth
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 20:03:47 -0600
From: "Dean Fikar" <dfikar@netzero.net>
Subject: Re: keg cleaning
Dave H. asks:
"I'm curious what others do on a regular basis in cleaning kegs from one
batch to the next. While I rinse them, scrub with a carboy brush and
PBW
and then sanitize prior to reuse with Iodophor and rinse with boiling
water,
I don't on a regular basis dis-assemble the poppet valves or take a
brush to
the inside of the outlet tube. When sanitizing with Iodophor I do
pressurize and vent Iodophor through both the inlet and outlet poppets.
Do others field strip these valve assemblies between each use?"
Hey Dave,
My routine:
Wait until 3-5 kegs need cleaning. Rinse all with a garden hose then
fill one with warm PBW all the way to the top. After ~30 min. put about
1-2 qt. hot water in the bottom of keg #2 and siphon the PBW from keg #1
to #2 via a connector tube between the two liquid fittings. Put a gas
fitting and tube on the second keg and let the excess siphoned PBW
solution pour out the gas side into a container. Scrub the inside of
the first (now empty) keg lightly with a mildly abrasive pad of some
sort then rinse with tap water. Repeat as above for the other kegs
except instead of hot water put the PBW effluent from keg #2 gas side
overflow into the bottom of keg #3 before siphoning.
This routine should clean the dip tube and liquid side fittings via the
siphoning of 5 gal. of PBW (except for the first keg). The gas side
gets some PBW overflow but is of little concern since the gas side
should see little beer flow and thus get little opportunity to
accumulate grunge. I never have seen the need to break down any of my
kegs for cleaning of the parts using this routine. I might add that I
have at times taken apart one of the fittings to replace a faulty
poppet, etc. and have never noticed any grunge or beerstone.
Works for me!
Dean Fikar
Fort Worth, TX
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #4299, 07/17/03
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