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HOMEBREW Digest #4942
HOMEBREW Digest #4942 Thu 02 February 2006
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org
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Contents:
Hardness ("A.J deLange")
RE: Homebrew supplies in Portland, OR ("Kyle Jones")
RE: Correction to shipping on cornies ("Kyle Jones")
Re: water hardness ("Martin Brungard")
water and rice hulls ("D. Clark")
Hopbacking results (Fred L Johnson)
Re: Fermenting temps ("Randy Pressley")
MCAB Update and call for Judges and Stewards ("Stock, Curtis")
Call for Judges and Entries for Las Vegas Winterfest 2006 (Scott Alfter)
Reuse dry yeast cake... ("Michael Eyre")
Lagers made from ale malt [Sec: Unclassified] ("Williams, Rowan")
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Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 13:46:40 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Hardness
Well my Waterman costume is at the cleaners but I'll do what I can. You
weren't given much information. pH is, by itself, a pretty useless
measurement for brewers (or anyone else for that matter). The hardness
measurement is a little more telling. Each grain per gallon is
equivalent to 17.1 ppm as CaCO3 so your hardness is 51-68 ppm as calcium
carbonate. This is fairly low hardness but not low enough that the water
could be considered soft. You should not need a water softener at this
level but you also probably wouldn't want to brew a Bohemian Pils with
it (dilute it 1:1 or 2:1 with DI water and you should be fine). A gypsum
addition would probably be a benefit for most ales.
The most important piece of missing information is the alkalinity of the
water. This is a very simple test and kits can be obtained from aquarium
supply shops, hardware stores and water analysis supply companies e.g.
Hach or Lamotte. It would also be nice to know the sulfate content. This
one is a bit tougher to measure but Cole Parmer still offers a kit.
Sending a sample off to a lab is another option but make sure that they
measure the things a brewer is interested in (calcium hardness,
magnesium hardness, alkalinity, chloride, chlorine/chloramine, iron)
A.J.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 10:15:45 -0500
From: "Kyle Jones" <kjones1 at ufl.edu>
Subject: RE: Homebrew supplies in Portland, OR
Grant asks about a source for cornies in Portland.
Grant--while I have no idea about homebrew supplies in Portland (I am in
FL), I have
found this site on the web:
http://www.rcbequip.com/
They have a warehouse (in CA I believe), and I remember them quoting me
a shipping
rate of around 15-16 US dollars for their standard package (holds up to
4 kegs). I don't
know if (and how much it would be) they would ship Down Under, but it
certainly seems
worth a try at $12.50 per keg.
Kyle
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 10:32:42 -0500
From: "Kyle Jones" <kjones1 at ufl.edu>
Subject: RE: Correction to shipping on cornies
Grant-I rechecked the shipping (I thought 16 sounded pretty cheap), and
I was
Mistaken--to FL it is actually around $35 per box of 4, but it still
might be worth it for
you. Give them a call.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 07:40:21 -0900
From: "Martin Brungard" <mabrungard at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: water hardness
Jay had a water report from a technician that reported that the hardness was
3 to 4 grains of hardness. The tech went on to say that the water was
therefore soft.
The hardness in grains per gallon is multiplied by 17.1 to calculate the
hardness in ppm as CaCO3. Therefore, the hardness is about 51 to 68 ppm.
Assuming that all the hardness is from calcium, the calcium content is
probably 20 to 25 ppm (mg/L). The calcium content is probably slightly
lower than this since some of the hardness is probably from magnesium, but
typical waters have low magnesium content.
The water is moderately soft and is probably a good water source if it
doesn't have other poor water quality parameters. Its not going to be a
Pilsen style water though. The hardness is still too high.
The pH value of 6.5 to 7 suggests that the water probably isn't from a
carbonate aquifer source and the alkalinity is probably low. Unfortunately,
the pH is not a definitive indicator of either of these parameters. A more
comprehensive water analysis should be conducted to determine the alkalinity
and the other ions in the water.
Martin Brungard
Tallahassee, FL
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 19:52:43 -0500
From: "D. Clark" <clark at capital.net>
Subject: water and rice hulls
Hi list,
Jay Spies writes:
Just moved to York, PA recently and one of the techs who's doing follow up
on our new house did a pH and hardness test on our water supply and said
"it's very soft, only about 3-4 grains of hardness". I asked him to clarify
and he said that was the scale thay they used to measure hardness. My pH is
a bit high at 6.5 - 7.
Must be nice. My water is 23 grains hardness. I don't know what that
means either, but I know its pretty darn hard. We're on our third hot
water heater in 27 years. I'm about to send out samples to Ward Labs to
have it analyzed and then quiz the board here to see what I can do. Ph is
7 by the way.
On another subject, I often brew wheat beers and on a couple of occasions I
have had some very slow sparges. I know that rice hulls would help. Do
they get mixed with the mash, or do they go into the bottom of the lauter
tun to act as a filter? I have a pound and a half bag of hulls. Will this
do it for me? Thanks for any help.
Dave Clark
Eagle Bridge, New York
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 07:15:41 -0500
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Hopbacking results
I'm not sure anyone but myself cares about the following, but in case
anyone else is struggling as I am with their late hop additions, I
thought I should offer the following observation.
I brewed a 10 gallon batch of special bitter several weeks ago with a
single addition of Fuggles (US) 60 minutes before flameout in a 70
minute boil. The first five gallons were transferred to the fermentor
using an inline one-quart Mason jar hopback containing one ounce of
Goldings (US) at 4.3% alpha acid and chilled with a counterflow
chiller. The five-gallon transfer took about five minutes. The second
five gallons were transferred to another fermentor using the same
hopback after removing the Goldings and adding one ounce of Northdown
at 8.0% alpha acids, again using the counterflow chiller and again
requiring about five minutes to transfer.The beers were bottle
conditioned.
The five gallons hopped with Northdown in the hopback is very bitter
relative to the five gallons hopped with Goldings in the hopback. I
have not measured the IBUs, but there is clearly a difference in the
bitterness level and it is not a subtle difference. The Northdown comes
across like an IPA.
I am considering abandoning the use of a hop back, going back to my
original method of adding late hop in the kettle (as when I was using
an immersion chiller), using the counterflow chiller to recirculate the
wort in the boiling kettle until it is chilled siginificantly (to
temperatures where alpha acid isomerization may be minimal), and then
diverting the outflow to the fermentors.
Does anyone else chill this way? Shouldn't this be just as efficient at
chilling the wort, at least as efficient as an immersion chiller?
Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:07:38 -0500
From: "Randy Pressley" <RANDYP at cityofws.org>
Subject: Re: Fermenting temps
Add some bleach to the heated water to keep the
green gunk away.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 12:00:40 -0600
From: "Stock, Curtis" <Curtis.Stock at state.mn.us>
Subject: MCAB Update and call for Judges and Stewards
MCAB Brewers and interested people,
Competition Date: March 11, 2006
Event Schedule:
9:15 AM Judges/volunteers arrive and breakfast is served.
10:00 AM First judge session begins (including instructions and
calibration beer)
1:15 PM Lunch
2:00 PM Second judge session begins
4:30 PM Best of Show Judging
6:00 PM Water of the World talk by Kris England, BJCP CEP Director (BJCP
CEP credit for attendees)
Presentation of brewing water from around the world and
associated beer styles.
Only available to attendees who have paid for the dinner
due to limited seating, sorry.
7:15 PM Dinner served - cost will be $30. Seating is limited (60).
Judges, stewards and volunteers will have first chance
at dinner reservations.
Please reserve a dinner spot by emailing the organizer
mailto:curt at sphbc.org
Prepayment required to assure attendance, make check payable to
Curt Stock.
Mail payments to:
Curt Stock - MCAB Dinner
1472 Como Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
Payment must be received by March 4th to assure a seat for the
dinner.
If you have MCAB VIII entries, payment may be included with your
entry fees.
But email the organizer ASAP to reserve a spot.
8:30 PM Awards Ceremony open to public
If you are interested in judging email the organizer and
include:
Name:
BJCP Number:
BJCP Rank:
Preferred Categories:
What Sessions you want to judge 10:00 AM and/or 2:00 PM:
Dinner Reservation: Yes or No
Hotel information for out of town judges:
Holiday Inn Express
1010 Bandana Blvd West
St Paul, MN 55108 - 5107
(877) 410-6687
This hotel is about 3 miles from the judge location.
Currently working on a block of rooms or a closer hotel.
mailto:curt at sphbc.org
Curt Stock
MCAB Organizer
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 10:55:27 -0800
From: Scott Alfter <scott at alfter.us>
Subject: Call for Judges and Entries for Las Vegas Winterfest 2006
Were you wondering what happened to the Las Vegas Winterfest competition? It's
usually been held a bit earlier in the year, but a combination of factors moved
this year's event to 18 March 2006. We're looking to grow the competition back
to what it used to be, and we need your entries!
Two bottles and $6.00 is all it takes to get your beer, mead, or cider in. If
you have ten or more entries, the entry fee maxes out at $60.00...a deal for
the more prolific brewers among you. Your shipments will be accepted from 4 to
11 March at Nevada Brew & Wine Supply, 4800 S. Maryland Pkwy. #J, Las Vegas, NV
89119.
The competition itself will be held at UNLV, where it's been located the past
few years. We'll need all of the judges and stewards we can muster; if you're
interested, send me some mail.
For more detailed info, see our competition webpage:
http://snafu.alfter.us/competitions/winterfest06/
Thanks, and good luck to all entrants!
Scott Alfter
scott at beerandloafing.org
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 14:30:38 -0800
From: "Michael Eyre" <meyre at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Reuse dry yeast cake...
I have a 1.045 stout in primary now... I am planning an imperial stout
at the end of the week and will have the option of pitching onto the
yeast cake of the Safale US-56 that I used for the small stout.
Considering that this is dry yeast, and I'm mostly heard to *not* reuse
the yeast from a dry yeast pitch, what're your thoughts on this, HBD
collective? Is one reuse OK? Don't do it at any cost? I suppose the
$3.50 for the two packets of dry I'd use for the Imp. Stout is a small
price, but hey... the yeast in the fermenter is already there. So...
what say you?
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 09:09:51 +1100
From: "Williams, Rowan" <Rowan.Williams at ag.gov.au>
Subject: Lagers made from ale malt [Sec: Unclassified]
G'day all,
Ok, I'm keen to start lager production before our southern hemisphere goes
cool. I have plenty of noble hops, Californian / Bavarian/ Oktoberfest
lager yeast and a newly acquired temp controller for the fridge. The only
problem is I have no pilsener malt! I've got plenty of UK and Aussie pale
ale malt and carapils by the bag, so is there a problem with me using the
ale malt as the base?
Other than the fact that "you're not doing it right, sir!" is there a
problem in making a lager with pale ale malt as the base?
Your thoughts?
Rowan Williams
Canberra Brewers Club
[9588.6, 261.5] AR (statute miles)
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #4942, 02/02/06
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