HOMEBREW Digest #1766 Tue 27 June 1995

Digest #1765 Digest #1767


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


Contents:
  Boiler RIMS system (Glen Hathaway)
  Dropping revisited (Domenick Venezia)
  Acid washing yeast (Domenick Venezia)
  sparge times (Wyss1364)
  Re: Hop Plant Fertilizer (Dan Roman)
  food grade VS brew grade extracts ("Keith Royster")
  dropping and enzymes (Andy Walsh)
  Salvaging gushers? (Nicholas Christopher)
  RE: Converting a keg to a boiler (Greg Buckwalter)
  RE: Harvesting fermenter yeast (Christopher Pickslay)
  Please add (Mark King)
  Rooty-Tooty-Fresh-N-Fruity Lambic (Otto Radtke                         )
  carboy cooler ("mike spinelli")
  BUZZ_OFF Results ("Houseman, David L [TR]")
  Solution: *Never* have puffed or bulging 5l kegs again (david lawrence shea)
  Flakey questions (Joseph.Fleming)
  Secondary vessel ("Tom Williams")
  ESB Recipe (Steven W. Schultz )
  HomeBrewing in Israel (Nir Navot)
  Homebrew Club Outline\Using Hop Teas\Dropping? ("Jim Herter")
  Suboptimal Hop Combinations/Flux and Fermenter Flow ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
  Smokey the Beer (John D. Pavao)
  Filling a Sankey ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
  Re: Sparge Arms for 15 gal. sys. (Dion Hollenbeck)
  Brew pubs ("James Giacalone")
  Grain Bag in Lauter Tun? (Troy Howard)
  Hop Utilization at High Altitude ("LAVANSA0")
  Puffed-up minikegs (PHIL=MEYERS)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 01:41:58 -0400 From: Glen Hathaway <glenh at icebox.iceonline.com> Subject: Boiler RIMS system Hi all... Subject 1: I'm a lowly extract brewer who wants to go all-grain. I'm in the plumbing/hot-water heating/gasfitting business - I've got a nice high-efficiency boiler that I got at an auction sitting in the shop. Boiler is 75000 BTU and rated 95% efficient. I paid only $300 Canadian for it :-). The manufacturer went under, so parts aren't available - this means I don't want to install it in a customer's house. I've been kicking around ideas for a RIMS system using this boiler with a heat exchanger as a heat source. Anybody here on the HBD have any experience with such a system or ideas for cool ways to connect it all up? I have access to large quantities of plumbing scrap and can buy plumbing parts at wholesale prices. Subject 2: I also have probably a dozen or so natural-gas hot-water tank burners kicking around - both 36000 and 50000 BTU. How well do these work as wort boiling heat sources? Are they big enough to do 5 gallon full boils in a reasonable amount of time? Has anyone out there tried up-rating one of these things to a higher BTU rating by drilling the orifice? If so, did you experiment to see how far you could push it? What I'm getting at is that, while it should be do-able, you would eventually get to a point where the venturi couldn't supply enough primary air for the larger amount of gas, and you'd start getting incomplete combustion and sooting. If I don't hear from anyone about this, I will experiment to find the BTU limit of these burners and will post the info for you DIY brewers. Glen Hathaway -- glenh at iceonline.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 23:13:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Dropping revisited Bob Talkiewicz says in HBD 1764: >I thought that the 'dropping' thread from a few months ago made it clear >that it referred to racking early with minimal aeration. At least that >was the way I understood it. I don't think any such consensus was ever reached. Opinions varied, but I just reviewed the dropping thread and my interpretation is that dropping involves aeration. In terms of yeast rousing it seems to me that "dropping" without aeration is called "stirring" and could be more easily accomplished with a spoon or by simply rocking the fermenter. In terms of the other effects of dropping, e.g., getting the beer off the trub, dropping without aerating is called "racking". What distinguishes "dropping" from "stirring" and "racking" is aeration. >(Did this evolve out of the recent question by someone who wanted to >dump into secondary using a funnel?) I think so. >What I was really after was the second result of dropping, which is to >increase the level of diacetyl. Increased diacetyl production is only going to result from dropping if it is done with aeration, just shaking the yeast into suspension won't do it. >BTW, rousing yeast doesn't imply aeration. The yeast just needs to get back >in suspension to finish its job. Absolutely true, but sometimes resuspension is not enough. I have a highly flocculent yeast that I am struggling with that does not respond to traditional rousing (resuspension). I suspect that it was developed as an open fermenter strain. I've used it on two batches with identical results, it stops about 2/3 through the fermentation. This was with similar OGs but different base malts. I'm going to give it one more try later this summer and try dropping. Hopefully the additional oxygen at about the 1/3-1/2 point will give it the jolt it seems to need. I restarted the stuck fermentations in the previous 2 batches by pitching Wyeast 1338 (European Ale). The question may occur to some, "Why bother? Why not just switch yeasts?" Other than it is a matter of pride not to be outdone by a non-sentient organism (if was the Bow-Tie yeast I might concede), this yeast has a honey-floral character that is wonderful. The batch from hell (6 week, 4 stage stuck fermentation--it sat in the center of the kitchen for over a month yielding innumerable late night stubbed toes) produced one of my best ESBs ever. Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. Seattle, WA venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 23:14:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Acid washing yeast While washing a batch of yeast today I had a thought. I'm not sure that it is original or if I am remembering something previously posted in the HBD. Yeast is acid washed in a pH 2.5 solution. Many acids could be used, like, phosphoric, hydrochloric, sulphuric, or nitric, just about any non-toxic acid. Generally these are mineral acids, but then I thought of acetic acid, i.e., vinegar. So I went to the cupboard and grabbed the ubiquitous bottle of white vinegar (Heinz) and stuck a pH test strip in it and guess what? pH damn close to 2.5. Can someone with a pH meter dunk your probe in white vinegar and either post or email me the results? Please include the brandname in the message. My guess is that a particular brand of vinegar is going to be pretty consistent for pH over different manufactured batches. As long as the pH is 2.5 or less it an be used as is or diluted, so we might be able to come up with a standard recipe for an acid wash solution that you could mix in your kitchen without pH test strips or a pH meter. Also if someone knows why you shouldn't use vinegar to wash yeast please let me know that too. Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. Seattle, WA venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 02:27:55 -0400 From: Wyss1364 at aol.com Subject: sparge times In the last few digests Jim Busch has stated some very firm opinons re: sparging and lautering. I have a lot of respect for Jim's experience and knowledge but in this case he contradicts what I've seen with my own eyes. Somewhere (BT,HBD, his Vienna-Marzen book) George Fix wrote that shorter sparges make for rounder more malty and bigger beers. After reading this I redesigned my converted 1/2 barrel mash-lauter tun and now I routinely get a 25 to 30 min. sparge with 20 - 25 # of grain. I always get 34+ points to the pound and my beer has greatly improved. This method seems to add a complexity to the malt flavor of the finished beer that it lacked before. I don't think any off flavors have been introduced and one of the first beers I made with this set up won a ribbon( a lovely bock-thank you D. Richman). All I can say is it works for me. YMMV Also, re: Kirk's bowtie effect- Since getting my hand on a couple more Sankey kegs the issue of open fermentation keeps growing and somewhat nagging me from what seemed to be my subconscious mind. Could Kirk's fermenter be doing this to me? Captain please shield that thing with lead( or mercury) to protect your fellow brewers. Thanks, Matt Wyss Albany Ca Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 13:50:11 -0400 (EDT) From: romand at dialogic.com (Dan Roman) Subject: Re: Hop Plant Fertilizer Cow manure and Miracle Grow have too quick a release for hop plants, cow manure might even burn the roots. A slow long-term release fertilizer like bone meal is a better choice and bone meal gives a near perfect nutrient mix for those rhizomes. Just wish I could keep my dog from digging under the fence to get at the bone meal every time I put some down! My dog is a nut though, he actually likes and will roll in dog repellant. - -- Dan Roman | Internet: romand at dialogic.com + Compliance Engineer | Personal: danno at intac.com R/C ==O== Dialogic Corp, NJ | Homebrew is better brew! Amiga after C=? ./ \. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 12:20:01 EST From: "Keith Royster" <Royster at mro.ehnr.state.nc.us> Subject: food grade VS brew grade extracts I recently posted a question concerning a stuck fermentation from a DME recipie in which I "fixed" it with amylase enzyme (Thanks to all who responded to my questions). I went back to the brew store yesterday (Sat) to buy another recipie and asked them if my stuck fermentation might be a result of an under modified/converted batch of DME. (BTW, they sell only Munton & Fison in DME, and have stopped selling the dreaded Laaglander. Too many complaints.) He responded that these companies often produce two grades of DME, food grade (for cooking) and brew grade. The food grade has a much higher degree of unfermentables and occassionaly, when switching from one type to the other, some of the food grade DME *may* get mixed in with the brew grade. Just thought this might be of general interest for the food/brew grade thread. One more reason to go all-grain....... While I'm here, I would like to ask all the RIMS users out there what type of pump they are using and how they like it. I have a bunch of pump catalogs, but there are no prices and too many to choose from. If you could provide prices, make/model, and pumping rate, it would greatly shorten my research time and efforts. Also, do I need one FDA approved, or just made out of food grade materials. Thanks much! +------------------------------+------------------+ | Keith Royster, E.I.T. | Beer that is not | | Environmental Engineer | drunk has missed | | NC-DEHNR / Air Quality | its vocation. | | (704) 663-1699 | | | Royster at mro.ehnr.state.nc.us | - Meyer Breslau | +------------------------------+------------------+ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 95 11:45:44 EST From: awalsh at pop03.ca.us.ibm.net (Andy Walsh) Subject: dropping and enzymes On dropping beer: Dropping beer will only increase diacetyl levels if you aerate during the procedure. The Wyeast ESB is famous for producing diacetyl anyway, so Bob's high diacetyl levels are more likely due to the yeast choice rather than the dropping technique (Bob - you imply you had minimal aeration in your dropping). I have used ESB many times, and have also tried dropping (with and without aeration) a few times, so am not just spouting bull**** off the top of my head. It's primary function (as I see it) is similar to that of skimming krausen. The idea is to pull the beer from underneath the foam, before the head (and associated gunk) sinks back into the beer. Thus break material etc. stays behind. I fail to see how this would aid fermentation (except if you aerate or deliberately stir up the yeast cake) as you leave half the yeast behind too. I am not about to try this technique with a high gravity beer for example. *************** On enzymes and stuck ferments. I have added beta-amylase on 3 separate occassions recently. Case A: Orval clone. Wyeast white 3944 yeast. OG=1.062. FG=1.020. I could not reactivate the Orval dregs from the samples available to me here (which I believe would help the attenuation). Orval is quite dry, and my beer had a lot of body and residual sweetness. So I added enzymes to try and reduce the gravity. Result: FG =1.000! The beer tastes like rocket fuel. My beer is ruined. It is destined for the drain. Case B: Strong English bitter. ESB yeast. This beer was dropped with aeration. It started at 1.058 and stopped at 1.022. It was too sweet. I added enzymes. Result: FG=1.009 The beer is OK (massive diacetyl) but is very sweet. I find it drinkable only if I mix it with another (drier) beer. I recently posted that every sweet beer I have ever tried had a high FG. This beer has proven me wrong. Case C: Tripel. 3944 yeast. OG=1.090. FG=1.044 This was a stuck ferment. The enzymes reactivated fermentation. It currently sits in a carboy. After my other experiments I am not in a hurry to keg the mother. Discussion: High FGs are a result of unfermented sugars (obviously). Yeast can only ferment monosaccharides. Higher sugars are transported inside the cell where they are broken down to monosaccharides and converted to alcohol (and CO2 etc). Stuck ferments like my tripel happen because the yeast somehow loses its ability to transport maltose inside the cell. This is a brewing fault. High FGs like the others are because the yeast cannot ferment some of the other more complex sugars. These are desirable to some degree in beer anyway. Enzymes basically convert all extracellular sugars (dextrins and all) to monosaccharides. Thus the yeast can freely ferment all the available glucose. When you use an alcohol tolerant yeast such as 3944, it ferments all of it and gives you rocket fuel. When you use an intolerant yeast such as ESB, you get a sweet beer, because the yeast cannot ferment all the glucose, due to high alcohol levels. Either way your beer is ruined. I shudder to think what has happened with my tripel! Conclusion? You have to be desperate to use enzymes in a fermentation, unless you are deliberately trying to make a dry style (with lowish OG). They may reduce the gravity but at what cost to flavour? I for one shall never touch them again. ***************************** //// Andy Walsh from Sydney //// awalsh at ibm.net //// phone 61 2 369 5711 ***************************** Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 22:07:42 -0400 From: Nicholas Christopher <ir001265 at interramp.com> Subject: Salvaging gushers? I've got a really nice IPA that I made up but about every third one is a gusher (must not have mixed the bottling sugar/malt in evenly ?). Is there an easy way to salvage these - pour them into a pitcher and let it settle or some such? \n Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 22:10:37 PDT From: Greg Buckwalter <gregbuck at microsoft.com> Subject: RE: Converting a keg to a boiler >>What is the technique for removing the tap/valve assembly before I get a hole cut in the top? First, let all the pressure out. You may want to put a rag over the tap ball. before pushing, sometimes when there's beer in there you'll get a bath. Next: If you look at where the tap goes in you'll notice that there is a ring (like a piston ring) that keeps the tap hardware in place. I use a pudy knive to get in there start freeign the ring from under the lip. Once you have it started (coming out from the lip) I use a needle nose to pull on it - at that point it is easy just pull on it and it will all come out (the whole ring) then all you do is twist the tap, you'll see the two groves, and pull the tap out. Done Deal. >>3. What interesting things should I get welded onto my keg? I currently plan to put a. A spigot b. A thermometer c. maybe some handles? d. maybe a mesh screen to act as a false bottom? a. Yes, You'll need a nipple and a spigot (brass works well & brass spigots are easy to get at your local hardware store). If you cannot find a brass nipple you can use stainless steel, have your welder braze it. b. If you find a mail order setup let me know. I'm still looking. c. Doesn't your keg already have handles on it? d. Only needed for the mash keg. e. When you cut a hole in the top - Here's one to think about. I measured the lid of my boiling kettle and cut the hole just inside that one so I had a means of putting a lid on it. Big helper for keeping the temp inside and not steaming off. >>Any suggestions on how/where to put these items on the keg are also welcome by me. Put the Spigot right down on the lower part of the side if not using a screen. Otherwise you might want to put it on the bottom, but if you do that you might not want to hav the nipple brazed. If your using a jet burner it gets hot down there. >>4. What is the theory behind the liquid-level sight thingy? I guess I've never seen one in action, and don't know the details of how they work. Is this a cool thing to have on a converted keg? Don't know I climb up on the stand that the keg is on a look down inside. What a beautiful sight it is..... Have fun, Brew On, Bucky From: Daniel Cook To: homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com Subject: Converting a keg to a boiler Date: Friday, June 16, 1995 11:21AM Acme thread-killer #1: I got my keg legally, not in some alley from a guy who said, "Psst! Hey fella, wanna buy a beat-up empty beer keg?" Acme thread-killer #2: I *know* that this has been discussed before. I *have* looked through the past articles and various archives. Short of downloading the past 1500 issues of the HBD, I could not find what I'm looking for. Any pointers to good FAQs is OK by me. - --------------------- Greetings! I have a 15-gallon (Molson, I think) keg that I'd like to make into a large mash/lauter/boil tun. Questions: 1. I'll probably go a local welder and try to barter with him: free beer for the opportunity to blast apart a keg. What is the technique for removing the tap/valve assembly before I get a hole cut in the top? 2. Seattle readers: any suggestions for a beer-drinking welder? Not at the same time, of course. 3. What interesting things should I get welded onto my keg? I currently plan to put a. A spigot b. A thermometer c. maybe some handles? d. maybe a mesh screen to act as a false bottom? Any suggestions on where to get these handy items? Mail-order is fine w/me, and probably preferred. Any suggestions on how/where to put these items on the keg are also welcome by me. 4. What is the theory behind the liquid-level sight thingy? I guess I've never seen one in action, and don't know the details of how they work. Is this a cool thing to have on a converted keg? All replies are gratefully accepted. Your responses will only help to increase my brew-ability, and increase the average skill set of the world's homebrewers. Basically, I'm doing this for *all* of us! Dan Cook Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 21:08:58 -0800 From: chrispix at uclink2.berkeley.edu (Christopher Pickslay) Subject: RE: Harvesting fermenter yeast What advantages are there to harvesting and re-using the yeast from a prior batch, besides saving a few bucks? Does it noticeably improve the beer over using fresh liquid yeast? My impression from the last few posts on the process is that it seems like an awful lot of work. TIA, ?:^{> Christopher Pickslay chrispix at uclink2.berkeley.edu UC Berkeley Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 21:28:59 -0700 From: Mark King <mking at sparc1.castles.com> Subject: Please add Please add me to the list - -- =========================================================================== CASTLES Information Network - California's Full Internet Service Provider www.castles.com BBS +1 707-429-9789 Voice information 1-800-WEB-ME-NOW FAX +1 707-422-5265 =========================================================================== Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 21:51 PDT From: Otto Radtke <IZZY126 at MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> Subject: Rooty-Tooty-Fresh-N-Fruity Lambic I just bought a pair of Lambics from some outfit that calls itself the Brewery De Troch Wambeek. They put together some tropical lambics with strawberry and banana flavors. The strawberry was just okay; for some reason it just ended up tasting sour. It had potential...The banana on the other hand was very good. It's no Lindeman's peche of course, but then what is? This ale had just the right amount of flavor so that it didn't overpower the beer. The banana flavor went surprisingly well with the tartness of the lambic. I highly recommend you try it if that particular action is within your means. But on to the homebrew question which actually has something to do with the previous paragraph. Have any of you used fruit extracts in your lambics? Or is it better to use fresh stuff? When is the best time to add the fruit (or its flavor)? I've never brewed a lambic but I'm getting real motivated to do so, and I'd appreciate the feedback from you fine fellows! Otto Radtke Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 07:31:54 -0400 (EDT) From: "mike spinelli" <paa3983 at dpsc.dla.mil> Subject: carboy cooler Being that summers here, I was concerned about the temp. inside my house which gets into the low 80s. Not having a cool basement, I searched for and found a nice plastic Deep Totelocker (Rubbermaid Model #2456) in which (2) 6 1/2 gallon carboys fit nicely. I can then fill the totelocker with water up to about the 4 gallon mark w/o the carboys floating away. The lid can be shut about half way with it resting atop the airlocks. Size is 32" X 17" X 17 7/8". Cost about $25 bucks. Standard disclaimer. Mike Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 07:57:00 EDT From: "Houseman, David L [TR]" <DLH1 at trpo3.Tr.Unisys.com> Subject: BUZZ_OFF Results The BUZZ_OFF is pleased to announce the results of our second competition held today at the Valley Forge Brewpub. There were over 200 entries, with many of them great beers. While the local area was well represented, we had entries from as far away as California. Individual score sheets and any un-picked-up ribbons and prizes will be mailed as soon as we can get to it; give me a few days - I don't want to look at a beer or an entry form or think about this for a few days!!! Category Place Brewer Style Strong Ales 1st Pickwick, B & Cintron, J. Barley Wine 2nd Hardy, Fred Barley Wine 3rd Delapp, Barry Barley Wine Belgian Ales 1st Hutchins, Owen Lambic/Framboise 2nd Hutchins, Owen Wit 3rd Hanning, Chuck Wit Brown & Scottish Export 1st Mezo, Joe Scottish Export 2nd Ritter, John & Sue English Mild 3rd Behler, Jey English Brown English Pale Ales 1st Hudock, Lisa IPA 2nd Wolf, Ed-Liguori, C. IPA 3rd Grigg, Andy English Pale Ale American Pale Ale 1st Green, Charles American Pale Ale 2nd Gisiger, Wayne American Pale Ale 3rd Mezo, Joe American Pale Ale English Bitter 1st Hardy, Fred English Ordinary 2nd Szymchak, Bill English Extra Special 3rd Rasefske, Jason English Special Stout & Porter 1st Lubking, Goug & Colleen Robust Porter 2nd Colgan, Brian Dry Stout 3rd Ritter, John & Sue Brown Porter Bock & Dark Lager 1st Terfinko, Terry Doppelbock 2nd Pickwick, Bob Helles Bock 3rd Johnston, Ted Munich Dunkel Pale Lager 1st Delapp, Barry Bohemian Pilsner 2nd Garfalo, Peter American Premium 3rd Fix, George Dortmunder/Export German/Mixed Ales 1st Salotti, Lewis California Common Beer 2nd Wolf, Ed-Liguori, C. California Common Beer 3rd Hopkins, Jay Kolsch Fruit & Smoked 1st Folsom, Alan Classic Smoked Porter 2nd Rosowski, Rich Rauchbier 3rd Lefebvre, Paul Strawberry Wheat Specialty 1st Rosowski, Rich Pomegranite/Cinn/Lemon 2nd Gisiger, Wayne Honey Beer 3rd Worton, Andrew Raspberry Coriander German Wheat 1st Pickwick, Bob Weizen 2nd Hanning, Chuck Weizen 3rd Reyno, John Weizen Meads & Ciders 1st Delapp, Barry Raspberry Mead 2nd Iaciofano, Ed Traditional Still Mead 3rd Hutchins, Owen Traditional Still Mead Labels 1st Putsta, Joe 2nd Born, Allen 3rd Colgan, Brian Best of Show: Owen Hutchins, Lambic/Framboise Runner Up BOS: Terry Terfinko, Doppelbock Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year (Total points accomulated in Hops Bops, Dock Street, Moon Madness and BUZZ_OFF competitions (5 points/1st, 3 points/2nd, 1 point/3rd): Owen Hutchins David Houseman Competition Organizer Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 08:06:01 -0500 (EST) From: david lawrence shea <dshea at indiana.edu> Subject: Solution: *Never* have puffed or bulging 5l kegs again Okay, so the subject header may be a bit grandiose, but after Chris Strickland wrote about puffed out kegs during the warmer weather I thought I would offer my solution. All that is needed is to stick a kitchen (dull) knife between the the top of the mini keg and the outer lip of the bung. Push into the center very hard and excess CO2 will bleed out. It will sound like a compressed air unit at a gas station. When you hear the CO2 flow starting to slow down significantly, remove the knife. I do this once a week or so until I encounter a time where there doesn't seem to be much excess pressure ( you will know it when it happens). After this, I check the pressure every three or four weeks, if the keg lasts that long. Initially, one might ask about having the natural CO2 pressure help in the tapping of the keg, and if you remove this pressure, you will have to use more CO2 from the tap. Generally, I find that there will still be some natural pressure and more importantly, you will tend to have less foam problems from the onset. If you have excess pressure, you may use less CO2 from the cartridges, but it may take a couple of days and many wasted glasses of foam before you drink your beer. I can usually have a drinkable pint on my first tapping of the keg. I hope this helps. David L. Shea dshea at nickel.indiana.edu Indiana University Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 09:47:50 est From: Joseph.Fleming at gsa.gov Subject: Flakey questions Hey all, Flakes I'd like to thank Jacob Galley and Russ (Mast?) for his Brown Rye Ale recipe and ask a question. His recipe calls for 1.5# of rye flakes; others I've seen calls for 4# rye malt. My preferred store doesn't carry rye malt but has the flakes assortment (maize, barley, wheat, oats, ect.); what's the difference between malt & flakes? How are flakes made? Why would flaked barley, wheat or rye be preferable to malted (as I've seen in recipes)? What is the malt:flake usage conversion ratio? I've seen flaked wheat in wit recipes; do flaked adjuncts add to cloudiness more than malt? Thread-searching garnered usage info: just add flakes to the mash? Seems that flakes would make the mash thick or gummy; am I correct in assuming that in 10-20% quantities this would not pose a problem? A.J.'s Water Works A.J. has done an extensive amount of work to provide several methods on achieving the chemical makeup of brewing waters with distilled water. I hate to ask a dumb question (but am going to), but would it be possible to plug in the brewer's own water figures and achieve the four-salt quantities necessary to approximate the water? Or are there too many factors to keep track of in non-distilled water? Second; the salts and acids added would mimic any mineral taste and content of the water as well? Joe - joseph.fleming at gsa.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 09:47:38 EST From: "Tom Williams" <twilliams at CCGATE.UECI.COM> Subject: Secondary vessel In #1761 Larry Carden writes: > Plastic buckets are not recommended for secondary fermentation. > ... > You don't need to buy another carboy, if you don't mind siphoning > to the bucket temporarily, cleaning the primary, and reusing it as > the secondary. Questions: 1. Why are plastic buckets unsuitable for secondary? 2. Is the answer to question #1 serious enough to warrant siphoning (and aerating) the beer twice just to reuse the glass carboy? I normally use my glass carboy for primary, siphon to the plastic bucket for secondary. At bottling time, I put the priming sugar solution in the glass carboy and siphon back to it for bottling. I haven't noticed any problems with this, but I am always on the lookout for improvements. Tom Williams Norcross, Georgia Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 10:05:58 EDT From: Steven W. Schultz <swschult at cbda9.apgea.army.mil> Subject: ESB Recipe Recently, I asked the HBD readership for a recipe that comes close to Fuller's ESB. I received one recipe from Christopher R. Vyhnal, and with his permission I now provide it to the HBD. Again, my thanks to Chris. Steve Schultz - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher.R.Vyhnal at Dartmouth.EDU (Christopher R. Vyhnal) Reply-To: OKIE at Dartmouth.EDU Subject: Fuller's ESB clone To: swschult at cbda9.apgea.army.mil Here's the Fuller's recipe I've been working on for awhile--I haven't yet bottled this particular batch, but it tasted great at racking. 3.3# Munton & Fison extra light extract syrup 4.5# 2-row malt 0.5# crystal (40 deg. L) 1.0# flaked maize 0.25# dark Belgian candi sugar (275 deg. L) 1 step infusion, mini-mash at 154 deg. F for 70 minutes, or until conversion. Mashout at 170 deg. F for 20 minutes. Sparge w/3 gallons water at 150 deg. F to collect 4.25 gallons. 1 oz Bullion pellets (8.5 AAU) 60 mins 1 oz Bullion pellets (8.5 AAU) 20 mins 1 oz Goldings flowers (4.5 AAU) 20 mins 0.75 oz Goldings flowers (4.5 AAU) 10 mins 0.25 oz goldings flowers dry-hopped in secondary You want an O.G. of around 1.052 - 1.054 (this recipe gave me 1.053). Bittering hops in Fuller's, from what I've read, are not Bullion but Challenger, Target, and/or Northdown (which can be tough to find). Any high AAU, British hop should get you pretty close as long as you finish with Goldings. The flaked maize is a must and needs to be 8-10% of your total grain bill. I used the dark Belgian candi sugar to try and get a little closer to the right amber/orange color (my first try came out too light). If you don't want to mash any grains, I'd suggest using another can of M&F, and a pound of corn sugar instead of the grains. You could darken the beer a little by carmelizing some of the extract (leave your kettle on the burner when you add the extract). The yeast you want to use is Wyeast's 1968 (London ale). Good Luck, Chris Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 18:05:15 +0300 From: diagen at netvision.net.il (Nir Navot) Subject: HomeBrewing in Israel Living in Israel? If you are a homebrewer - or intend to be one send me a line. There are around ten of us here, on last count. Just looking for someone to share a bottle of my latest batch with, Nir Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 10:30:17 -0500 (EST) From: "Jim Herter" <James.M.Herter.1 at nd.edu> Subject: Homebrew Club Outline\Using Hop Teas\Dropping? I am interested in initiating a local homebrew club - Does anyone have an outline or notes on how to get started? (i.e., charter, mission statement, meeting format, etc.) I recently brewed my first mash\extract beer. It's an old English style ale with an o.g of 1.072. I underestimated the hop schedule by about 10 (30.9 vs. 40 IBU's which most references suggest). I planned on boiling a .5 ounce Fuggles plug for 50-60 minutes and adding this at bottling. Even though the beer has another week to go in the secondary, I went ahead and boiled the plug for 50 minutes in five cups of water. This yielded 2 cups of an interesting green, milky elixir. I strained the mixture through a section of panty hose (new, not used) and placed it in the fridge for use this Saturday. Will this add the desired bittering units? The AA% was 4.1 and the target was ~10 IBU. Will this cloud the beer too much, or will it settle out after two weeks in the bottle? Should I just bag the whole idea and settle for a slightly sweet ale? Does anyone have a comprehensive article on dropping that I can give to the Brewmaster at the local brew pub? Personal email is fine. One last thing. I've fought doing this for some time. ***definitely*** no "a"! Jim Herter Business Manager Notre Dame Food Services (219)631-0113 james.m.herter.1 at nd.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 10:02:00 MST From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR at afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil> Subject: Suboptimal Hop Combinations/Flux and Fermenter Flow 1) Are there certain combinations of hops which, when used in a single brew, create flavors which are generally accepted as unattractive? This question applies to both kettle hop combinations and, more likely, to finish hop combinations. If there are combos many folks find disagreeable, have such combos been compiled anywhere? I'm thinking only of combinations of hops one would find used in 'like' beers (Fuggles, Northdown, Progress, Target, Bramling Cross), not combinations of two or more hops that would not normally or intentially be combined anyway (Saaz-Bullion might be an example). 2) In #1765 David Boe asked if the Bowtie Effect was magnetically influenced. The first batch done in twin fermenters had patterns aligned in parallel along a line about 10 deg clockwise from the local meridian, bit a subsequent 2-fermenter batch had non-parallel axes of symmetry. KRF Colorado Springs Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 13:21:08 EDT From: jpavao at c38fs0.npt.nuwc.navy.mil (John D. Pavao) Subject: Smokey the Beer Hi, I'm thinking about trying the recipe in TNCJOHB for rauchbier using liquid smoke as one of the ingredients. Before making the attempt, I would be interested to hear the opinions of those who have already tried it. My major concern is knowing if the amount of liquid smoke called for in the recipe is okay. Tia for any comments. John D. Pavao <jpavao at c38.npt.nuwc.navy.mil> Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 11:38:00 MST From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR at afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil> Subject: Filling a Sankey Up 'till now we've disassembled our Sankey's to sanitize and fill with the frothy golden nectar. We would now like to sanitize, leave about 1 gal of iodophor in the keg, re-assemble, shake, pump out the iodophor, and finally fill the keg with Product. If anyone has been able to succesfully re-plumb a coupler to allow the filling of an assembled Sankey keg, or if anyone knows how it is done, or if anyone knows why it can't be done, I'd be most appreciative. Also, I am unable to figure out how a Sankey coupler is built--it never fails to amaze me when, just as I think I have it's design deduced, I am amazed (and probably soaked with beer) at my ignorance. If anyone has a sectional diagram I'd sure like to get a copy. KRF Colorado Springs Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 12:15:57 PDT From: hollen at megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck) Subject: Re: Sparge Arms for 15 gal. sys. >>>>> "Eric" == Eric Marzewski <ca385a19 at nova.umuc.edu> writes: Eric> Looking for a sparge arm for a 15 gal. system, any besides Phils (any Eric> comments on Phils)? Thanx for the help. I just made one out of 1/4" rigid copper tubing. The key is what to use as a swivel. I used a SS fitting which is a 1/4" female flare by 3/8" hose barb. Ground down the hose barb part and soldered it into the "T" which is at the center of the rotating arm. The water inlet "down tube" is made from 1/2" rigid copper and on the end of that is a 1/2" sweat female to 1/8" NPT female fitting, and then screwed into the 1/8" FNPT is an 1/8" MNPT to 1/4" male flare. The end of the 1/4" male flare has been ground off so that when screwed into the SS female flare, the nut will botton out before the flare engages, thereby leaving the barb to act as a swivel. dion - -- Dion Hollenbeck (619)675-4000x2814 Email: hollen at megatek.com Staff Software Engineer Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 13:23:04 MDT From: "James Giacalone" <JGiacalone at vines.ColoState.EDU> Subject: Brew pubs Does anyone out there know of any brewpubs in New Orleans or Houston? Private E- mail is fine. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 12:36:05 -0800 From: troy at opthalmos.jsei.ucla.edu (Troy Howard) Subject: Grain Bag in Lauter Tun? Hi all, I currently use a "Zapap" lauter tun (one bucket with lots of small holes drilled in the bottom placed inside another bucket). I am concerned with the volume contained beneath the false bottom. It is close to a gallon! Consequently, I am considering modifying my lauter tun to elimate this free space. The easiest mod would be to replace the inner bucket with a grain bag. I have heard reports of problems with channeling using this method. Does anyone have any direct experience ? The next easiest solution would probably be to build an "EasyMasher" type thing (a rolled up piece of SS screen crimped at one end and attached to a short piece of copper tubbing at the other). Any one have any comments about the relative merits and disadvantages of either system? TIA, -Troy - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Troy Howard | Live fast, troy at oculus.jsei.ucla.edu | die young, Jules Stein Eye Institue, UCLA | and leave a good looking corpse. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 09:46:29 mdt From: "LAVANSA0" <LAVANSA0_at_WC-DENVER at ccmail.wcc.com> Subject: Hop Utilization at High Altitude Hello all! Whilst brewing this weekend, (and planning to move operations up the hill, literally) I tried to reason out how to adjust recipes (or if I even need to) to counter the effects of altitude, ie, lower boiling temperature and therefore(?) lower hop utilization and/or isomerization. Does anyone out there have any words of wisdom or tips? Thanks, Luke Support the Beer Lover's Party (Russian politics) Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 15:59:07 CDT From: PHIL=MEYERS%TS=DESKCASE%CS=HOU at bangate.compaq.com Subject: Puffed-up minikegs >From: cstrick at iu.net (Chris Strickland) >Subject: Puffed Up Mini-Kegs, and Siphoning Questions >Since it's summer, I've had several mini-kegs puff up. Just curious, since >it's a pain to attach the tap, can I bang em back with a hammer? Or will >this make them too weak and cause them to explode. Any other ideas? I had a couple of my Friess-compatible mini-kegs do this to me. I just GENTLY pushed down the center plug until I could hear a faint hiss until the thing looked like it wasn't going to explode on me. However, I would be interested to hear the results of the hammering.... ;-0 Regards, Phil P.S. - Forgive the garbage at the end of this post. Our mail system does it, not me... The following was included as an attachement. Please use UUDECODE to retrieve it. The original file name was 'ATTRIBS.BND'. begin 666 ATTRIBS.BND M0F5Y;VYD(%!A8VME9"!!='1R:6)U=&5S`$%45%))*```````4'5F9F5D+75P M(&UI;FEK96=S```````````````````````````````````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M`%!(24P at 345915)3```````````````````````````````````````````` M``````````````````````````````````!Q:2PV*U%Y;'9J```````````` M````````0F5Y;VYD(%!R;W!R:65T87)Y($1A=&$:`````!$`````````!`"J M`P``````````````````````````5&5X=+\"/D9R;VTZ(&-S=')I8VM`:74N M;F5T("A#:')I<R!3=')I8VML86YD*0H^4W5B:F5C=#H at 4'5F9F5D(%5P($UI M;FDM2V5G<RP at 86YD(%-I<&AO;FEN9R!1=65S=&EO;G,*"CY3:6YC92!I="=S M('-U;6UE<BP at 22=V92!H860 at <V5V97)A;"!M:6YI+6ME9W, at <'5F9B!U<"X at M($IU<W0 at 8W5R:6]U<RP at <VEN8V4 at "CYI="=S(&$ at <&%I;B!T;R!A='1A8V at at M=&AE('1A<"P at 8V%N($D at 8F%N9R!E;2!B86-K('=I=& at at 82!H86UM97(_("!/ M<B!W:6QL(`H^=&AI<R!M86ME('1H96T at =&]O('=E86L at 86YD(&-A=7-E('1H M96T at =&\ at 97AP;&]D92X at ($%N>2!O=&AE<B!I9&5A<S\*"DD at :&%D(&$ at 8V]U M<&QE(&]F(&UY($9R:65S<RUC;VUP871I8FQE(&UI;FDM:V5G<R!D;R!T:&ES M('1O(&UE+B` at 22!J=7-T($=%3E1,62!P=7-H960 at 9&]W;B!T:&4 at 8V5N=&5R M('!L=6< at =6YT:6P at 22!C;W5L9"!H96%R(&$ at 9F%I;G0 at :&ES<R!U;G1I;"!T M:&4 at =&AI;F< at ;&]O:V5D(&QI:V4 at :70 at =V%S;B=T(&=O:6YG('1O(&5X<&QO M9&4 at ;VX at ;64N" at I(;W=E=F5R+"!)('=O=6QD(&)E(&EN=&5R97-T960 at =&\ at M:&5A<B!T:&4 at <F5S=6QT<R!O9B!T:&4 at :&%M;65R:6YG+BXN+B`[+3`*"E)E M9V%R9',L"E!H:6P*"E`N4RX at +2!&;W)G:79E('1H92!G87)B86=E(&%T('1H M92!E;F0 at ;V8 at =&AI<R!P;W-T+B` at 3W5R(&UA:6P at <WES=&5M(&1O97, at :70L M(&YO="!M92XN+N4``P"_`MX``0`!````#P`!``$``0"_` at ```````#C_```` M````D`$``````````$U3(%-A;G, at 4V5R:68````````````````````````` M``````$``0`I``$`* at ! at ``$`80!A``$`8 at "O``$`L`#[``$`_`!!`0$`0 at %" M`0$`0P$+` at $`#`(,` at $`#0)8` at $`60)9` at $`6 at )B` at $`8P)G` at $`:`)H` at $` M:0+`` at ```````````````&0``:0!`4 at #`>P$`9`&`30(`= at )`7P+`2`-`<0. 2`6 at 0`0P2`;`3`505`? at 6; at `` ` end Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1766, 06/27/95