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HOMEBREW Digest #5079
HOMEBREW Digest #5079 Sun 29 October 2006
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org
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Contents:
Numerical meaning of attenuation figures (Christopher Bartlett)
Pumpkin Ale (another question, no answers) (leavitdg)
Pumpkin ale ("John Campbell")
Yeast for Bottle Conditioning High Gravity Ales ("Rich Beecher")
Unibroue yeast (wyeast 3864) (Mark Nesdoly)
Congratulations CBS Spooky Brew Review Winners (fwd) (Roger Deschner)
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Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 21:05:48 -0700
From: Christopher Bartlett <bridgeweaver at khanfusion.net>
Subject: Numerical meaning of attenuation figures
I've been brewing for, holy smokes Batman it's over eight years now,
and to this day, I'm still unsure what 75% attenuation means, or how
to calculate it.
Let us say that I have a beer with an O.G. of 1.050 that ferments out
to 1.010 F.G. What percent attenuation does this represent, or if
more info is needed, how does one calculate actual attenuation so I
can get a sense if I'm getting good fermentation from my yeasts?
Christopher Bartlett
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Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 05:59:56 -0400
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: Pumpkin Ale (another question, no answers)
Brian; et al;
Interesting that the pumpkin ale question would come up, in that I have just
made one, and also have an observation and question. I used a whole pumpkin
(about 12" in diameter) gutted, skinned, sliced and boiled the heck out of it
the night before. Then I boiled it again on the morning of the brew, and added
to the mash (9 lb Golden Promise/pale, .75 lb Carmel Vienna, .25 lb Special B, 2
lb wheat) and did a multi-step infusion by applying heat to my tun.
Observation: I would drop the wheat next time, and add rice hulls from the start
in that the combination of pumpkin and wheat made for a real slow (almost stuck)
sparge. I wanted the wheat to help create a nice head, but now think that it
was a mistake.
Question: My recording of things on Promash tells me that the pumpkin added
little to the gravity. This may be due to the fact that I did not use 6 row
and the enzymes couldnt handle the amount of pumpkin? I am not sure , but near
the last 20 minutes of a 2.5 hour attempt to convert, I added some Amylaze
Enzyme, and this seemed to help a bit.
How do others use pumpkin in this brew, and what are the correct/ workable
quantities?
Confused.
Darrell
[Brian: did you get the job?]
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Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 07:10:24 -0500
From: "John Campbell" <johncampbell at comcast.net>
Subject: Pumpkin ale
The secret to good pumpkin ale is not to use any pumpkin, just the spices.
Anyone I have ever known that used pumpkin in any quantity always had
serious taste issues, among other problems.
This of course I is just my opinion and ymmv, but I think that you will get
a number of responses from the poor souls that have used pumpkin to make
beer.
This is not to say I am trying to dissuade you, as I believe the very heart
of home brewing is all about experimentation, lets just say I encourage you
to make a small pilot batch before you commit a lot of resources to it.
Cyserman
Amor est vitae essentia, Dei gratia
Carpe Cervesa
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
Edmund Burke
If you are sending anything private or confidential by email, you might as
well post is on a bill board on the interstate unless it is encrypted. If
YOU have received this email in error, you must light your computer on fire
and kill yourself immediately.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:32:31 -0400
From: "Rich Beecher" <rbeecher at hotmail.com>
Subject: Yeast for Bottle Conditioning High Gravity Ales
28 October
Greetings All,
I have, in the past, had a fair amount of trouble in getting high
gravity ales to carbonate in the bottle. I now recognize the need to add
fresh yeast along with the sugars.
I usually use S04, Windsor, or Nottingham for primary fermentation. The
ales are usually 8 to 11% ABV.
Will fresh doses of S04 or Nottingham be ok?
I believe that Champagne yeast was suggested in the past for bottle
conditioning (perhaps by Jeff Renner?) high gravity ales. If I understood
correctly, although not recommended for primary fermentation, the champagne
yeast would be ok for bottle conditioning. Is this correct? I would guess
that if it does work, it's because the champagne yeast is added at much
lower levels and because the ale has already been fermented, thus providing
a hostile environment for excessive champagne yeast growth. In other words,
the champagne yeast would be able to digest the simple sugars, but wouldn't
have the vitality to digest the complex sugars which it normally would if
employed from the start at higher dosing levels.
Thank you all much!
Rich Beecher
Chattanooga, TN
http://www.AChattanoogaWhig.com/TheConfederateCeltBrewery
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Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2006 13:34:52 -0700
From: Mark Nesdoly <m-nesdoly at shaw.ca>
Subject: Unibroue yeast (wyeast 3864)
This is my first time using this yeast. I brewed a Belgian Pale Ale 16 days
ago and I tested the gravity recently. OG 1.056, yesterday 1.022. Normally,
almost any ale yeast would be done by now (in my experience, anyway), but
according to the apparent attenuation specs on the wyeast web site, this
beer should finish in the range 1.011 - 1.014.
This yeast is very, very strange. Throughout the fermentation it forms a
very thick yeast cake on top of the beer, which essentially stops all
activity. If I gently swirl the yeast back into suspension, it takes off
again and goes like crazy for a few hours, then forms another "inverted"
yeast cake. At this point, fermentation essentially stops once again.
Is this normal for this yeast? I really like the flavours/aromas it is
producing, as the sample I withdrew yesterday tasted absolutely fantastic.
However, this odd behaviour really has me stumped.
In an effort to get things going again, I added 1 tsp of yeast nutrient and
1.5 tsp of diammonium phosphate yesterday night. It seems to have done the
trick as fermentation has picked up again, but now it's forming the inverted
yeast cake again.
- -- Mark
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2006 21:58:09 -0600 (CST)
From: Roger Deschner <rogerd at uic.edu>
Subject: Congratulations CBS Spooky Brew Review Winners (fwd)
Congratulations to the winners of the 2006 Chicago Beer Society Spooky
Brew Review Homebrew Competition. We had 187 entries this year, the most
in recent years.
A huge THANK YOU to our hosts at Flossmoor Station Brewpub (Winner of
2006 Small Brewery of the Year at GABF!), to all the judges and
stewards, and to all the brewers who entered beers in this year's
competition.
And now the results you have all been waiting for.
Roger Deschner rogerd at uic.edu -or- roger@chibeer.org
Organizer 2006 CBS Spooky Brew Review Chicago Beer Society
Spooky Brew Review 2006 Winners
BEST OF SHOW
1. Cathy's Cranberry Mead Joe Formanek, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. Common Cider Mike Kopp, St. Louis Brews
3. American IPA Michael Pearson, Foam Blowers of Indiana
Spooky Brew
1. What Went Wrong Wheat Patrick Duby, BABBLE
Smashed Pumpkin
1. Springtime in Gary Indiana Ron Stazuk, Urban Knaves of Grain
Amber Hybrid Beer
1. Still Steamin' Greg Cardelli, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. Big Al Alt Bob Beckman, St. Louis Brews
3. Suburban Alt Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
American Ale
1. Son of Baltimore Brown Rodney Kibzey, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. Fox Trail Amber Ale Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
3. 2-V or not 2-V Amber Ale Dan Hedtcke, Madison Homebrewers & Tasters
Guild
Belgian & French Ales
1. BeF Jeff Sparrow, Chicago Beer Society
2. Unter der Linder Jeff Sparrow, Chicago Beer Society
3. St. Joe's Home Brew Mark McDermott, Brewers of South Suburbia
Cider & Perry
1. Common Cider Mike Kopp, St. Louis Brews
2. Plank Road Darrell Proska, Urban Knaves of Grain
3. Ole 200 Terry Mayne
Dark Lager & Bock
1. Scott Jones, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. Bishop of Munich Dunkel Jerry Sadowski, Brewers of South Suburbia
3. St. Mark's "Passover" Dunkel Mark Bransford
English Brown Ale & Porter
1. Bulldog Porter Jim Harrison, Brewers on the Lake
2. Vade Mecum Mild Ron Barbercheck, Chicago Beer Society
3. #49 Porter Stanley Harrison
English Pale Ale
1. Ordinary Bitter Mike Flaminic, Red Ledge Brewers
2. Summer Bitter Michael Pelter, Brewers of South Suburbia
European Amber Lager
1. Veronica's Oktoberfest Joe Formanek, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. Peter Young, Urban Knaves of Grain
3. Redbird George Westlund, Chicago Beer Society
Fruit Beer
1. Silly Goose Raspberry Wheat Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
3. Raspberry Fruit Ted Grudzinski, Urban Knaves of Grain
German Wheat & Rye Beers
1. Tornado Warning Wheat Tom Seefurth, Chicago Beer Society
2. Bitzen Bock Rodney Kibzey, Urban Knaves of Grain
3. HBS wheat Ed Seaman, Urban Knaves of Grain
Indian Pale Ale
1. American IPA Michael Pearson, Foam Blowers of Indiana
2. Stonage Ale Bruce Dir, BABBLE
3. Wichansen IPA Douglas Wich, Chicago Beer Society
Light Hybrid Beer
1. Call Me Bob Beckman, St. Louis Brews
2. Cat Face Cream Ale Michael Morel, Brewers of South Suburbia
3. Insouciant American Wheat Ron Barbercheck, Chicago Beer Society
Light Lagers
1. Pizzle Drilzner Jerry Sadowski, Brewers of South Suburbia
2. Hariken Jim Harrison, Brewers on the Lake
3. Rockhead Pils Thomas Renner
Mead
1. Cathy's Cranberry Mead Joe Formanek, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. M Darrell Proska, Urban Knaves of Grain
3. Eric Duske, Chicago Beer Society
Scottish & Irish Ale
1. Irish Red Mike Flaminic, Red Ledge Brewers
2. Scotch my back Tom Seefurth, Chicago Beer Society
3. Black Jack Brad Reeg, Chicago Beer Society
Smoked & Specialty Beers
1. Stolen Bean Stout Ed Seaman, Urban Knaves of Grain
2. South Of Munich Jerry Sadowski, Brewers of South Suburbia
3. Whiskey A Gogo Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
1. Chile Pepper Porter Patrick Duby, BABBLE
2. Dark Mourning Espresso Stout John Rathmell, Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
3. bet Stewed, Tomato Tom Seefurth, Chicago Beer Society
Stout
1. Eric Duske, Chicago Beer Society
2. Stiff & Stout '05 Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
3. Scott Jones, Urban Knaves of Grain
Worldwide Strong Ales
1. Not A Shabby Abbey David Banass, The Brewbakers
2. Beklimming Dan Morey, BABBLE
3. Stand Up Tripel Doug Newberry, Silverado Homebrew Club
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5079, 10/29/06
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