HOMEBREW Digest #1811 Fri 18 August 1995

Digest #1810 Digest #1812


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


Contents:
  trip report part 1 of 2 (Algis R Korzonas)
  AOL Name flames (GeepMaley)
  Hunter Kaput (Kyle R Roberson)
  drawing wort/ leaky 5-liter keg (Carl Etnier)
  Homebrewing in ITALY (davide.arzarello)
  SG corrections (the easy way) ("ath at merkur.sds.no")
  Yet *more* dilution stuff (Aidan "Kicked in his conspiracies" Heerdegen)
  More immersion wort chillers (BF3B8RL)
  The Most Powerful Beer in the Universe (Bill Andreas/BOSTON/PART/CSC)
  More on B-Brite again/Fuzzies in RIMS (DONBREW)
  Brewpubs in Atlanta (Danny Mastre)
  wort starters (Rob Emenecker)
  Chillers & stirring ("Keith Royster")
  Re: Dead Hunter Airstat (Jim Griggers)
  re: Why no head? (Dave Whitman)
  Re Molson Signature Series (Ed Hitchcock)
  ...and even more on siphoning/oxidation. (Ben Adair)
  ...no subject... ("Michael R. Swan")
  Re: Braided tubing (Jim Dipalma)
  Theoretical Max Extract of Grains? ("Dave Bradley::IC742::6-2556")
  Panic attack (Matt_K)
  RE: Dead Hunter Airstat Fix (James Syniura)
  Lemonade. (Russell Mast)
  Beer in Ontario (Alan_Marshall)
  Molson and Craft Beer (Alan_Marshall)
  pitching temps... my 2 cents (Rob Emenecker)
  Chillin' Tales. (Russell Mast)
  Aerating & Liquid Yeast (Brent Irvine)
  Elactrasol & Total Residual Chlorine (Jim Overstreet)
  High Pitching Temps and Immersion Wort Cooling (SoarMoose)
  Trappist ale fermentation temperature (Dave Riedel)
  Molson (Eamonn McKernan)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Aug 95 17:35:10 CDT From: korz at pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas) Subject: trip report part 1 of 2 Well, I'm back from three weeks in Germany and Belgium and, naturally, I'm three weeks behind in my work, so I'll try to make this short. A special thanks to all of you that sent me your very helpful suggestions for lodging, translations of brewing terms and suggestions of places to visit. Where: Bamburg, Muenchen, Bacharach, Koeln, Duesseldorf, Beersel, Brussels, Brugge and Antwerpen. I missed a lot of the "easy" brewery tours (the ones that were actually IN the cities we were staying and had regular brewery tours) like Straffe Hendrick and Gouden Boom (Brugge) or the big breweries in Muenchen. I did, however get to tour some of the smaller, more interesting breweries that are not on everyone's agenda, like Paulaner Brauhaus (a brewpub owned by Paulaner), Forschungs Braustuberl, Unions (another brewpub near Muenchen), Zum Uerige, De Dolle Brouwers, Oud Beersel, Rodenbach and the cellars at 3 Fonteinen in Beersel. Cantillon was certainly a must and was an "easy" brewery to tour: you could probably wake Jean-Pierre at 3am and he would let you tour the brewery. Beer-related Highlights: * the rauchbier at Braurei Special in Bamberg (Incidentally, while everyone, especially the citizens of Bamberg, criticize Kaiserdom for being a "bad" rauchbier, I feel that it is not that far off the mark, and probably most of the local criticism is because it is a major brewer and not a small independent. Yes it is probably twice as smoky as Special, it is not that much smokier than Schlenkerla. Back off 25% to 40% on the smokiness from Kaiserdom on your homebrewed attempts and you should be in the ballpark.) * while the Muenchner Helles were all quite similar (almost every brewery uses 34/70 yeast) throughout Bavaria, the Dunkels had wide variety of interpretations... standouts were Benedicktiner Dunkel (Bamberg), Augustiner Edelstoff Dunkel (Muenchen) and Koenig Ludwig Dunkel. * the best beer I tasted in Bavaria was by far the St. Jakobus Bock, a pale bock beer brewed by Forschungs Braurei (Koenig Ludwig Dunkel was a close second). * Kulmbacher Reichelbraeu Eisbock is outstanding... the only other eisbock I had tasted was one brewed by Dennis Davison -- the one that won the bock category at the Nationals this year. I know one or two judges gave Dennis a score of 50 on his beer, but (sorry Dennis) I'd have to give the Kulmbacher one point higher. * Zum Uerige -- yes, it is as bitter and as malty as they say it is. No, no homebrewed version I've ever tasted has even come close. It is brewed with about 98% pils malt just a few percent roasted and caramel malt. All Spalt hops. This was another outstanding beer. The other Duesseldorfer Alts (Zum Schuessel, Schumacher, Im Fuechshen) are also very good to outstanding and most are almost as bitter as the Zum Uerige. There were some fair-to-poor Alts there also, so not every alt is spectacular. Also, several excellent Alts were *fruity* despite many descriptions that say they are supposed to be dry and not fruity. They were all at least slightly fruity and were all semi-sweet -- the hops balanced the sweetness and perhaps that's why some think they are a dry-tasting beer. They are *not* dry. * 3 Fonteinen Geuze (Flemish spelling) is outstanding. Too bad they are so small that you have to get within 10 miles of the cellars to find it. The acidity was a little harsher than Cantillon. A five-year-old bottle was much smoother and tasted about as smooth as a three-year-old Cantillon. * Cantillon Gueuze (French spelling) is the best. With some aging it becomes a nectar. The best beer I tasted in my life was a 17-year old Cantillon poured by Jean-Pierre at the brewery. It was more complex than any other 10 beers combined. When I asked J-P if he thought we could make lambik here with pure cultures, he said: "You can make lambik anywhere!" He felt that traditional methods are key and that you must learn to work within your environment. Jean-Pierre says he doesn't make lambiks, lambiks make themselves -- he just helps: "The lambik is the boss... I work for the lambik." <continued in part 2> Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 22:35:13 -0400 From: GeepMaley at aol.com Subject: AOL Name flames Thanks to all for the input to my private e-mail (You know who you are) and those that posted to HDB on this subject. As you may have guessed from the "naivety" of my original post, I am not a seasoned Internet veteran. As such, when I read that people were complaining about AOL "signatures" I assumed it was the area shown in parenthesis after the actual email address, i.e. GeepMaley at aol.com (GeepMaley) vs. Beerman at anything.com (Joe Schmo), that people were referring to. Sorry for the confusion, 'nuff said Still looking to Weizenbock help (thank padre!) Geep Maley Amateur Brewer and Father (yes I am an amateur there too!) Plano, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 20:41:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Kyle R Roberson <roberson at beta.tricity.wsu.edu> Subject: Hunter Kaput My Hunter AirStat also has died. Right now it is just an expensive thermometer and the fridge is controlling its own temperature the best it can. Same symptoms: the AC no longer turns on. I had modified mine to work at lower temperature, a la HBD directions, so I didn't try to send it back to Hunter or where I bought it. My modification did not affect what broke, I'm pretty sure. If anyone has a fix, I'd sure like to hear about it too. Mine only lasted about 6 months. Regards, Kyle Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 08:34:39 +0200 (MET DST) From: Carl Etnier <Carl.Etnier at abc.se> Subject: drawing wort/ leaky 5-liter keg There was a posting last year about drawing wort from a carboy with a 60 cc syringe and a catheter, for measuring specific gravity during fermentation (can't give credit where credit is due to a hard disk crash). My medical connections are not good enough to get ahold of a syringe that big, so I have taken a tip from the siphoning thread from a couple months ago and adapted it, using no medical supplies. Materials: a small plastic container with a tightly sealable lid, 70- 100 cm aquarium aeration hose (ca 5 mm), and silicone sealant. Cut off 10 cm of the aquarium hose. Drill two holes in the lid and insert the 10 cm hose in one hole and the rest in the other hole. Seal with silicone. (Sorry, no ASCII art. Write me privately if this is unclear.) To use: Place lid, tightly sealed, on the plastic container. Sanitize the long aquarium hose. Remove the airlock from the carboy. Stick the long hose down into the wort. Position the container lower than the level of wort in the carboy and suck on the short hose until a siphon is achieved. Allow the container to fill up until you have enough wort for an s.g. test. Remove hose from wort and replace airlock. ******** I have a 5-liter mini-keg that has not developed a tight seal around the rubber plug. When I tip it, it leaks out beer. What can one do to prevent this? The beer was kegged 10 days ago, with about 30 ml (sorry Dave) corn sugar. It has been kept at 20-25 C, so it has been warm enough for the yeast to ferment and bring up the pressure, if there had been a seal. I used both a rubber plug and the hard plastic inner plug that I have used about 4 times before, but these things shouldn't get worn out, should they? Carl Etnier A transplanted Yank in Trosa, Sweden Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 11:37:56 +0100 From: davide.arzarello at MacPost.CSELT.STET.IT Subject: Homebrewing in ITALY This is my first post to HBD and I have some basic questions about my FIRST beer brewing. I wrote from ITALY where wine is the national drink (I produce by myself wine and oil) and so is very difficult to find homebrewing informations. I bought a little book (It seems the only one in italian ) about beer with a simple recipe to produce beer at home but it wasn't very satisfactory I started my research on Internet and i am amazed at the ammount of informations about beer and people found of homebrewing. I downloaded some beginner's guides to first beer and from these instructions i decided that for the first time is more simple buy a KIT expecially as regard INGREDIENTS. Here are my questions: Is there any source of brewing supplies in ITALY or is there any good MAILORDER store in EUROPE that sells KITS and INGREDIENTS? Are there other homebrewer in ITALY ??? Any other suggestions about first beer brewing and recipes are wellcomed. Thank you in advance. Davide Arzarello *************************************************** * Davide Arzarello C.S.E.L.T. * * Via Reiss Romoli 274 Torino ITALY , 011/2287370 * * davide.arzarello at CSELT.STET.IT * *************************************************** Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:31:12 +0000 From: "ath at merkur.sds.no" <ath at merkur.sds.no> Subject: SG corrections (the easy way) This is not accurate but should be sufficient for homebrewing as the hydrometer readings is a bigger source of errors than this formula. (my opinion) Here is what I use : VOL = volum of wort. SG = starting gravity. DG = desired gravity. Water to add = [VOL * (SG - 1000)] / (DG - 1000) - VOL Works for Gallons, liters etc. And if you don't want to do any calculations at all,- use SUDS to set up a batch with SG and volume and start adding water until the desired gravity is reached. Atti Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 21:34:47 EST From: Aidan "Kicked in his conspiracies" Heerdegen <aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au> Subject: Yet *more* dilution stuff Full-Name: Aidan "Kicked in his conspiracies" Heerdegen Hey ho, I can tell just what you all want to read is *more* about dilution stuff ... ;) flemingk at usa.net (Kirk R Fleming) wrote: <some nice stuff about SG to deg Plato conversions> > dw = -w1(p2 - p1)/p2, or what is the same: > > -------------> dw = (sg1*v1)(p2 - p1)/p2 (1) <--------------- ^ Dropped one of them pesky minus signs I reckon (you included it in your example). or you meant to say: dw = (sg1*v1)(p1 - p2)/p2 >Example: 20L of 1.060 wort is to be reduced to 1.045 through addition > of plain water. How much is needed? > > Convert 1.060 and 1.045 to Platos of 14.7 and 11.2, respectively. Then > > dw = -(1.060*20)(11.2 - 14.7)/11.2 = 6.625 Kg, OR, ~6.6 Litres "Palmer.John" <palmer at ssdgwy.mdc.com> like a bearded sage staggering out of the desert with a staggeringly brilliant, yet simple, idea said: >If you have collected 7 gallons of 1.042 wort, and you are going >to boil it down to 5 gallons, what will be your final OG? > >1. You have 7 gallons of 42 points per gallon wort. Total points = 7x42 = 294 >2. The OG of 294 pts in 5 gallons = 294/5 = 58.8 or 1.059 If we try out Kirk's example with John's methodology: 60 * 20 = 1200 points. 1200 / 45 = 26.67 i.e. final volume = 26.67, therefore amount needed to be added is 26.67 - 20 = 6.67 Which agrees with Kirk within the standard LBGETM* error margin Funnily enough it is the way I have always done it too .. also has the advantage of being unit independent (as far as volume goes) as it is a simple ratio. Oh yeah .. I thought the religion thread was bad (but it died a quiet and dignified death), but there is *no* way I wanna be reading about gun control on the HBD .. ok? Cheers Aidan * Looks Bloody Good Enough To Me - -- e-mail: aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au, WWW: http://rschp2.anu.edu.au:8080/aidan Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 07:58:51 -0400 From: BF3B8RL at TPLANCH.BELL-ATL.COM Subject: More immersion wort chillers I 've noticed several HBDers mention that for an immersion wort chiller, you can shorten cooling times by having the coolest portion of the coil hit the hottest (top o' the kettle) portion of the wort. Doesn't this go against the idea of a "counterflow" chiller -- where the coolest portion of the chiller should be located with the coolest portion of the wort? In my faint memories of my last Thermo course, I remember that the counterflow arrangement maximized the efficiency of the heat exchanger. And since (generally) immersion chillers operate with constant inlet temps and flows, the key to chilling times is exchange efficiency. Two basic ways to influcence efficiency are stirring the wort and counterflow of the cooling medium (hence this thread...) What am I missing? Chas Peterson Return to table of contents
Date: 17 Aug 95 8:28:42 EDT From: Bill Andreas/BOSTON/PART/CSC Subject: The Most Powerful Beer in the Universe We have been driven on a quest. Create the most potent brew possible without fortification and still have a pleasant taste and feel. This is our current work. Any suggestions for improvement are extremely welcome. 10 gallon batch 50 minute boil Extract 20 lbs. American Pale Malt Extract 10 lbs. Rice Syrup 5 lbs. Wheat Malt Extract Grains 3 lbs. Aromatic Malt 1 lbs, Crystal 60 Malt 0.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt 0.5 lbs. Roasted Barley Hops 3.5oz Chinook pellets (50 min) 2.0 oz Fuggle pellets (30 min) 3.0 oz Kent Goldings (5 min) 2.0 oz Kent Goldings (dry-hopped primary) Water 2 tsp Water Crystals 1.5 tsp Irish Moss (15 min) Yeast Nottingham Yeast ~ 15 grams Champange Yeast after 3 -4 days Repitch Champange after 2 weeks SG 1.126 OOOOOOOOOHHHHH My GODDDDDDD !!!! Potential alcohol appears to be 15%. Anybody going higher without fortification ? drop a line The CSC Brew Crew "Our creations stand on their own, without a glass" Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 08:44:51 -0400 From: DONBREW at aol.com Subject: More on B-Brite again/Fuzzies in RIMS For those interested the label on the _old_ B-Brite states Contains sodium carbonate and sodium silicate. I don't know what the _new_ formulation contains. A data point. My usual method of cleaning my RIMS is to "mash" 4-5 gallons of B-Brite solution up to 170F, then "mash" plain water to 170F, then rinse with cold water once or twice, this procedure using the _old_ B-Brite did NOT get the fuzzies off of the heating element. However, both the _new_ B-Brite and the cheap dishwasher detergent do!!! Don Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 07:59:24 -0500 From: Danny Mastre <dmastre at bcbsnd.com> Subject: Brewpubs in Atlanta Iam going to Atlanta next week for 6 days, anyone know of any brewpubs in the area? I will be staying on the north side in Buckhead. tia danny dmastre at bcbsnd.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 09:41:55 PDT From: Rob Emenecker <robe at cadmus.com> Subject: wort starters Okay folks. Here is one of those obvious questions that us AR (anal retentive) types just insist on having specific answers to... I am getting ready to brew a blueberry wheat (a modified version of CP's Turtles Wheat from "Companion") using Wyeast American Ale yeast. I popped the yeast pack on Friday, put it into a starter (8 oz. in a 16 oz. bottle) on Sunday. Since that time I have not had the free time to brew and have been stepping up the starter with wort charges (adding an additional 8 oz every 12-18 hours and moving to larger containers as necessary). Here comes the AR question.... I know you should not aerate wort once fermentation has started. However, it seemed to me (my brain what a place to be) that without aerate the starter at each wort addition there would be insufficient oxygen to keep the starter going. So, at each wort charge I would shake up the starter bottle. Well... did I screw up my yeast starter? Should I start over? Should I relax (which at this point will require at least 2 or 3 homebrews) and not worry? TIA ============================================================================ Rob Emenecker (remenecker at cadmus.com) Cadmus Journal Services, Inc., Linthicum, Maryland 21090 410-691-6454 (voice) / 410-684-2793 (fax) Date: 08/17/95 Time: 09:41:56 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There are only two things in life that are ever certain... taxes and BEER!" ============================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 09:57:34 +0500 ET From: "Keith Royster" <N1EA471 at mro.ehnr.state.nc.us> Subject: Chillers & stirring This thread on stirring while using immersion chillers has me thinking. While everyone(?) agrees that stirring increases the rate of chilling, some have stated that they prefer not stirring because they want the cold break to settle out. I would like to suggest the possibility that stirring actually helps the cold break to form, and thus more will settle out of suspension. As most of us are aware, cold break is the process of individual proteins clumping together into larger groups and thus settling faster due to the increase in mass. This also is what causes yeast to settle and is called flocculation and sedimentation. Wastewater treatment plants also depend on flocculation to settle out *little bugaboos* that have been eating the nutrients in the wastewater. In fact, wastewater engineers often employ methods of increasing the rate of flocculation. According to _Wastewater Engineering_ (Metcalf & Eddy, 3rd ed.), flocculation is "dependent on the opportunity for contact", which varies with concentration, among other things. Thus engineers will often introduce turbulence into a wastewater basin with paddles or aeration to cause the little bugaboos to bump into each other more frequently, and thus flocculate better. It seems to me that brewers could use the same method to aid in the cold break. Stirring while chilling would benefit both the rate of cooling and the degree of flocculation. A short rest after cooling will then allow the protein clumps to settle out, which should proceed much faster due to better flocculation. Remember, chill haze is simply the continuation of the cold break, so the more you get out in the cold break, the less chance you have of a chill haze problem. Comments and criticisms welcome! +------------------------------+-------------------------+ | Keith Royster, E.I.T. | Erotic is using a | | Environmental Engineer | feather as a sex aid. | | NC-DEHNR / Air Quality | | | (704) 663-1699 | Kinky is using the | | N1EA471 at mro.ehnr.state.nc.us | whole duck! | +------------------------------+-------------------------+ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 09:55:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Jim Griggers <brew at devine.columbiasc.NCR.COM> Subject: Re: Dead Hunter Airstat >A few members of our club have had the same problem as recently posted, the >AC outlet is no longer gated and is in the off state. Below is a portion >of a post discussing this problem. > >> The part number for the Airstat zener is 1N5359B. It's a 24V, 5W zener. >> It's the only zener on the board, marked as Z1 I believe. Mine read dead >> short with an ohmmeter. > >We had problems finding the part if anyone has a source please post it, I >still have a dead hunter I would like to fix. I meant to post something on this many moons ago, but I am still behind on reading the HBD and this subject caught my eye when I downloaded the latest Digest from stanford. I had a Hunter Airstat fail a couple of years ago and found the same problem, a shorted zener. I replaced the 24 V zener with two 12 V zeners in series. They are available at Radio Shack in a package of two, cat. no. 276-563 for $0.99. They worked for me. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ |\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/| |Jim Griggers brew at devine.columbiasc.ncr.com Columbia, SC| |______________________________________________________________| Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:02:07 -0400 From: dwhitman at rohmhaas.com (Dave Whitman) Subject: re: Why no head? In HBD1805, "mike spinelli" <paa3983 at dpsc.dla.mil> asks why his latest batch has poor head retention. Mike, I speculate that it's the irish moss you used. I've been using IM for about a year now, and I'm starting to see a correlation between use level and quality of head. Now, these haven't been carefully controlled experiments that block out other confounding variables, but there *is* a reasonable mechanistic explanation for why IM might reduce head quality. IM works by helping to precipitate proteins in your wort. This helps eliminate chill haze since complexes of proteins and tannins cause that effect. Unfortunately, proteins are a major contributor to head retention, and it seems to me that it'd be easy to remove too much protein and end up killing your head. My suggestion: next time skip the IM. If you're worried about chill haze, add a tablespoon of polyclar to your secondary. This will remove tannins from your beer, eliminating chill haze without removing proteins. - --- Dave Whitman Rohm and Haas Specialty Materials dwhitman at rohmhaas.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 11:12:43 -0300 (ADT) From: Ed Hitchcock <ehitchcock at sparc.uccb.ns.ca> Subject: Re Molson Signature Series Eamon mentioned the talk by Walter Hogg (not Moss) at the CABA conference. Although true he felt he was brewing for a mass market and that he was capable of reproducing many craft beers, he also stated that he was a stickler for quality. By this he meant demonstrable stability and consistency. He felt that high hopping rates might be used as a mask for a multitude of sins rather than as a flavour component in its own right. His Signature Series (much like the Miller 100% Barley series in the multi-faceted bottles) is decent but not outstanding. The reason seems to be that we wants his beers to be "naked" and therefore show themselves to have no flaws. Personally I like beers with guts, character, and even variability (hey, the top half and bottom half of a bottle of laChouffe can taste different!), but it helps explain a few things. ed ---------------- ehitchcock at sparc.uccb.ns.ca the Pick & Fossil Picobrewery Because there's more to life than just coffee Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 09:10:00 PDT From: Ben Adair <BenA at wayne.com> Subject: ...and even more on siphoning/oxidation. 1) Rob Emenecker states that he had an oxidation problem from a siphoning technique. I use a plastic bucket primary and a glass secondary and try to avoid oxidation when I x-fer to the secondary by first attaching a small hose to the stopper where the airlock is on the primary and put the other end of the hose in the clean secondary, thus attempting to introduce as much CO2 to displace the existing air. I do this for about 15 min. I do not do this when i x-fer to a bottling bucket because there is generally not enough activity. 2) To David Wright, I start my siphons with then siphon tube full of clean water. The amount of water is negligible and I don't introduce any creepies from my beer breath. -ben =================================================================== "Did you really make this?! I really don't care for beer, but this is good!" Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 10:22:04 -0400 From: "Michael R. Swan" <mswan at fdic.gov> Subject: ...no subject... On Wed, 16 Aug 1995, I wrote: > Steve Armbrust and Jeff Frane advise that the 1993 AHA convention was > held in Portland and the commemorative brew was a hazelnut brown ale > (brewed by Chris Studach (?)). I checked and the recipe for this beer > is the Summer 1994 issue of __Zymurgy__ (Volume 17, No. 2). WRONG. I don't have the issue in front of me, but according to the Zymurgy index, the article is in the *Winter 1993* issue, Volume 16, No. 5: "The Oregon Nut Brown Ale Trail---Brewing the '93 Commemorative Beer" by Dena Nishek. Sorry! Mike Swan Dallas, Texas Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 10:32:19 EDT From: dipalma at sky.com (Jim Dipalma) Subject: Re: Braided tubing Hi All, In a HBD#1810, Lee Mengoni writes: >I have purchased Food Grade, mercury and silcone free PVC tubing from US >Plastics, it has a temp rating of +25 to 150F. Its listed applications are >Food and beverage tubing, air and water lines, potable water, deionized >water, air breathing lines. I obtained some of this tubing from Lee, have brewed with it 3-4 times, and am very happy with it. I've repeatedly pumped liquids that were considerably hotter than 150F through it with no problems, either structurally or with leeching anything from the tubing that caused off flavors. This stuff has worked well for me. ************************************************************************ Also in HBD#1810, Christopher P. Weirup writes: >>In HBD #1809, Jim Dipalma writes: >>I liked the old BBrite better, too. The new formulation is suspiciously >>similar to >>dishwasher detergent. I switched to iodophor. >I may be mistaken, but iodophor is a sanitizer, while B-Brite is a >detergent. This is a big difference. B-Brite does not sanitize. Either you are mistaken, or I'm the luckiest homebrewer on the planet. I've brewed over 250 uninfected batches over the past 8+ years using Bbrite. With that kind of luck, I'm wasting my time homebrewing. I should be out buying lottery tickets, or looking for lost wallets. :-) When I wrote "the formulation is suspiciously similar to dishwasher detergent", what I meant was that the new stuff produces a lot of suds, and has a distinct lemon-like, citrusy aroma. The Sunlight detergent I use in my dishwasher has exactly those same properties. The old Bbrite formulation had neither of them. Draw your own conclusions. Cheers, Jim dipalma at sky.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 09:35:43 -0500 (EST) From: "Dave Bradley::IC742::6-2556" <BRADLEY_DAVID_A at Lilly.com> Subject: Theoretical Max Extract of Grains? HBDers: A question for those in the know: what do you think of the following numbers as they pertain to maximum extraction for the given grains? Another question: do you recommend one good source for such info, a book or a spec sheet for each type of grain? Source for these is Mosher's Brewer's Handbook, and I'm not sure of the actual origin...USDA method? These are close to other numbers I've seen, but I want to better determine my extract efficiency and thus I need to be sure of my reference info. TIA! Grains Ideal Extract /lb/gal /lb/5gal 6-row, US 1.0315 1.0063 Amber, British 1.0320 1.0064 Black Patent, British 1.0300 1.0060 Brown, British 1.0320 1.0064 CarraMunich, Belgian ? ? CarraVienna, Belgian ? ? Chocolate, British 1.0300 1.0060 Light Crystal, English 1.0325 1.0065 Mild, British 1.0360 1.0072 Munich, Belgian 1.0340 1.0068 Munich, German 1.0340 1.0068 Pale, British 1.0375 1.0075 Pilsner, German 1.0350 1.0070 Wheat (malted), Belgian 1.0390 1.0078 Dave in Indy From: BRADLEY DAVID A (MCVAX0::RC65036) To: VMS MAIL ADDRESSEE (IN::"homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com") cc: BRADLEY DAVID A (MCVAX0::RC65036) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:43:48 est From: Matt_K at ceo.sts-systems.ca Subject: Panic attack Pant, pant, pant. Wait for heart beat to settle back down. While trying to get my trip organized and work finished before I leave on vacation I almost forgot to ask about where to have a good beer in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. So, please, please if you know of anything please let me know. We will be touring the two provinces during the next two weeks. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming while I go and get a coffee to calm my nerves. Matt in Montreal Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 95 15:33:31 UT From: James Syniura <SYNIURA at msn.com> Subject: RE: Dead Hunter Airstat Fix >A few members of our club have had the same problem as recently posted, the >AC outlet is no longer gated and is in the off state. Below is a portion >of a post discussing this problem. >> The part number for the Airstat zener is 1N5359B. It's a 24V, 5W zener. >>It's the only zener on the board, marked as Z1 I believe. Mine read dead short >> with an ohmmeter. >We had problems finding the part if anyone has a source please post it, I >still have a dead hunter I would like to fix. I have two(2) dead Hunter Airstats. Both bought new, and died within 8 months. If anyone can come up with a fix which will last. Please post. Hunter must have dumped all their units on the market, because of the high failure rate. But you still see them advertised in Zymurgy. buyer beware.... James Syniura syniura at msn.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:35:04 -0500 From: Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> Subject: Lemonade. > From: sprmario at netcom.com (Mario Robaina) > Subject: Alcoholic Lemonade >... educated guesses as to how I might make some. Any takers? Well, it might be stretching it to say I'm educated, but here goes. First off, don't use powdered mix at all. Use real lemons or a frozen juice concentrate. Second, I wouldn't recommend fermenting the stuff with lemons at all. I would guess they probably didn't do that at the brewpub either. It's very common in Germany, Mexico, and probably elsewhere to just mix lemonade and beer together. Now, this will result in something lower in alcohol than beer, and probably lower than what your SO had. You could try making a special high-G beer with champagne yeast and lots of adjuncts, or you could just buy <gasp> a bottle of cheap champagne, from a store, and mix it with some lemonade. Of course, if you want to bottle the stuff, you'll need to worry about adding a yeasty beverage to a sweet one. Good luck. "Please, please, Baby Lemonade." (Syd Barrett) -R Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 11:42:07 -0500 (EST) From: Alan_Marshall <AK200032 at Sol.YorkU.CA> Subject: Beer in Ontario Bob Paolino asked about breweries, tours, brewpubs, etc in Ontario. Regulars of alt.beer and rec.food.drink.beer will know there is a FAQ. Here is the relevant information: The Beer Lover's Guide to Ontario (c) Alan Marshall, ak200032 at sol.yorku.ca revised May 9, 1995 URLs: ftp://ftp.stanford.edu/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/rfdb/beer-ontario.faq http://www.interlog.com/eye/Food-drink/Drinks/marshall.txt <rest of FAQ snipped> Comments and suggestions are most welcome Alan Marshall Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 11:49:28 -0500 (EST) From: Alan_Marshall <AK200032 at Sol.YorkU.CA> Subject: Molson and Craft Beer Eamonn wrote about the Molson bigwig's comments. First, I believe it was Walter Hogg, head brewer. Second, I question the mega's abilities to clone micros. As evidence, it took Labatt 3 months and dozens of batches to get the President's Choice beer to a state acceptable to Loblaws/Weston. Third, the big brewers spending on packaging (bottles, cans, cartons and labels) is over three times what they spend on malt. I'd like to know what is spend on packaging advertising and promotion versus ingredients! To me it sounds like Walter Hogg is just reciting the party line. Cheers, Alan Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 12:04:59 PDT From: Rob Emenecker <robe at cadmus.com> Subject: pitching temps... my 2 cents After reading the plethora of message on pitching temperatures I had to throw in my 2 cents of a recent experience... I brewed a Weisen (btw... please excuse any butchered spellings in this message... I am at the office and do not have my brew books) using the Wyeast Weihenstaphen (can't recall the number). I pitched a starter at 80*f and fermented at 75*f (ambient summer temp. of my basement). The fermentation, racking, bottling and everything in between went without incident. What I now have is an extremely sour beer. It is not contaminated... I have had that happen in the past... nor is it oxygenated. I attributed this EXTREME sourness to the higher fermentation and pitching temperatures. Other yeast strains may be more forgiving of slightly elevated fermentation temps, but this one sure wasn't. For my future summer brews I am keeping the carboy in an insulated box filled with 60 degree water. ============================================================================ Rob Emenecker (remenecker at cadmus.com) Cadmus Journal Services, Inc., Linthicum, Maryland 21090 410-691-6454 (voice) / 410-684-2793 (fax) Date: 08/17/95 Time: 12:05:00 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There are only two things in life that are ever certain... taxes and BEER!" ============================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 11:09:11 -0500 From: Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> Subject: Chillin' Tales. In HBD #666, Kevin Nadai discusses using liquid nitrogen and LOX and bagels to chill his beer. I usually use N2O to chill my beer. Sure, it takes a long time and the cold break isn't for shit, but it's great fun. -R Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 12:34:36 EDT From: Brent Irvine <brenirvi at village.ca> Subject: Aerating & Liquid Yeast With all the discussion on aerating, yeasts and kegging, I am in the process of modifying my so-far-successful brewing techniques to suit. However, I have questions. First of all, for my current batch which is in the secondary (bottling within a week), I aerated with an aquarium pump. I simply placed a sanitized tube into the primary before pitching yeast and let it pump away while I ate supper. Fermentation went well and hard. Of course I do not yet know the real (read 'taste') result of aerating like this, but am curious about what to expect. I would imagine that I will get a more complete fermentation, thus a less sweet yet lighter taste. I would also expect alcohol content to be higher. Am I correct on these counts? Any others? Please post or private reply. Thanks. Secondly, liquid yeast. I brew using DME and LME with a few added grains if it strikes me to do so on some days. I usually also play around with different combinations and styles of hops; so far, very good. But, I still use the yeast package that comes under the lid, or buy some other package of dried yeast. What I would like to do next is to use liquid yeast. Apparently, this will have one of the greatest and best effects on the brew. My homebrew outlet knows little and stocks no liquid yeast - even in a city 400 km south (North Bay) I could find little knowledge and no stock of the stuff. Please help. Where can I get it? Is there one type I should try over another? I prefer brown ales to all other brews. For those lurkers or posters in T.O., I will be moving to Etobicoke at the end of August for the winter, and would like to know of any shops in that area or at least the west end of Toronto that could be recommended to help me. Finally, with all of the discussion on kegging, I think that I may soon do half of my packaging by keg. I have access to the equipment and would like to try it out. Thanks to all for the info that has come across the lines so far. Brent Irvine Lake Commando B&B Cochrane, Ontario *Home of the Polar Bear Express* Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:54:38 -0600 From: wa5dxp at mail.sstar.com (Jim Overstreet) Subject: Elactrasol & Total Residual Chlorine I also have been using Elactrasol for my cleaning/sanitizing at the Buzzard's Roost Pico-Brewery. After the recent HBD discussions, I decided to run a chlorine test on some Electrasol, which I buy in 15 lb. tubs at Sam's Wholesale Clubs for about $8.00. I first tested the makeup tap water for total chlorine (using a LaMotte Chlorine Test Kit). Total Chlorine was 2.0 ppm. Next, dissolved 1 level TEAspoon of Electrasol in 1 gallon of said tap water. Tested again. Total Residual Chlorine was 4.8 ppm. So, it appears that 1 tsp/gallon adds about 3 ppm Total Chlorine, not Free Available Chlorine (as I was getting low on the test reagent, did not perform this one, which requires chilling the sample, etc.). I have been using approx. 1 Tbsp/gallon of Electrasol for several years, and have been well pleased with it's performance. Be sure to rinse w/hot water though, or 3 times or more with cold tap water. Perhaps someone could test the ALL product mentioned in recent HBD. The Brewmaster at the new Acadian Brewery uses Cascade at his 2-bbl pilot brewery. wa5dxp at mail.sstar.com (jim overstreet) - - - - - Fidonet 1:396/1.5 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 14:15:36 -0400 From: SoarMoose at aol.com Subject: High Pitching Temps and Immersion Wort Cooling Well...I haven't seen a good reason why I shouldn't pitch at the same temperatures that I always do, even though someone chastised us all for pitching at higher temps. There was a good note explaining in extremely high-tech terms what "Might" happen, but I really don't know how to tell if I have too much ethylacetlyetehstace in my beer. My point to all of us who pitch at higher temps with good results is: don't worry about it. Until you see a detrimental effect on your brewing, even the stearnest warning doesn't mean a thing. The president of a local homebrew club once told me that I got trub because I used flower hops. His other friends have told me all kinds of wild things about tempuratures of this and stirring this or not stirring that... most of these things are little more than superstitious rituals that they do because they were stupid enough to believe some OTHER homebrewer. To resolve the cooling issues I have 50' of 3/8 copper and I move it around. I remove sediment and other crap by hop-backing through a strainer using the hops floating around in the wort. I generally pitch in the upper 70s or right at 80 degrees and I get NO TRUB WHATSOEVER. Oh, yeah, I use flower hops as much as possible. Pellets just make a mess in the bottom of my fermenter and I can't filter the wort like I can through the flowers. No matter what the "experienced" homebrewers say, I make consistently good beer that is usually as clear (or clearer) than theirs and tastes great. I think the yeast I use, being very similar to the yeast in Sierra Nevada, helps a lot. I think it likes the local ambient temperatures - but I really don't know or care as long as my beer tastes like I want it to taste. -Chris (C&S Nanobrewery) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 11:59:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Dave Riedel <RIEDEL at ios.bc.ca> Subject: Trappist ale fermentation temperature Trappist ale fermentation temperature.... Ok, I give up. Perhaps this is a just a 'presonal preference' question... I don't know. In any case, as you read this, my current brew, a big-gravity (1.082) Trappist ale clone, is bubbling away in my apartment. The question is: What is the recommended fermentation temperature for such a brew (I'm using Chimay rouge yeast)? Dave Miller, in Brewing the World's Great Beers, suggests a fermentation temp of 70-75F. Several other brewers recommend the same in Cats Meow. A quick survey of some of the HBDers who replied to my post regarding getting Chimay yeast revived (thanks guys) revealed that all but one brewer simply used 'room temperature', aka 68-70F. So you're saying: "What's the confusion? Use around 70F!" Well, along comes an article by Phil Seitz on Belgian styles in which he states that fermentation temperatures of 60-62F are necessary to avoid creating "headache-causing" fusels. Jim Busch also mentions that high pitching temperatures cause more fusels and esters. At the same time, many sources say that a higher temperature will help create the Chimay characteristics that I'm after. Lovely. My batch is currently fermenting at 72-74F. I have another area in which I could let the wort ferment which is 62-64F. Ideally, I'd like to have a spot at around 68F, but I don't. So, what do you think? Am I going to sit down and enjoy a wonderfully flavourful glass of trappist-style ale then get pummeled by a headache? Who's correct here? Dave Riedel Victoria BC Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 15:02:39 -0400 From: eamonn at chinook.physics.utoronto.ca (Eamonn McKernan) Subject: Molson Alan is correct, it was Walter Hogg (Moss, Hogg, I was close!) who spoke, and of couse he was towing the party line. I just gained some respect for the big boys' position. It may take the awhile to fine tune a beer, but that in no way shows that they can't brew good beer. And yes, advertising is a huge chunk of their expenditures, though in private conversation, Walter declined to give me a number. Though the packaging costs for the craft brewers are probably comparable, if not higher. And craft brewers do advertise as well. But Craft brewers at the CABA conference insisted that their prices were so much higher mainly because of economies of scale, as I suggested yesterday. Laboour is one of the really significant costs. A good point was made by Norm Pyle though, >While this is all true, what is ignored is that profit margins are on the >order of 10% in big businesses. If you reduce the cost of materials by a >few percent, that goes directly into the profit. If you save 40% on >materials (difference between good ingredients and swill ingredients), >this is 40% of say, 10%, or 4%. A 4% total savings on top of your 10% >profit is nearly a 40% gain on profits for the product. If you could >increase your company's profit by 40%, they'd proclaim you God. > >I realize this is vastly oversimplified, but the reason behind swill isn't >*all* market conditions. A lot of it still has to do with behind-the-scenes >business decisions. Pass me a Zima, would you? ;^) > >Ah swill, so fun to make fun of! Well, even if the big boys drag down the price of good beer, I'll still make my own! Eamonn McKernan eamonn at atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca "More than one in five Canadian children are poor... Statistics Canada reports that the pre-1993 social spending cuts alone --not even those promised in the Martin budget-- will result in a 40 percent poverty rate by the year 2000... Unprepared to pay for a civilized society, we are creating one characterized by social barbarism." J.F. Conway, Toronto Star, July 25, 1995 Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1811, 08/18/95