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HOMEBREW Digest #4593
HOMEBREW Digest #4593 Mon 30 August 2004
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org
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Contents:
Mashing with Steam (SIMM) (Gary Spykman)
re: bromelain use ("-S")
This Is The Doctor Calling ("Phil Yates")
link of the week - 2004 hops (Bob Devine)
Thanks for the Syracuse tips! (elal)
Vancouver Brew Pubs ("Dave Burley")
Carbon Filter sanitation ("Dave Burley")
RE: shank to tower conversion ("Ronald La Borde")
Re: Efficiency & Amylase Enzyme followup ("Richard S Sloan")
Five Minute Mash ("Dave Larsen")
Bugs in Steve's Bourbon Barrel ("Janie Curry")
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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 23:11:42 -0400
From: Gary Spykman <mail at gjwspykman.com>
Subject: Mashing with Steam (SIMM)
Since my post last week (HBD #4586) I have had several people email
me asking for more information about my SIMM (Steam Injected Mash
Mixer). If you missed it, I was responding to a question about using
steam as the heat source for mashing. Specifically, injecting steam
directly into the wort.
Well, this is something I've been doing for a few years now. The
advantages to steam-injection over other methods are very straight
forward. There is no chance of scorching the mash as there is with
either direct bottom firing or a RIMS system using an electric
heating element. A HERMS system is safe from scorching, but is very
slow at raising the temperature in step mashing. Direct steam
injection can ramp up temperatures incredibly fast, or if adjusted
carefully can be used to simply maintain the mash temperature without
the need for an insulated mash tun.
Another problem with almost any system or method is the difficulty
maintaining consistent temperature throughout the mash. Stirring the
mash while applying the heat is an obvious cure for that. The idea of
automating the stirring by using a "mash mixer" is something that has
been discussed here on the HBD several times.
With my Steam Injected Mash Mixer, what I have done is design and
build a device which addresses all these difficulties at once: It
heats the mash as quickly or as slowly as desired with no chance of
scorching and ensures a consistent mash temperature throughout. So
let me describe my SIMM. There is a gear-motor on top, mounted to an
aluminum disc which serves as a cover for the mash tun. A mash mixing
paddle attaches to the motor shaft below the disc. Passing through
the disc are four sections of 1/2" copper pipe. These connect
together making a kind of cage which supports the mixer paddle at the
bottom. These four copper pipes each have a row of tiny holes drilled
in them. Above the disc, the four sections of copper pipe connect
together to form a single inlet controlled by a valve. The SIMM goes
into the mash tun, a steam line connects to the valve, and away you
go.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the real key to the system is a
safe and simple steam delivery device. What I use is a wallpaper
steamer (I gave a little more background on this last week). You fill
it with water and you plug it in, nothing could be simpler. For
safety it has both a pressure relief valve and a temperature "safety
fuse". For me this system is "it".
Well, enough blathering, what I really wanted to say is that I
finally took some pictures and put them up on the web. There are
captions with the pictures explaining how it works. The pictures can
be found at http://www.gjwspykman.com/simm/simm.html. All comments
appreciated.
- --
Gary Spykman
G.J.W. Spykman, Furniture & Design
47 Victoria Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
phone: 603.352.5656
fax: 603.352.5455
e-mail: mail at gjwspykman.com
web site: www.gjwspykman.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 00:05:24 -0400
From: "-S" <-s at adelphia.net>
Subject: re: bromelain use
Arthur Gonzales asks ...
> If someone
> chooses to use it, how much bromelain should one use
> to brew, for example, a thousand liters of beer?
Bromelein is a proteolytic enzyme and my recollection is that it
is similar to ficinase in that it is successfully cleaves grain
beta-amylase from it's bound larger protein and increases it's
activity dramatically. There is no reason to use bromelien
with malted grists.
> What are the circumstances that one should use it?
You might consider 'playing' with bromelein as an brewing
additive when using large amounts of unmalted grist. I can't
recomment it. As for the howto & how much - you can find
the temperature range in some of the commercial sources but
you'll still have to play with the amounts.
A can't recommend this as a useful avenue for brewing but
who knows ?
-S
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 15:14:00 +1000
From: "Phil Yates" <phil.yates at bigpond.com>
Subject: This Is The Doctor Calling
Late last night the phone rang and a heavily accented voice was warning me
to go easy on my HBD posts. Well blow me down, if it wasn't Doc Pivo calling
from Sweden. I hadn't heard from him for so long I was wondering if he'd
drowned in a vat of Bohemian Pilsner.
The Doc was actually after a contact number on Graham Sanders. It seems a
couple of his Swedish mates are heading for North Queensland and would like
to meet Mr Sanders. So blow me down again, here's Graham with number one
post in today's HBD.
I have a bad feeling the planets are lining up! I just hope I'm not in the
sights, I've got far too much fermentation to experiment with. Last time the
Doc was out here to visit me, we drank a month's supply of brew in three
days! And it took me the rest of the month to recover.
Graham, I'm handing the Swedes over to you!
Phil
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 01:22:33 -0600
From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: link of the week - 2004 hops
It is getting close to hop harvest time. So how
is the crop doing?
You can find the answer to that question and many
more hop facts at this website:
http://www.john-i-haas.com/agronomy/forecasts.htm
Bob Devine
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 08:52:30 -0300
From: elal at isn.net
Subject: Thanks for the Syracuse tips!
The Galeville Grocery was exactly the thing I was looking for: see my post at
http://www.genx40.com/archives/2004/august/galeville. Handy to both the fair
and 1-81 for the travelling eastern Ontarian - a great sixpack micro
selection.
- --
Alan
www.genx40.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:09:30 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Vancouver Brew Pubs
Brewsters:
I was once again reminded of Bill Riel's knowledge and hospitality during his
response to Marc Sedam's query about Vancouver.
A few years ago I visited Vancouver with my wife and was pleased to have such
a wonderful host as Bill, his wife and friends. The sidetrip to Vancouver was
part of my visit to that part of the country in search of the source of my
serious illness. Despite my medical problems, I was supremely well taken care
of by Bill and crew and am glad to report that the trip, as a result, was a
great success even though the Univ of WA failed to provide any new
information.
The basic source of my illness was discovered here at Duke Univ in NC and I am
pretty much recovered rather than being toes up, as was nearly everyone's
expectation.
Lesson to be learned by others by my experience is to avoid using Enbrel or
any of these other biologicals for Rheumatoid Arthritis as one side effect can
be death.
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:58:34 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Carbon Filter sanitation
Brewsters:
It is important to keep your water filters clean, esp is you use it for
drinking, as once you remove the chlorine you can have bacterial
contamination. I have seen some pretty scummy filters in my old house where we
had well water.
When I bought my reverse osmosis filter in train with a carbon filter, the
manual suggested a mild treatment with bleach before first use.
Some carbon filters come with a silver treatment to prevent bacterial
contamnation.
Dave Burley
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:39:18 -0500
From: "Ronald La Borde" <pivoron at cox.net>
Subject: RE: shank to tower conversion
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: Dean <dean at deanandadie.net>
Subject:
I have two faucets and shanks that I took off a kegerator bestowed to
me.
I would like to use the faucets in a home-built tower instead of the
shanks
and am looking for some guidance. On morebeer.com I see three parts -
gooseneck, compression gromet, and brass nut (D1390, D1391, 1392
respectively)
- that look like they may be just the ticket. Can I make the
conversion with
these parts?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Just try calling Morebeer 1-800-600-0033 and ask them.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Any other tips?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I have not tried this, but when I was in Europe, I noticed some really
fancy ceramic towers. The thought came to me that one might be able to
make one out of a table lamp.
Has anyone tried this? It seems like one could drill a hole (harder
than it sounds perhaps) through the side and mount your tap/s. On the
top, you could mount some kind of ornament.
Ron
=====
Ronald J. La Borde -- Metairie, LA
New Orleans is the suburb of Metairie, LA
www.hbd.org/rlaborde
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:24:33 -0700
From: "Richard S Sloan" <rssloan at household.com>
Subject: Re: Efficiency & Amylase Enzyme followup
Last week I posted how I saw a jump to 79% efficiency from my average of
65% the first time I added a teaspoon of Amylase Enzyme to my mash. I was
concerned that the enzymes would have broken down the sugars too much
causing greater attenuation and an unbalanced beer. I kegged last night
with a FG of 1.012, down from the OG of 1.043 and it tastes great. I
pitched the batch on top of a previous batches yeast cake (WLP028 Edinburgh
Ale) so it had full opportunity to eat most of the sugars the wort had to
offer.
I brewed an ordinary bitter on Saturday with approx 1/2 teaspoon of the
enzyme and got 71% efficiency. I went with less enzymes this time since it
was only 6 lbs of grain, and I hadn't racked the previous batch yet to know
how it finished. To be able to keep the simplicity of single infusion
mashes and batch sparging, the $1.95 I spent on the bottle of enzymes
(Crosby & Baker - 1.5oz bottle, good for several batches) is quite a
bargain.
Richard Sloan
Enjoying the brewing experiments in San Diego, CA
next up... a BIG Barleywine stlye ale with Rye
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:18:37 +0000
From: "Dave Larsen" <hunahpumonkey at hotmail.com>
Subject: Five Minute Mash
I'm chiming in a bit late on the short mash time thread. Sorry.
I was talking to the brew master of a local brew pub about his process a few
months ago, and he told me that his mash time was typically around five
minutes. I could not believe it, and asked him about his efficiency. He
responded by saying that it was about 68%.
Upon questioning him further, he told me that he does not do a mashout, and
maintains his saccharification temp throughout his sparge. So, to say that
he has a five minute mash time is not fair, really, as much of his
conversion happens during the sparge.
I have never tried this at home, since my sparge temps tend to be all over
the place. I did find it all pretty interesting, though.
Dave
Tucson, AZ
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 22:16:46 +0000
From: "Janie Curry" <houndandcalico at hotmail.com>
Subject: Bugs in Steve's Bourbon Barrel
Steve asks about bugs in his bourbon barrels. I forwarded his question on
to my friend Craig, an Air Force entomologis....here is his diagnosis and
fix.
Sounds likes powder post beetles to me. If it is a new infestation you
might not see any bore holes as they are the result of the adults emerging.
If the sawdust is coming from the joints it could be a result of the larvae
boring past the joint and the positive pressure of the barrel "blowing" some
of the sawdust (actually beetle larvae feces) out the joint. Usually powder
post beetles are treated with a pesticide containing borates (like for
treated lumber). This penetrates the wood and kills the living insects and
will also protect the wood from future infestation. I would NOT treat an
oak cask with beer in it. Finishing the cask with shellac or some other
product would help prevent any future infestation. It probably won't
suffocate the existing larvae. There is enough air space is the wood for
them to survive. The adults will emerge through the finish and the holes
will provide new oviposition locations for the next generation. So in
reality the finish will have to be reapplied to cover the new holes.
Probably not a good option for 100% control although it could control the
majority of the population. I can't really say what the effects of
shellacking the cask will do to it and the contents. Since casks are close
to being airtight it probably won't hurt, but I am not the expert on this.
Not sure how easy this would be to do, but after the cask is empty taking it
to a large walk in freezer for a few days will probably kill the
infestation. A reefer won't kill them off, it would have to be a freezer.
This method will work best if the average temp of the cask has been 70+
degrees for a while. If the cask has been in a cellar at 50 or so then the
method won't be as effective as the insects will already be somewhat adapted
to the colder climate. More of them will survive. Insects can survive the
cold if allowed to adapt to it. Taking them from 70-80 down to 0 to -10 in
an hour will shock their systems and kill them. It is possible that newly
laid eggs won't be killed.
Hope this helps. I would be happy to accept barley wine donations for my
consultation fees. :>)
Craig
Todd in Idaho
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #4593, 08/30/04
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