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HOMEBREW Digest #5138
HOMEBREW Digest #5138 Mon 29 January 2007
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org
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Contents:
Michelob Celebrate Vanilla Oak ("Peter A. Ensminger")
RA, SRM ("A.J deLange")
Sankey use (John Mitchell)
Lagering (Leo Vitt)
Frozen dry Yeast (Richard Lynch)
What do malt color values really mean? (Fred L Johnson)
Re: Lagering ("Gus Iverson")
Diacetyl??can I get rid of it?? ("Doug Lasanen")
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Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:56:27 -0500
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: Michelob Celebrate Vanilla Oak
Just the other day, a beer-loving neighbor gave me a bottle of "Michelob
Celebrate Vanilla Oak" ale (Anheuser-Busch, 10% ABV, ~$10 per 24-oz bottle).
Yikes! This stuff tastes like a vanilla alcopop. What were they thinking?
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
Apparent Rennerian: [394, 79.9]
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Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:15:30 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: RA, SRM
Yesterday I posted that Joe's water calculated to residual alklainity of
80 and Martin posted a value of 68. A check of my calculation shows that
Martin is right. Joe also caught this. So 68 really isn't so bad though
it is over 50 which is generally considered to be the RA above which pH
tweaking is required.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I now have an Excel spreadsheet which will calculate Lab color (i.e.
color in the L, a, b color space) for 1 cm and 5 cm beer thicknesses for
illuminants A(tungsten), C(daylight), D50(the mix graphic artists use in
looking at proofs - represents a mix of daylight and tungsten), D65
(similar to D50 but bluer - matches the phosphors of most modern TV
sets), F2, F7 and F11 (different types of fluorescents). All you do is
put in the SRM value and out come 14 (2 path lengths, 7 illuminants)
sets of L, a and b values. Plug the L, a, and b values into Photoshop or
a similar program to see the actual color. Note that these values
represent the average values for a beer of a particular SRM but it is
amazing how little the beers vary in this regard i.e. how little
difference there is between the average and actual beers. Anyone who
wants a copy of this need only drop me an email at the address above.
A.J.
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Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 18:19:38 -0500
From: John Mitchell <johnlmitchell at earthlink.net>
Subject: Sankey use
I recently decided to switch to using Sankey kegs after continuous problems
with sealing soda kegs. I thought I would share what I learned to
hopefully save someone some trouble. I decided to use soda kegs that had
been converted to Sankey that I purchased from Sabco. Since the retaining
ring can be a bit of a problem to deal with, I decided to use 2" internal
snap rings and snap ring pliers purchased from McMaster-Carr (a very good
supplier of almost everthing with next-day delivery for ground rates and no
handling charge). I learned that the snap rings are about 0.016" thicker
than the retaining rings that come with the keg. This makes it more
difficult to install the snap rings, so I ended up changing out the o-ring
on the spear for some that I have on hand that are slightly smaller in
diameter than the ones that come with the keg. Still, I had problems
compressing the o-ring enough to install the snap ring. I ended up
purchasing a 1 1/4" NPT pipe plug and using a right-angle grinder to grind
off some of the threads so it would fit down into the tap recess and clear
the ears of the snap ring and the spear. I also drilled a small indention
into the top of the plug. I then used a three-leg gear puller seated on
the plug in the indention to compress the o-ring. This allowed the snap
ring to spring into position without much effort. Now I've got a pretty
easy-to-use system that I don't have to worry about fiddling with to stop
gas leaks.
Brewing in Suffolk, VA
John Mitchell
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Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:55:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Leo Vitt <leo_vitt at yahoo.com>
Subject: Lagering
Gus asked about lagering.
My first response is about the use of the term lagering. To me, that
means storing you fermented beer at a cold temp. I also think of it
meaning a secondary fermentation in the 30's F.
Gus, is the question is about primary fermentation or lagering?
Primary: You want to have a consistant temp. It should not go up and
down over the day or over the days of fermentation. That is true for
ales to. The difference is the temp. I have fermented as low as 45F
to about 52. I prefer 48-50.
If the idea is about storing outside, why not use the kegerator in the
30s?
The challenge for Gus' idea is making it consistent outside. If you
can accomplish that and keep animals and sunlight out, it can work.
Leo Vitt
Sidney, NE
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Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:20:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Lynch <rlny7575 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Frozen dry Yeast
Hello everybody. I accidentally froze 5 or 6 sachets
of dry yeast for a few days - got them mixed up with
my hops, woops.
Are these still worth trying to use? Or can I assume
that ice crystals formed and rendered them useless?
Thanks, Rich
Btw, my Onion-shallot smelling Abbey ale is in the
secondary, prognosis: to early to tell.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:27:04 -0500
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: What do malt color values really mean?
I am a little confused about SRM and EBC units for describing the color
of beer that will be produced from malt. I have always read that when
malts are described in SRM units (degrees Lovibond), the value assigned
to the malt indicates the color that one pound of malt will produce in
one gallon of wort. Accordingly, something like the following is often
stated, "One pound of grain with a rating of 20 degrees Lovibond will
yield five gallons of wort with a color of 4 degrees Lovibond."
However, I really don't understand how this can be true unless the
standard laboratory mash is one pound of grain in one gallon of wort or
the equivalent grist:wort ratio.
I believe the standard mash is something like 50 g grain in 500 mL.
Correct? If so, then the wort in the example above would have a color
closer to 3.34 Lovibond, not 4.0. Shouldn't we be calculating the
color of our wort/beer with reference to the standard mash, which is
not one pound per one gallon?
And considering European malts, Europeans and much of the rest of the
world typically use liters and kilograms, not US gallons and US pounds,
as their standard units. So what is the relationship between the color
assigned to a malt by the EBC method and the color of the wort produced
from that malt? I would expect it, too, to be relative to the ratio of
grist-to-wort used in the standard mash. Correct?
Would someone please fill me in if I'm missing something here.
Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA
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Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:45:07 -0800
From: "Gus Iverson" <gus.iverson at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Lagering
On 1/29/07, Leo Vitt <leo_vitt at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Gus asked about lagering.
>
> My first response is about the use of the term lagering. To me, that
> means storing you fermented beer at a cold temp. I also think of it
> meaning a secondary fermentation in the 30's F.
That's what I meant, secondary or long cold storage in the 30's. I
simply don't have capacity at this point to keep another beer in my
kegerator at this point, but I suppose I could drink more... Is
"lagering" possible in the 40's if I'm patient?
> The challenge for Gus' idea is making it consistent outside. If you
> can accomplish that and keep animals and sunlight out, it can work.
I've got a neoprene jacket and heater applied to the fermenter
controlled with a temperature controller and probe in a thermowell.
Temperatures are holding constant at 50-51.
I've got a new concern, however, I am using dry yeast on this batch,
and this is my first experience with both lagers and dry yeast. I
rehydrated two packs of s23 yeast and pitched it into the wort at
62-64*F, then placed the fermenter outside in it's jacket with the
heater applied where it chilled down to 50 in a couple hours.
My concern is that before I left this morning and checked the
fermenter, there was zero activity. Not a bubble on the surface of the
wort. The stout I made Sunday was already at high krausen with 2.5
inches or so of foam on top. It, of course, got a 2L starter and is
comfortably resting around 67*F.
So, should I be concerned or RDWHAHB?
Thanks,
Gus
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:20:07 -0500
From: "Doug Lasanen" <Dlasanen at fuse.net>
Subject: Diacetyl??can I get rid of it??
Hello All!
I recently brewed a German Dunkle. (Well, Last spring) 10 gallon batch.
First keg was very tasty for the first 2/3 of the keg. Then "Diacetyl"
seemed to be noticed. It started faint and got worse as the keg was
emptied. I ended up dumping about a growler.
Well, the second keg is "Diacetylly" from the git go! Is there a cure for
the "Buttery/Butterscotch defect" or do I dump the second keg??
My guess, is no cure, but, looking for hope!
Cheers!
Doug Lasanen
Bloatarian Brewing League
Cincinnati, Ohio
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5138, 01/29/07
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