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HOMEBREW Digest #4760
HOMEBREW Digest #4760 Sun 17 April 2005
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
personal notes ("Michel J. Brown")
Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st ("Christopher Clair")
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Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 04:14:45 -0700
From: "Michel J. Brown" <zymurgyst at comcast.net>
Subject: personal notes
Fwiw, I have found through my 33 years of experience (25 years of all grain
brewing), that the following are true, perhaps even apocryphal ;^)
1.) Most diacetyl production is caused by delayed/slow cooling after the
boil and using malt high in S3-Methionine.
2.) Most air/gas entrained in a system is from breakout due to the
relatively low temperatures used in mashing and/or sparging (my remedy is
simple: either boil first and cool to proper temperature, or add brewing
salts to hasten breakout.
3.) Most Belgian Ale breweries use fermentation temperatures from 65' F to
90'F and rely on a single strain with other microflora going along for the
ride (my preference is for the Belgian Abbey II Wyeast 1762) since it
impossible for most of these farmhouse breweries to keep a microbiologically
sterile environment.
4.) I've found that tartness in a beer like Flemish ale(s) is best added by
either a small addition of sauermalt (like around 4-8 oz per 5 gallons) or a
small addition to the kettle at end of boil of lemon zest (1/4-1/2 tsp is
all you need, trust me, would I lie?) to the wort.
5.) As far as mashing goes, I prefer a single step mash at 150'F for 2~3
hours (that's right, I said *hours*) using Gambrinus 2 row pale ale malt,
sparging for another 2~3 hours with *output* water at 170-180'F. Then I
immediately add the first load of hops as soon as I begin to fill the kettle
( a la first wort hopping) and thence proceed to a full 90~120 minute boil.
Cooling takes place with a ChillZilla, and comes out at pitching temperature
of around 72'F in just under 5 minutes.
6.) Oxygenating the chilled wort is only necessary when underpitching, or
pitching first generation yeasts. I frequently find I have to oxygenate the
first batch, but subsequent batches are sufficient in healthy yeast
population that extra O2 is really not as necessary as people would have you
believe. I change yeast after 4~6 uses, depending on ambient temperature,
and viability, as well as possible microbial infections.
7.) I split my beers between bottling and kegging depending on the style,
alcohol content, and just plain old personal preferences. I usually bottle
my big beers (just recently bottled a batch of American Empirical Stout --
OG 1.150, TG 1.025, IBU~100 using 1968 London ESB from Wyeast) and keg all
the lower beers except for my Belgian Farmhouse style ales, which are bottle
conditioned.
8.) CPBF procedures will vary from unit to unit, and from brew to brew, but
in general, they are not prone, as others have suggested, to diacetyl
formation (see 1 above) since I have never (yet) experienced that problem
with my CPBF. As far as air being including in the ullage, if you keep the
ullage to 4 or 5 mm or less, and use oxycaps, this should not pose a
significant risk from personal experience, with bottles up to 12 years old
of my tripels, and barleywines.
9.) Most infections can be traced back to improper sanitization procedures,
and most gushers I have judged were simply over carbonated as they had no
signs of infection (clear in bottle, little/slight sediment, no pellicle,
etc).
10.) Finally it has been my personal experience that if you use sound
brewing practices, and have correct sanitization procedures, and use fresh
ingredients with water that is potable, and appropriate for brewing, you
will succeed most of the time in producing a great brew. I cannot stress
enough the fact that it is procedure, policy, and processes that delineate
the good brewers from the truly great (that's my aspiration, still haven't
reached that level yet, although I've been told otherwise) ones.
Cheers, Slainte, Skool, Salud, and Prost!
Michel J. Brown (a.k.a. The Doctor)
Somewhere in the unfashionable eastern end of Mutter's Spiral in the Milky
Way
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Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 17:20:51 -0400
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub at verizon.net>
Subject: Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st
Brewers Unlimited Zany Zymurgists (BUZZ) is proud to announce that the 2005
BUZZ Off home brew competition will be held on Saturday, May 21st at Iron
Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, PA. For another year we will be
a qualifying event for the prestigious Masters Championship of Amateur
Brewing (MCAB) as well as the Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year. All
BJCP recognized styles (2004 guidelines) including meads and ciders are
eligible for entry. For complete details and forms, please visit the BUZZ
web site at http://hbd.org/buzz.
Entries will be accepted between May 1st and May 15th. For drop off and
mail in locations please refer to the BUZZ web site. Please, do not send
entries to Iron Hill.
BJCP Judges and stewards will be needed. If you are interested please
contact me or another committee member (contact information can be found on
the web site). All judges must be BJCP certified (any ranking).
Good luck and cheers!
Christopher Clair
buzzclub <at> verizon.net
http://hbd.org/buzz
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #4760, 04/17/05
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