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HOMEBREW Digest #4684
HOMEBREW Digest #4684 Tue 28 December 2004
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org
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Contents:
link of the week - a world beer tour (Bob Devine)
Books on mashing? (Kurt Thorn)
Servo for Homebrewers! ("Rob Moline")
corny fermenters ("Webb, Mike")
A secondary tale ("Peed, John")
Homebrew Supply Shops, Springfield, IL (Bob Hall)
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Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2004 21:42:42 -0700
From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: link of the week - a world beer tour
I was waiting for the author to return home
after his world beer tour. Now that he's back,
take a look at his sampling of beers from
his massive trip as well as other writings.
http://ratebeer.com/Beer-News/StoriesBy-195.htm
Bob Devine
sigh, no travels from Utah planned...
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Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:03:44 -0500
From: Kurt Thorn <Kthorn at CGR.Harvard.edu>
Subject: Books on mashing?
Hi all -
I've recently made the switch to all-grain and I have realized that I know
relatively little about mashing. Can anyone recommend a book or books that
has a good guide to mashing? I'm looking for something that will tell me
how to choose things like mash schedules, pH and mash thickness
appropriately for different beer styles.
Thanks!
Kurt
(kthorn at cgr.harvard.edu)
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Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 23:30:13 -0600
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: Servo for Homebrewers!
Servo for Homebrewers!
Finally....something Gump has used with great results...and advocated
for the homebrewer is now available...to homebrewers...
...ServoMyces, the yeast nutrient blessed with zinc and by brewers
across the planet.
It's about time!
While more info can be found at http://www.whitelabs.com/servomyces.html
..what can't be found there is the info that the Servo capsules for the
homebrewer are veg based, gluten free and Kosher.
AND folks, this stuff rocks.......
Homebrewers, ask your shops.....
Shops, ask WhiteLabs, who distributes it....
Cheers!
Gump
"The More I Know About Beer, The More I Realize I Need To Know More About
Beer!"
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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:33:03 -0800
From: "Webb, Mike" <mike.webb at pse.com>
Subject: corny fermenters
I'm reporting back on my experiences with fermenting in a corny keg.
This beer was a strong stout type (result of a stuck mash...) so I don't
have any good evidence of clarity, although it looked good for stout.
I transferred the cooled wort into the corny on the yeast. I've found
that using a big funnel and pouring the wort in quickly gives enough
splashing that aeration is not a problem. Then I put an open tube
on a gas in connector and used it for a blowoff tube into a jar of water.
Every couple days I'd take off the blowoff tube, pressurize with a
couple PSI and blow out the yeast. Blowing off the yeast with CO2
seems to be working well. I got a little over a pint the first time with
about 4 PSI CO2, half pint the next time but had to use about 10 PSI
to blow it out., and an oz. or so twice since then. I've banged on the
keg and gave it a twisting motion a couple times to make sure there's
not a cake buildup and I'm just getting some of the bottom stuff. Then it
was crash cooled and force carbonated. About 14 hours before the
targeted party, I "dry coffee'd" it with about a half cup of whole coffee
beans (rolled around in a paper towel to get some of the oils off) in a
hop sock. The results were impressive IMHO (and the party goers).
Great coffee aroma and taste. Obviously head retention suffered from
the oils, but was not terrible (I had it extra carbonated and a high
serving pressure to counteract some of this). Besides the next
paragraph, the only thing I'd change was I filled the keg very full,
next time I'd probably go with 4 to 4.5 gallons. I usually make about
12 gallon batches because I have 2 6.5 gal carboys, now I'd probably
go with 3 cornies and the same batch size.
I did one thing extremely dangerous and stupid in this experiment.
I transferred the wort into the keg at about 73 degrees. I decided not to
put on the blowoff tube until it cooled to ambient (in the house at about 69)
so it wouldn't draw any water in. I proceeded to have a barleywine and
fall asleep for about 6 hours. Needless to say, the keg was developing
pressure. Especially since I had some super-active yeast from a
microbrewery (thanks to Bill of Big Time in Seattle). I pulled gently on
the relief valve and promptly blew 2 streams of nice dark stout about
8' across the floor. (good thing SWMBO was asleep...). Then I got a
1 gallon plastic jug with a little water for the blowoff tube and carefully
put the gas in fitting on the keg and very forcefully blew out about 2-3
jugs of foam. Eventually I got the pressure down and left the blowoff
tube on.
Needless to say, don't do that, and check daily for activity from the
blowoff tube !! I'll try it again with a lighter colored beer and see how
the clarity holds up. My guess is it may not be crystal clear, but shouldn't
be any worse than a cask beer. Another experiment would be to remove
the blowoff tube at the appropriate time and actually cask condition.
Anyone have any ideas what this point would be ?? .002 or .004
Above FG ??
Mike Webb
Brewin' in the Washington state convergence zone
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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:09:50 -0500
From: "Peed, John" <jpeed at elotouch.com>
Subject: A secondary tale
Darrell asked if racking too early could adversely affect the beer. Too
often I've found that racking to secondary either slows or kills
fermentation (if, for instance, I rack from primary when the gravity is in
the mid teens). Consequently, I try to wait until the fermentation is very
nearly done, generally one to two weeks. I have come to doubt the need for
secondary fermentation for ales, and I've never really experienced the
dreaded "yeast bite" that is supposed to result from beer sitting too long
on the yeast. This week I discovered that I'd inadvertently left a beer on
primary yeast for nine weeks (yes, I'm generally a bit more attentive than
that!). My buddy Dennis Collins has pretty much done away with secondary
fermentation, but that's three times longer than he or I have ever left beer
on primary yeast. The beer tastes fine. So now I really question the need
for racking to secondary. It certainly makes sense for lagers, which have
true primary and secondary fermentation cycles, but I don't think it makes
sense for ales. Comments?
And along the same lines - or maybe not - what causes residual yeasty
flavors in beer? Well, gosh, that would be yeast, wouldn't it? Well, no, I
filter my beer. There may not be zero yeast in it but I'm willing to bet
that, for all intents and purposes, there is none. I use a pretty coarse
filter ( 5 to 6 micron) but I filter very slowly and (despite what "they"
say) it gets the beer brilliant - not even chill haze. I'm trying cream
ales now and they look and taste very nice except that they have a residual
yeasty flavor that detracts. I have been using 1056, but definitely plan to
try other yeasts (suggestions?). No, I don't leave my cream ales on the
yeast for nine weeks (that was an exception, I tell you!) - they get racked
off the yeast in a week or two, in spite of what I said about racking - call
it superstition.
John Peed
Oak Ridge, TN
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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:30:25 -0500
From: Bob Hall <rallenhall at henry-net.com>
Subject: Homebrew Supply Shops, Springfield, IL
A friend from Springfield, IL, got his first homebrewing/winemaking
equipment for Christmas and asked if I knew of any supply shops in his
hometown. I've been unable to find any active online links to sources in
Springfield. As always, recommendations appreciated.
Bob Hall
Napoleon, OH
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #4684, 12/28/04
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