HOMEBREW Digest #1722 Thu 04 May 1995

Digest #1721 Digest #1723


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor


Contents:
  ads on HBD (Alan P. Van Dyke)
  BARGAINS!  DON'T MISS! (Class Math212)
  "Stuck" ferment (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
  Re: Stuck batches, broken bottles, DME, Mash Heating (harry)
  Where's the Mead makers??? (Gerald_Wirtz)
  Stuck Fermentation (Domenick Venezia)
  Anyone else had problems with bounced posts (uswlsrap)
  Wort boiling question (A2J)
  Dry Hopping / Open Ferments (Randy M. Davis)
  Small and Tiny Homebrew competition (spencer)
  Mittelfruh hops, microwaving insects (CGEDEN)
  Dry hopping with pellets (David Draper)
  Filtering ("Pete Hanlon")
  Lemongrass? (Nikolaus Matheis)
  OG Calcs in SUDS (David Draper)
  Re: Stainless Steel (WCromwell)
  homebrewers sanitation...worry too much? (Dan Pack)
  Kegging (MR HENRY B BANKS)
  Experience w/Gott & Fix mash schedule ("Rick Gontarek, Ph.D.")
  Commercial postings, flubs and flames ("Lee C. Bussy")
  Re: Grand Rapids Info ()
  5 Liter Keg Problem (Drago James MAJ)
  Re: Light Struck Beer (William Shelton)
  STORING HOPS (Tom Wenck)
  RE. Sparging with boiling water (Matt_K)

****************************************************************** * POLICY NOTE: Due to the incredible volume of bouncing mail, * I am going to have to start removing addresses from the list * that cause ongoing problems. In particular, if your mailbox * is full or your account over quota, and this results in bounced * mail, your address will be removed from the list after a few days. * * If you use a 'vacation' program, please be sure that it only * sends a automated reply to homebrew-request *once*. If I get * more than one, then I'll delete your address from the list. ****************************************************************** ################################################################# # # YET ANOTHER NEW FEDERAL REGULATION: if you are UNSUBSCRIBING from the # digest, please make sure you send your request to the same service # provider that you sent your subscription request!!! I am now receiving # many unsubscribe requests that do not match any address on my mailing # list, and effective immediately I will be silently deleting such # requests. # ################################################################# Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), then you MUST unsubscribe the same way! If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at novell.physics.umr.edu ARCHIVES: An archive of previous issues of this digest, as well as other beer related information can be accessed via anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu. Use ftp to log in as anonymous and give your full e-mail address as the password, look under the directory /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer directory. AFS users can find it under /afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer. If you do not have ftp capability you may access the files via e-mail using the ftpmail service at gatekeeper.dec.com. For information about this service, send an e-mail message to ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com with the word "help" (without the quotes) in the body of the message.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 12:31:18 -0500 From: alan at mail.utexas.edu (Alan P. Van Dyke) Subject: ads on HBD Howdy, Okay, someone's got to come to the rescue here. I think that, in the past, the general concensus concerning advertising on the HBD is that blatant, repetitive advertising is a no-no, but single-shot, informative product announcements are generally okay. I see -nothing- wrong with announcing that you have a catalog available & leaving it at that. It is general information that can benefit us as homebrewers & -consumers-. Mentioning on a daily basis that you have crystal malt available at a specific price, however, is annoying & not wanted. I would also like to point out that there is a daily barage of advertising on the HBD, like it or not. In today's HBD I saw advertising for America On Line, MCI Mail, Hewlitt Packard, IBM, & various other organizations having nothing to do with homebrewing. The names pop up in sig lines & addresses constantly. Is this wrong? Should it somehow be abolished? Or should we just attack some small businessman & let the giant corporations continue with business as usual? Alan Van Dyke Austin, TX alan at mail.utexas.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 95 11:53:55 -0600 From: math212 at viking.emcmt.edu (Class Math212) Subject: BARGAINS! DON'T MISS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS GALORE ON HOMEBREWING SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT!! SAVE SAVE SAVE!! LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!! SPECIALS ON MALT EXTRACTS, GRAIN MALTS, HOPS, YEAST, AND MORE MORE MORE!!! ASK ABOUT OUR WEEKLY FREEBIE, WHAT YOU GET FREE WITH EVERY ORDER!!! THIS WHOLE AD IS A PUT-ON BY WILL SELF, HAD YOU GOING THERE, DIDN'T I!!!! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! Return to table of contents
Date: 2 May 95 13:06:00 -0500 From: korz at iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Subject: "Stuck" ferment Lee writes: >After many successful all-grain Pale Ale batches, my last two >fermentations have "stuck"! I'll just quote the parts I think are significant to my theory: > Wyeast #1056 > << FG= 1.032 >> !!! > Wyeast #1056 > << FG= 1.037 >> (after 7 days in primary) !! Lee-- did you get married recently? No, seriously. When I got married, my wife saw the first gas bill and suggested we lower the thermostat to 68F in the winter. In our house, 68F upstairs means 59F in my basement fermentation room, but I did not think about that and agreed. The next 1056 batch I made, stuck. Wyeast really doesn't like temperatures below 63F and will quit early if it encounters them. If indeed you are fermenting too cool, then warming the fermenter and swirling to resuspend the yeast (possibly multiple times) would be the solution. Even so, the ferment will never be quite the same and the beer will not be as good as if it would have been continuously vigorous. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 14:24:15 -0400 From: hbush at pppl.gov (harry) Subject: Re: Stuck batches, broken bottles, DME, Mash Heating Lee Bollard <bollard at spk.hp.com> writes: >After many successful all-grain Pale Ale batches, my last two >fermentations have "stuck"!... > >I've kegged batch #1 and am drinking it. Batch #2 is in the >secondary, and I would like to "fix" it if possible. Assuming that Lee did everything correctly on the fermentation side and his problem lies in a botched mash with lots of complex starches left in it, then I would suggest some amylase enzyme added to the carboy ( 1tsp/5 gal). I have a couple of formerly stuck extract batches (I know, how can you f*** up an extract batch?- my theory is that throwing 7# of DME into a pot of boiling water and creating a huge blob of what looks like a giant Sugar Daddy creates lots of unfermentables) that I have added the amylase to. One required a re-pitching of yeast (it was a lager that was crystal clear- I guess the yeast had settled out), the other didn't, but after a few days, both are going like wildfire! A brand new krausen of foam and brown crud and everything! I'll post the results with all the gravity data once they've completed fermentation, but so far I'm a believer. Try it. I don't think it can hurt. Art Stanton <StantonA at po1.atl.bls.gov> has a problem with broken bottles: >My question, is it normal for these bottles to have such a low life-span? > I'm using a double-winged bottle capper, should I invest in another capper >that isn't so rough on the necks? I too have a double winged capper and don't really like it. Mine has a wing nut on top to adjust it and I constantly have to play around with it, especially if I'm bottling into two or three different style bottles (usually the case). I've broken bottles before but never 14! I know that some double-handled units are better than others, but my next capper will be a single handle job. It seems logical to me that its a lot safer to transmit the capping force through the length of the bottle rather than having to squeeze the neck. Andy Lake (a2j at cu.nih.gov) asks: > What is the general opinion on liquid extracts vs DME ? I > bought some Ireks LME for my alt - has anyone had good or bad > experiences? I've had some unpleasant experiences with incomplete fermentations using DME- see my above note to Lee. Never a problem with liquid extracts. Chris Cooper <ccooper at a2607cc.msr.hp.com> writes about a proposed mashing system: >I propose to use a converted sanke keg (legal aquisition) with the top >removed below the support ring and place a coil of copper tubing inside >the the walls of the keg. I would then circulate boiling water through >this reverse heat exchanger from a second keg on a propane burner using >an electic pump. Mash temperature would be maintained by duty cycling >the hot water pump. DISCLAIMER! I am only an extract brewer who is also about to take the plunge into serious marital strife ("honey, I'll be brewing for the rest of the day").So any discussion is acedemic. I too am fishing for pointers from the more experienced brewers. I think that this has been discussed before, but why not use steam from a pressure cooker that has been modified with a valve to become a steam generator? Someone with a background in thermodynamics would have to do the calcs (sorry, not me), but intuitively, I would think that steam could transfer more heat to the mash than boiling water, without the use of a pump. Can a pressure cooker hold enough water to produce the steam to do a complete mash? I don't know. Can any pressure cooker users out there answer this question? In any case, I think that you would definitely need some kind of mild stirring or recirculation of the mash to maintain even heating and maximize heat transfer. I've been thinking of putting together a system along these lines myself. The idea of being able to use your heating coil as an immersion cooler (couldn't you?) at the end of the process also appeals to me. Harry .............................................. "If it bleeds, we can kill it!"- Arnold S. .............................................. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 95 8:53 EDT From: Gerald_Wirtz at vos.stratus.com Subject: Where's the Mead makers??? I've just started out making Mead and was wondering if there was a 'meadbrew_digest' or any other on-line information on this aspect of the hobby. Thanks - Gerald Wirtz. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 12:12:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Stuck Fermentation Lee Bollard in #1720 says, >After many successful all-grain Pale Ale batches, my last two >fermentations have "stuck"! > >#1 Single infusion mash at 157F, OG= 1.059, << FG= 1.032 >> !!! >#2 Single infusion mash at 155F, OG= 1.052, << FG= 1.037 >> > >Both batches appeared normal during the primary fermentation. >I use a pint of Wyeast starter. > >Ideas: My thermometer could be miscalibrated and I'm mashing > too warm. > > I didn't check the true mash temp inside the GOTT > during the mash, After many successful batches I recently also had my first stuck fermentation (oh, the shame!) (OG:1.052, FG:1.024), and have come to attribute it to "yeast abuse" (in the past they have enjoyed being handcuffed in a dark closet for days at a time, but then this was a new yeast--next time, satin rope). I rushed my starter and did not consistently and thoroughly aerate it over the scale up. I tried a number of things over a period of 6 weeks that Lee might try. My tests were done on a liter or so in a PET soda bottle. First I simply let it warm to 70F, but nothing happened. Then I aerated the heck out of it by shaking in hopes of simulating "dropping with aeration". It didn't work for me, but it might for you. Next, I repitched with a bit of the same but "pampered yeast" (let it lay in bed for a few days, rubbed its feet, and fed it breakfast in bed). Nothing--the ingrates! Finally, I gave up on my new acquaintance and made a small starter (well aerated) of a tried and true old friend, Wyeast #1338, and pitched that. Fermentation started up in the PET test bottle, so after a week I pitched the test into the stuck batch and eventually got the FG to 1.018. Surprisingly the beer is quite good, rather Fulleresque, which was my intent. Some comments on Lee's process: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, mash blind! Always monitor the mash temp in the tun. Especially when your target is 1.057 which is in the high range. Remember the final temp of the mash is a function of the amount and temp of the mash water AND the starting temp of the grist. The same amount and temp of mash water will result in different mash temps if the grist starts at 60F, rather than 70F. Some people first heat their grist in the oven to their target temp, then add mash water at the target temp. No calculations, no fuss (except the oven), but make sure your thermometer is accurate. Lee, speaking of checking your thermometer, CHECK YOUR THERMOMETER! Invest a few bucks in a lab grade alcohol thermometer and use it to calibrate your others. You can also use it to calibrate your oven. Finally, at what temp did you pitch batch #2. Could it have been too warm? A good rule-of-thumb is don't pitch until the carboy feels cool. This ensures that the wort temp is at least below 90F or so. Don't give up. Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. Seattle, WA venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 15:23:41 EDT From: uswlsrap at ibmmail.com Subject: Anyone else had problems with bounced posts I had to resend several times this morning because it kept bouncing (from HBD program), supposedly because of a line length >80. I sent a message (below) asking if anyone else had the problem and IT bounced, despite extremely short line lengths. I re-sent an edited version of the bounce message, and it also bounced, this time for a non-informative subject line (the subject line of the "error" message) I'm trying this again. It's the first time I've encountered it, and I've never had my posts' line lengths misinterpreted to be >80 > *** Resending note of 05/02/95 12:53 (more stuff deleted) > HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM? > You wrote: > > From uswlsrap at ibmmail.com Tue May 2 11:34:36 1995 > (headers deleted) > > Subject: Test--anyone have problems with bounced messages? > > HBD has been bouncing > > my post all morning, > > supposedly for something > > with a column width >80. > > > > I _counted_ the characters > > in the longest line and > > didn't hit 80. > > Anyone else have this problem? > > > > Now go have a beer, > > > > Bob Paolino / Disoriented in Badgerspace > > uswlsrap at ibmmail.com > > THIS SPACE UNDER RENOVATION Bob Paolino / Disoriented in Badgerspace uswlsrap at ibmmail.com THIS SPACE UNDER RENOVATION Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 15:24:54 EDT From: A2J at CU.NIH.GOV Subject: Wort boiling question Question of the day: 1. A friend of my wifes brews his own beer and boils his wort for only 15 minutes. Why boil for 60 - 90 minutes, if 15 will do. What are the benefits of a longer boil? Thanks for your help and patience with my neophyte questions ! Andy Lake (a2j at cu.nih.gov) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 14:14:36 MDT From: Randy M. Davis <rmdavis at mocan.mobil.com> Subject: Dry Hopping / Open Ferments In HBD #1720 Dan Pack asked about dealing with the residue produced by dry hopping with pellets. I dry hop often and I use whole, plugs and pellets interchangeably without any problems with hop junk getting into kegs or bottles. If you have a beer/fermentation fridge it's a snap. I just move the carboy to the fridge which is in the mid 40's F. a couple of days prior to bottling. If whole or plug hops are involved they just settle right to the bottom in short order. Pellets also cooperate nicely and drop out. The added bonus is that I no longer require any finings to get very bright beer quickly. The cooler temps drop out the yeast nicely too. Yes I do this with my ales too but the ferment is complete at this point anyway. Worth a try if you have been experiencing problems with 'hop junk'. In the same digest Kirk Fleming relates his experiences with open fermentation. Maybe it is due to our stronger ties to the UK but up here in Canada it seems that virtually everyone does open fermentation exclusively. All of the homebrew shops I've been to across the country sell large 8 gal. imp. food grade bins (like a trash can) that do not come with lids. I have three of these primary fermenters myself. I do not know a single homebrewer who uses a carboy for the primary. I do cover the primary by simply laying a sheet of sanitized plastic film over the top. This is essentially the same as no cover except that it keeps dust out and I ferment in an unfinished basement with a lot of potential dust from the ceiling (flooring) above. Some people slip a large plastic garbage bag over the whole thing but I like to be able to lift the edge and monitor the process. I leave the cover on all through the primary but this can be for several days since I don't rack until the protective layer of yeast is gone. Just think, no blowoff hoses, no beer lost in a bucket of sanitizer, no danger of clogs causing bodily harm and all of the good aspects related to traditional ale brewing that Jim Busch has written about. As for the risk of infection, I can also report that I have experienced an extremely low rate of infections in approx. 120 batches of ales and lagers,all open fermented. Finally, Patrick Babcock asked about the 'Hugh Baird & Son English 2 Row Black Malt' he acquired. Yes it is 'black patent' and should be 500-550 L. and have a Coarse Grind Extract of approx. 50-65% which means it will provide approx. 28 deg. to the pound per gallon of extract. This according to a Hugh Baird spec sheet I have. - -- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Randy M. Davis rmdavis at mocan.mobil.com Calgary Canada (403)260-4184 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 95 16:18:14 EDT From: spencer at med.umich.edu Subject: Small and Tiny Homebrew competition First Small and Tiny Homebrew Competition June 24, 1995 Entries due May 30 - June 11, 1995 _________________________________________________________________ Many of us homebrewers like to make those BIG, malty, hoppy (alcoholic) beers. But there's a lot to be said for the beers at the other end of the scale, too. This competition recogizes those beers that are, despite their light gravity, good-tasting and flavorful. Beers that get shunted aside in most competitions in favor of their more robust cousins. Beers that deserve recognition! So, start brewing! _________________________________________________________________ The categories - --- ---------- Beers may be entered in one of two basic categories: 1. Small beer OG 1.035 -- 1.043. All beers entered in this category must be in the specified OG range. a. Classic small style Beers in the AHA styles that overlap the "small" OG range. These styles are: 3c. Belgian-style Fruit Lambic, 4a. English Brown, 4b. English Mild, 4c. American Brown, 6b. American Wheat, 7a. English Ordinary Bitter, 7b. English Special Bitter, 8b. Scottish Heavy Ale, 8c. Scottish Export Ale, 9b. Brown Porter 11a. Classic Dry Stout, 16a. American Lite Lager, 16b. American Standard Lager, 16d. American Dry Lager, 16f. American Dark Lager, 18b. Kvlsch, and 23. California Common Beer. Note that for many of these styles, only the lower end of the range is in the "small" category. Specify the original AHA style. b. Other small beer A "small" version of any other style can be entered in this category. Thus, a nice, hoppy lager with an OG of 1.040 might be entered here, as it clearly would not fit any of the American Lager styles. If you believe the beer to be a small representative of an AHA style, please specify (e.g., 15a. German Pilsner). Specialty, fruit, and herb beers would be entered here. 2. Tiny OG less than 1.035. Beers entered in the tiny categories must have an OG less than 1.035. a. Classic tiny style Beers in an AHA style that overlaps the "tiny" gravity range: 4b. English Mild, 6b. American Wheat, 7a. English Ordinary Bitter, 8a. Scottish Light, 16a. American Lite Lager, and 24a. Berliner Weisse. b. Other tiny beer A "tiny" version of any other style can be entered in this category. Thus, a pale ale with an OG of 1.032 might be entered here, as it clearly would not fit any of the usual Pale Ale styles. If you believe the beer to be a tiny representative of an AHA style, please specify (e.g., 5a. Classic English Pale Ale). Specialty, fruit, and herb beers would be entered here. We reserve the right to split categories if we get enough entries. If we do so, each new subcategory will have at least 6 entries. When possible, subcategories will be formed according to the original AHA classification of the beer. We do not plan to take gravity measurements (although it's theoretically possible to work backwards to OG from final gravity and alcohol content (both measurable), it's not something we want to do at the judging table.) It's up to you to be honest about your entries, and please don't try to "slip in" a bigger beer. _________________________________________________________________ Entering - -------- Send 2 bottles and $5 per entry to Small and Tiny HC c/o Spencer Thomas 1418 Golden Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 313-994-0072 Entries must be received from May 30 through June 10. The standard rules apply: 10-14 oz bottles (green, brown or clear), no swing top ("Grolsch") bottles. No labels or other identifying marks. Black out any printing or writing on bottle caps. Attach recipe and bottle forms to bottles with rubber band only. You may submit multiple entries per category, but only one per AHA style and substyle. Awards - ------ Awards will be made for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category, and for best of show. Beers must score at least 25 points on the 50 point scale to qualify for an award. All beers will be judged by BJCP-certified judges. The competition is recognized by the HWBTA, and sponsored by the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild. _________________________________________________________________ This announcement is on the world-wide-web at <http://guraldi.hgp.med.umich.edu/Beer/AABG/Small_and_Tiny.html> Please publicize the competition to your net-challenged fellow homebrew club members. Spencer W. Thomas (spencer at umich.edu) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 02 May 95 16:09:12 EDT From: CGEDEN at NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU Subject: Mittelfruh hops, microwaving insects Mittelfruh hops. I just made a wonderful dunkelweizen with Mittelfrueh pellets for boiling, flavor and aroma. No earthy character at all. These were *not* from Boston Beer Co., however; they were from "The Home Brewery" Microwaving insects. A famous entomologist said "Most people outgrow the habit of pulling the wings off flies. Those that do do not either come to a bad end or become entomologists" Even adult entomologists sometimes subject arthropods to trials by ordeal. Believe me, cockroaches, ants, and flies can survive a shockingly long time in the microwave. All three, by the way, can survive very high g-forces. In one lab that my wife worked in they had g-force contests using a centrifuge. The ticks always won. But don't worry- these are three-dimensional creatures. Just because a cockroach or ant survives a two-minute exposure does not mean that such an exposure would not sanitize a surface. Airstones. Now that I do 5-gallon boils and use an immersion chiller I'm worried about getting sufficient aeration. I've read volumes on HBD about the Venturi tube, but I have siphon phobias. It took me a year and a half to finally correct all the screwups that I had with siphons; I'm not going to jeopardize my current setup by introducing holes. So I bought a cheap aquarium air pump and stone. So here's the question. Does it make sense to go to all the trouble of sanitizing every that's involved and then blow contaminated air into the wort? The same question applies to the Venturi tube approach. Should we filter the air somehow? Is it necessary to use bottled air? Commercials. Sure, commercials are inappropriate for HBD, but I'd rather read an ad for a brewing toy than sig blocks with incendiary right-wing polemics like the recent P J O'Rourke quote labelling liberals as "miserable...despotic, useless...sniveling brats". HBD should be a place where we come together, not just another soapbox for partisan tirades. Chris Geden in Gainesville, FL Brewer, Entomologist Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 08:26:48 +1000 (EST) From: David Draper <ddraper at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> Subject: Dry hopping with pellets Dear Friends, in HBD 1720, Dan Pack asked about dry hopping with pellets. I do this all the time, and always contain the pellets in cheesecloth. The amount of hop stuff that escapes the bag is trivial, even though I contain them only loosely to allow for maximal flow-through of beer. (I also do not bother weighting it down, because the week to ten days that the bag is in the secondary is more than ample to allow the hop volatiles to diffuse into the beer from the surface.) Any particles that do escape end up on the bottom of the secondary, and stay behind when I rack to the bottling bucket. I will also just endorse their use in general--I have had good results dry hopping with pellets, just as I have with flowers. If anything, better even. In the same digest, PatrickM50 described lotsa bubbling after dryhopping with pellets (in a stout?!?!?!?). I've never seen anything like that on that scale--always some bubbling as Pat mentioned, but not the en masse thing. Pat, taste the beer--you should be able to detect infection-based flavors even through the dark malt and dry hop (sigh...) flavors...:-} And Pat, you forgot to ask the key question: Is Your Beer Ruined??? Cheers, Dave in Sydney - -- "Cross your fingers and wait it out." ---A. J. deLange ****************************************************************************** David S. Draper, School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Sydney, Australia. email: david.draper at mq.edu.au fax: +61-2-850-8428 ....I'm not from here, I just live here.... Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 15:33:36 PST From: "Pete Hanlon" <HANLON at gu.gonzaga.edu> Subject: Filtering I am new to this list and Homebrewing. I am batting 2 - 0 with the first two batches coming out surprisingly well (I think I'm addicted!). My third batch was made with honey and grated ginger root. What is the best method for filtering out the root particles? I have 2 - 5 gallon carbouys, and used a mesh bag while boiling the root, but sizeable particles still got into the wort. Also looking for a good recipe for a red beer. Thanks in advance Pete Hanlon HANLON at GONZAGA.EDU Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 15:37:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Nikolaus Matheis <psu04289 at odin.cc.pdx.edu> Subject: Lemongrass? Concerning the lemongrass thread, I've never used the stuff and was wondering how much people have used, was it fresh or dried, and what flavor and aromatic contributions it makes in the finished product. I would like to experiment with it but not blindly, so any info would be appreciated. Belgian Nik Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 08:40:26 +1000 (EST) From: David Draper <ddraper at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> Subject: OG Calcs in SUDS Dear Friends, thanks to John Palmer for starting a very useful thread on the Truth about extraction calcs, and to all the other participants for some good stuff. I've been in touch with Mike Taylor, SUDS author, and he told me that his sources for the extract expected from various grains are the usual ones: the brewbooks, zymurgy special issue, etc. Thus, these values have the "fudge factor" built in--they are that one step removed from the actual spec sheet data. So, as I believe Andy Walsh put it some time back, using SUDS you are comparing your extraction efficiency to that of, say, Dave Miller--not to the theoretical total possible maximum acme zenith. As long as I'm here talking about Suds, I'll just comment that the latest release, 4.0, has been patched up to 4.0a to correct a problem in Mike's new module for figuring amounts and temperatures of mash water in 2-step infusions. In 4.0, there was something off about the conversion from screwed-up-British-engineering units to metric, so that if using metric, negative amounts of water were called for. 4.0a fixes that, and in three trials has performed very well in my system (two mashes infused to 40 and then 60 C, and one to 50 and then 60 C). The addition of this module is a handy one IMO. I'll also "endorse" the way hop calcs are treated in 4.x SUDS--users can choose Rager, Tinseth, or Garetz schemes and edit the utilization tables themselves if they like. No affiliations, etc etc., just a satisfied user. Cheers, Dave in Sydney - -- "Why am I typing when I could be brewing?" ---Gary Bell ****************************************************************************** David S. Draper, School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Sydney, Australia. email: david.draper at mq.edu.au fax: +61-2-850-8428 ....I'm not from here, I just live here.... Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 19:37:36 -0400 From: WCromwell at aol.com Subject: Re: Stainless Steel In reference to how to tell if the kegs are Stainless Steel, the easiest way to tell that they are not plated steel is with a magnet. SS is non-magnetic vs Steel which is ( this is not totally true, but for this purpose it is!). Aluminum which is also non-magnetic is much softer and you could tell with a knife or razorblade. I really doubt that a keg would be made out of anything other then SS, but unless you can get your hands on some Nitric Acid and Caustic soda, these methods should make you feel secure in you purchase. -- Wayne -- Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 17:57:15 -0700 From: danpack at grape-ape.che.caltech.edu (Dan Pack) Subject: homebrewers sanitation...worry too much? In HBD #1720 TomF of Kalamazoo Brewing says: >Most homebrewers worry way too much about sanitation. Tom, I don't think you know how lucky you are to brew under the controlled conditions of a professional brewery (well maybe you do but let me make my point anyway ;->). Here are just a few of the reasons for a homebrewer to worry about sanitation which need not concern the professional: 1). A garbage can full of chicken parts from last night's dinner a mere 6-10 feet from the boiling kettle. 2). A 5 year-old with a cold who needs her nose wiped during bottling operations. 3). A curious cat who thinks a dangling siphon hose is a toy. 4). A SO who thinks your mash tun is the perfect size pot for boiling pasta. So, HOMEbrewers, go ahead and worry (or at least be highly concerned) about sanitation. ...because a batch of homebrew is a TERRIBLE thing to waste. B^) And as Bob Paolino would say, "Now go clean you carboys..." or something like that. Dan Pack Pasadena, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 20:13:29 EDT From: CWGT22C at prodigy.com (MR HENRY B BANKS) Subject: Kegging - -- [ From: Henry Banks * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] -- When I was in San Diego, I was following most of the HBD that I could get my hands onto in regards to Kegging equipment and procedures. I was trying to get a good grasp on what I was about to plunge into, having only been brewing now for a little over a year. I decided that Kegging really was the way to go, although I have little to no experience with this. When I was in route to New Mexico from San Diego, I stopped off at one of the more popular tourist traps, (The Thing) and if you have ever been out that way, you know a lot of trucker pull in and out of the place. Well, it happens that a Coke truck came and the driver came inside the Dairy Queen located in this fine establishment. While I was standing around waiting for my burger or whatever, I asked him about the supposed phase out of the Pre-mix containers (Kegs). He said to the contrary that the Coke company had no intentions of phasing them out. I asked him if perhaps Coke was selling these kegs. He said, Sure, just give your local bottling company a call. There probably selling them for around $10.00. On that note, when I arrived to my destination, after a couple of weeks of setting down, finding a job, and all that jazz, I happen to get hold of one of the guys who was coming into the business I was working at who was placing an order for a new Pepsi soda machine. I asked him if he had any used kegs (Soda Canisters) he would be interested in selling. He told me he had over 100 he could not give away! He told me to give his boss a call and see if I can arrange to purchase some of these kegs. I mean you could not imagine my excitement (or maybe you can?) to here such a excellent inside tip. I contacted the warehouse boss for the shipping plant, where the kegs were placed. I got directions to where he was located, and upon my arrival, sure enough . . . almost 100 kegs were just sitting out by the dumpster as if they were scheduled to be tossed. I spoke with the manager and he wanted to know exactly what I wanted to do with these kegs if I purchased them. I had no fear in telling him my intentions were strictly for Homebrewing. He agreed to sell me all the kegs for what an outside company was biding to buy them for. I picked up 3 five gallon kegs for my self and purchased 19 three gallon kegs for personal use and to see if I could make a little money while passing on the savings of this great deal I stumbled onto. I got connected on Prodigy through my fathers account and place a bulletin on the Wine/Homebrew section selling these kegs for $15.00 for the five gallon and $10.00 for the three gallon. I did pretty well long enough to completely sell out the stock that I had on had. After awhile, things got rather sticky with the board manager, who did not appreciate commercial posts in the forum and another person who did not appreciate me e-mailing them with junk mail, extending this offer to them. Never the less, I became so over stocked with orders that I had to turn some checks back in the mail. I had exceeded my supply that much. I did try to go back and restock but the Pepsi manager had already made the deal with the outside company that offered to buy the rest, and the kegs were packed up waiting to be shipped out. However, I did connect with other sources within the management department both with the Coke and the Pepsi bottling facilities in my region, making equal or close to the same offer I was receiving before. So now the deal had become even sweeter! I have ready access to both Pin and Ball lock kegs . The point is I guess, that the information I have been told and reading about the phase out of the pre-mix soda canisters to the concentrate box syrup is not all that accurate (even the Pepsi guys told me the same thing in regards to this) but the trick was, that the older soda canister had slightly slanted Gas In and Beer out connections that they could not be sent through the assembly line to be clean and then refilled with pre-mix soda. The Pepsi manger told me that the assembly plant offered to fill them but they would have to pay something like $50 a piece to hand clean these tanks, so it was just easier to get rid of them! Look out for these deals and if your ever interested, I know I can legally (including all sales receipts) help those who are keg deficient. Thanks and Happy Brewing! Henry Banks (cwgt22c at prodigy.com) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 21:54:55 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rick Gontarek, Ph.D." <GONTAREK at FCRFV1.NCIFCRF.GOV> Subject: Experience w/Gott & Fix mash schedule Hi Everybody. I am currently using a 10 gallon Gott cooler as a mash and lauter tun (w/ Phil's Phalse bottom). I would like to get in touch with someone who has successfully employed a similar setup and routinely gets greater than 25 pts/lb/gallon...I am looking for some advice. So, if you are using a Gott and a Phalse bottom (or a slotted manifold, for that matter), please contact me. I'd appreciate it! Also, could someone please explain the Fix Mash schedule to me? I have seen it mentioned several times here on the Digest, but I may have missed the origin of the thread. TIA. I am still in awe of how great this medium is for exchange of information and how much it has helped me to improve my brewing. Let's keep up the good work!! Rick Gontarek Owner/Brewmaster of the Major Groove Picobrewery Baltimore, MD gontarek at fcrfv1.ncifcrf.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 20:56:04 +0000 From: "Lee C. Bussy" <leeb at southwind.net> Subject: Commercial postings, flubs and flames I was reading yesterday's HBD and something occured to me. People don't pay attention. Maybe not everyone but certainly alot. If you pay attention then this isn't about you. If you're getting mad then you don't pay attention. ;) People, the HBD "automagical mailer" sends back that message telling you that your article has been received, it is behind so many others and how to cancel. If you send a message that is say behind 100 others then chances are someone else beat you to the punch on an answer. E-mail that person instead. He would probably appreciate it. This would provide timely responses and prevent days and days of answers about the same thing. This brings me to my next point. I have answered a post before and the next day someone else beat me to it. Just a little slow sometimes. I cancel my post that is queued for the next day. This allows others a chance. Most of us can save those response messages and maybe it would be a good idea to do so. This would prevend a whole week's worth of replies to the bogus "Good Times" virus for instance. Anyway, those are my ideas and I'll deny they were mine if asked again! Might be some good ones in there though........ Sorry for the non-beer post but maybe it will help in the future. Oh, BTW, I don't have a problem with an occasional commercial posting, but huge taglines with commercial bulletins everytime do get old. If I want you, I'll call you. (To the retailers) - -- -Lee Bussy | Screaming on the Internet with | leeb at southwind.net | Windows 95!!!! 32 Bit made simple! | Wichita, Kansas | http://www.southwind.net/~leeb | Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 08:00:38 +0500 From: generic at be1578.be.ford.com () Subject: Re: Grand Rapids Info Hiya Ed! Moving to White Cloud eh? It's beautiful up there! I don't live there, but I've been up to GR 3 times in the last 5 months. There's a liquor store called B&B that carries a pretty decent supply. They're on W. 28th street which is HWY 11. There's probably more. There's the Grand Rapids Brewery, a brewpub that has a very impressive beer list plus 6 of their own. The food is outstanding! They are also on W. 28th. The latest issue of Midwest Beer Notes has a little write up on them. Grand Rapids does have a minor league team, for Oakland A's I think. The stadium they have to play in is unbelieveable, due to the support of Meijers or Amway, maybe from both. Minor league baseball is big there, and I have this feeling it's gonna start getting more attention nationwide. The guys play their asses off for a lot less money. :-) Hope this helps. Mike Preston, Secretary .~~~. The Detroit Carboys | |] "Habeo Hordea Fermentabo" |___| Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 03 May 95 07:43:04 EDT From: tj2996 at WESTPOINT-EMH2.USMA.ARMY.MIL (Drago James MAJ) Subject: 5 Liter Keg Problem I usually put a portion of each 5 gallon batch of beer I brew in the small 5 liter kegs used with the CO2 cartridges. Recently, I experienced a problem with the beer getting "overcharged" in that even with the regulator turned all the way to the off position, it flowed out so fast that there was way too much foam. When the regulator worked correctly, the pressure would eventually subside once the keg ran for a few seconds. I could then increase the pressure flow to the desired rate Recently, the keg has stayed charged to the max even with the regulator off. Additionally, the CO2 cartridge expends itself completely. When this first happened, I immediately sent the tap back to James Page Brewing company where I bought it with a note, and they replaced it along with a whole box of CO2 cartridges. Unfortunately, the new tap did the same thing. Obviously, I am now questioning my own procedure, although there seems to be little that I could screw up. Any ideas out there? Thanks. JAMES P. DRAGO MAJ, FA ADMISSIONS MEDIA OFFICER X5701 Return to table of contents
Date: 3 May 1995 08:19:04 -0400 From: William Shelton <William.Shelton.0206973 at nt.com> Subject: Re: Light Struck Beer Hi, I have been a homebrewer for about 10 years and have never had a problem with my beer skunking from exposure to light. Maybe its cause in the past I have exclusively used brown bottles. I have started using some clear bottles to monitor color and settling of yeast and I am concerned about the effects of light. I followed the discussions on skunking in HBD in the last several months, but seemed to miss whether skunking is a cumulative or a binary effect. For example if 10 minutes of sunlight will skunk beer is this 10 minutes cumulative sunlight? or any exposure exceeding 10 minutes? TIA Bill Shelton NORTEL Federal Systems william.shelton at nt.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 08:31:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Tom Wenck <twenck at clark.net> Subject: STORING HOPS I have had an idea brewing in my head for some time that I would like some comments on. I am thinking about lining the bottom of my whole hop storage jars with oxygen absorbing bottle caps. This should significantly improve their shelf life. Any comments? Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 3 May 95 08:55:59 edt From: Matt_K at ceo.sts-systems.ca Subject: RE. Sparging with boiling water Message: Bryan L. Gros sez: > I bring my sparge water to a boil and then drain it > into the pre-warmed cooler and seal it. I figure the water in the > cooler is probably 200F tops Bob Devine responds: > It is a bad idea to use water at boiling or near-boiling > temperature to sparge because you are likely to be > bursting some starch granules. That will lead to a hazy > beer as the unconverted starches other carbohydrates > get washed out. I think: The temperature of the sparge water doesn't matter. What matters is the grain temperature. So, stick a thermometer into the mash at the beginning of the sparge and check the temp. If it's too hot don't use boiling water. If it's not don't worry. I usually start with boiling water, and with the temperature losses in my system the grain temp maxes out at 170F during my sparge. Matt in Montreal Suds.... Gotta love'em!! - Kenny King - Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1722, 05/04/95