HOMEBREW Digest #2437 Tue 10 June 1997

[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
		Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of 
		Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
				URL: http://www.oeonline.com


Contents:
  tartness/new mash tun?/kolsch ("C&S Peterson")
  Mash On Ice & Yeast Culturing (DD)
  CO2 toxicity ("Graham Wheeler")
  Re: Cats Meow (Paul Niebergall)
  growing hops in  hot climates (Tom Pope)
  Belhaven 80/- clone (Brad McMahon)
  Another new feature... (Homebrew Digest)
  "Spirit of Free Beer" competition results, 6/7/97 (Mark Stevens)
  HELP!!! Homebrewer stranded in NJ (Some Guy)
  Brew Software (Guy Mason)
  Whither My Hops (KennyEddy)
  Check Valves in CO2 Manifold? (BernardCh)
  Grand Cru (korz)
  Polyclar/Wort canning (NOT)! (korz)
  CO2 Toxidity (?) (korz)
  CO2 tanks (Randy deBeauclair)
  Daylight Length (korz)
  He's Gott to Have It (hugh)
  filtered beer taste (Ian Smith)
  Re: Grand Cru: Where to Classify...Thanks for the Input! ("Applied Computer Resources")
  RIMS heater controller (Ian Smith)
  IPA etc ("Mark Bridges")
  brew free or die! (Andy Walsh)
  Woops! Daylight Calculations (korz)
  Weizen Bock (Ronald Babcock)

NOTE NEW HOMEBREW ADDRESS: hbd.org Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hbd.org (Articles are published in the order they are received.) If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to homebrew-request@hbd.org. **SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS MUST BE SENT FROM THE E-MAIL **ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!! IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, the autoresponder and the SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE commands will fail! For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at alpha.rollanet.org Homebrew Digest Information on the Web: http://hbd.org Requests for back issues will be ignored. Back issues are available via: Anonymous ftp from... hbd.org /pub/hbd ftp.stanford.edu /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer E-mail... ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com (send a one-line e-mail message with the word help for instructions.) AFS users can find it under... /afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer JANITORS on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 6 Jun 97 13:35:55 UT From: "C&S Peterson" <CNS_PETERSON at msn.com> Subject: tartness/new mash tun?/kolsch HBDers - I have been catching up on my HBD issues so forgive any tardiness in these topics. HONEY and FRUIT Several (well informed) opinions on fruit beer seemed to warn against using honey in a fruit style beer. From my experience, I would disagree with them. First, honey does tend to dry a beer out a bit, but if you stick to orange blossom or wildflower honey, I find there is a residual sweetness and "honey flavor" that is an excellent complement to a fruit. Also, the drying effect of the honey supports a stronger fruit flavor in the beer vis a vis malt, which would tend to mask the fruit. For similar reasons, I advocate the use of flaked corn or rice in a fruit beer, as it will give a brilliant white long-lasting head to your fruity-colored beer. The visual effect of a strawberry colored or raspberry colored beer against a brilliant white head is most pleasing (OK, lets keep the comments clear here guys!). Again, I would also follow the advice given to mash high, try a little lactose/dextrine, etc. Also, my advice to use honey and flakes would be appropriate for a tart, summer like brew, but may not be good advice for a raspberry stout or fruit flavored butt-kicker such as a barley-wine. NEW MASH TUN? I was at a conference last week during which they served coffee to the masses out of large rectangular "coolers" specially made for coffee. Undoubtedly many of you have seen these things -- they look pretty rugged, have molded "feet", and latchable tops. I was wondering if anyone out there in the collective either used one of these things for a mash tun or sparge tank, or at least had looked into using one. They look to be a bit more durable than a round Gott, and might be easier to fit a slotted manifold into that the round Gott. KOLSCH For whomever kicked off the Kolsch question, I agree that 45IBUs is way too much bitterness for such a beer. But you also may want to consider using a bit of wheat 7-10% or so in the mash. I should mention that I have only tried to make a Kolsch (up to 8 versions now.....) but have never actually tasted one from the source (only depended on well-informed opinions and brewpub versions). Does anyone know of a commercial version, preferably imported from Germany, available in the US? As far as yeast goes, I would advocate the Kolsch or (parish the thought!) American Ale Wyeast. Both give the crispness desired, and the Kolsch version ends up with a little wine flavor added in. And hey, here's a thought, given the honey discussion above, why not throw in a little clover honey to lighten it up? Have fun! Chas Peterson Laytonsville, Md Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 06:01:18 -0500 From: DD <dunn at tilc.com> Subject: Mash On Ice & Yeast Culturing - --MimeMultipartBoundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Been brewing for years, all grain for a while, but had a new experience yesterday. Just as I was getting ready to sparge a ten gallon batch I noticed that the yeast starter had not started...through in a tablespoon of dregs from a batch of stout & put the entire mash tun on ice...took a while to drop the temp. but 24 hours later its nice and cool, of course, the starter is ready, but work calls. Anyone ever tried mashing one day and finishing up days later? Should I anticipate any problems when I complete the brew Tues. night 60 hours after starting? Anyone got suggestions on the best place to start (no pun intended) my education on culturing yeast? The H.Brewer's Companion? One of Miller's books? Source for the yeast? materials? wd - --MimeMultipartBoundary-- Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 12:07:47 +0100 From: "Graham Wheeler" <Graham.Wheeler at btinternet.com> Subject: CO2 toxicity CO2 TOXICITY Nathan talked about CO2 toxicity (HB2436), and asks what to do about it. I must admit that I find this CO2 toxicity thing a bit strange, or at least new to me, but it does make a certain amount of theoretical sense. The American HB preference of fermenting in smooth glass fermentors would mean that there are no (or few) sharp points to act nucleation zones for CO2 bubbles to form, and the beer could end up supersaturated with CO2. I suspect that the British HB preference of fermenting in open polypropylene buckets would have the same effect, although perhaps not to the same degree as glass. Unless you are prepared to shove some insoluble crystaline substance into your fermentor, the best idea that I have seen was in these pages not very long ago; shove a couple of stainless-steel pan-scourers into your fermenter. They can be easily sterilised by boiling. The bloke that thought that one up deserves some sort of innovation award. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 08:29:53 -0500 From: Paul Niebergall <pnieb at burnsmcd.com> Subject: Re: Cats Meow Greetings: In HBD 2436, AlK writes "I wonder if there might be a way to correct past goofups in our Cat's Meow recipies?" I love the Cat's Meow, it is the best collection of recipies I have every seen. However, some of the information contained in the Cat's Meow can be downright scarry. It seems there are a lot of posts in the HBD and the Brewery BBS that offer a reply of "check the Cat's Meow" to the question of "how do I make a ...........?" The problem is, a person searching for guidelines or recipes on making a particular style can quickly be overloaded with some good information and a lot of dubious information. I'm not posting this just to rant. I truely enjoy the Cat's Meow. I was just wondering if there was any screening process that could be instituted. Or better yet, how about a "Best of the Cats Meow"? Nazdrowie, Paul Niebergall pnieb at burnsmcd.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 08:27:18 -0700 From: popeman at webtv.net (Tom Pope) Subject: growing hops in hot climates I have been growing hops in Fresno, Ca. for several years. Fresno summers are much like those in West Texas, hot days without much cooling in the evening. I have tries many varieties, but the only ones I've found to flourish here are clusters and cascades. Other varieties, including chinook, fuggles, tettnang, saaz, and hallertau have all experienced severe vine wilt as soon as the hot summer days arrive. Some of my fellow homebrewers have had better luck with these varieties by planting them in a location where they are shaded all afternoon. I do know that Sacramento, which has similar weather to Fresno, once had extensive hopyards, and the main variety grown was clusters. The hopyards were removed when the demand for European varieties increased and of course grapes mostly replaced the hops in those areas. I have read of some experiments wherein the soil temperature in this region has been artificially cooled in the evening and this has resulted in the successful growth of horticultural products which could previously be grown successfully in more northern LATITUDES, An implication of this experiment is that the northern latitudes have more cooling of the soil in the nights than do these southern latitudes and that this factor may significantly affect the ability to grow particular plant varieties in various climates, latitudes or growing conditions.......Cheers, Tom Pope Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 01:05:18 +0930 From: Brad McMahon <brad at sa.apana.org.au> Subject: Belhaven 80/- clone Sam Darko asked about a Belhaven clone Here tis! - ------------------- Belhaven 80/- Clone. Ingredients: Light Liquid Malt 2kg Light Dried Malt 1kg. Dextrose 500g Crystal Malted Grain 115g Black Malted Grain 65g Cascade Hops 25g Fuggles Hops 30g Goldings Hops 15g Irish Moss 1 teaspoon Ale Yeast 1 sachet (susbstitute Wyeast 1087 Ale Blend or 1728 Scottish Ale) 1. Crack grains, place in pot, cover with cold water (about 3 litres), bring to boil, strain and save the liquid. 2. Add all malts, both liquid and dried together with dextrose to the strained liquid. Bring to the boil, then add the Cascade and Fuggles hops and boil for one hour. 3. Add the Goldings hops and the Irish Moss and boil for a further 15 minutes. 4. Rehydrate and start yeast. 5. Cool wort down to 30-40C as quickly as possible. 6. Strain wort into fermenter and fill up to the 20 litre mark, and pitch yeast at 26C. 7. Ferment out at 22C for 7-10 days. Bottle. O.G. 1.041 F.G. 1.010 Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 12:35:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Homebrew Digest <hbd at brew.oeonline.com> Subject: Another new feature... Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... Karl strikes again! Ever wonder what's in the queue BEFORE you post a note? Ever wonder whether you're the only one not receiving the Digest at any given time? WELL! Buck up, little braumeist(er/ress)! Thanks to another ingenious tickle of the IBM ivories, now you can find out all that good stuff! Send a single line note to Homebrew-Request at hbd.org containing the word "queue". Shortly afterward, your mailer will say "Boop!", and all te mysteries of the universe will be laid bare before your very eyes! Like all things, though: use it with moderation! If the Digest spends all day showing off the queue, it will have little time to acually SEND the contents of that queue... See ya! The Home Brew Digest Janitorial Staff Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 12:52:08 -0400 From: stevens at stsci.edu (Mark Stevens) Subject: "Spirit of Free Beer" competition results, 6/7/97 Results are now available for the 1997 Nations Capital Spirit of Free Beer Homebrew Competition held June 7, 1997. The competition was sponsored by Brewers United for Real Potables (BURP) and was graciously hosted by Brew America, Vienna, Virginia. Here's a quick look at the top prizes. The full list of ribbon winners is available on the BURP web site at: http://www.burp.org/sofb97/winners.htm TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES: 401 JUDGING PROFILE: 56 judges (51 BJCP, 1 pro brewer, 4 experienced but not in BJCP) Best of Show Awards: 1st place BOS (to be brewed at Virginia Beverage Company, Alexandria, VA): Alan Folsom (mild) 2nd place BOS (brewer for a day at Potomac River Brewing Co., Chantilly, VA): Jim Rorick (weizen) 3rd place BOS (brewer for a day at Brimstone Brewing Company, Baltimore, MD): Scott Bickham (barleywine) Brewer Select Award (to be brewed at Oxford Brewing Company, Linthicum, MD): Bud Hensgen (stout) Lager Challenge (to be brewed at Blue N Gold Brewing Company, Arlington, VA): Delano Dugarm (schwarzbier) Thanks to all of the prize sponsors, judges, stewards, competition staff, and to our host site, Brew America of Vienna, VA, for making this a fun, successful event for everyone! Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 13:07:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Some Guy <pbabcock at oeonline.com> Subject: HELP!!! Homebrewer stranded in NJ Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... Well, as some now know, I've been teaching a "class" on homebrewing in Plainsboro, NJ. Unfortunately, I appear to be a little more serious about buying homebrew supplies than Princeton (or Small Change?) Homebrew is about selling them! I can understand scheduling a day closed, but the last two times I went to this shop - during published hours - Joe has either been out watching fires or otherwise AWOL. Out here on launch for Ford Motor Company, my time is very limited. I don't have the half-hour or so I need to skeedaddle into Princeton to play "Hours of Business" roulette with this guy. Sooooo... Anyone know of a decent, PROFESSIONALLY RUN homebrew shop in Plainsboro or environs? I need grains, extracts, dry and liquid yeasts, hop bags, - you know: stuff! 'Twould be great to find a shop that has it all. Thought I had, but... See ya! Pat Babcock | "Beer is my obsession, and I'm late for pbabcock at oeonline.com | therapy..." -PGB brewbeerd at aol.com | "Let a good beer be the exclamation point janitor@ brew.oeonline.com | at the end of your day as every sentence Home Brew Digest Janitor | requires proper punctuation." -PGB Webmaster of the Home Brew Page http://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/brew.html Home of the Home Brew Flea Market Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 13:39:43 -0400 From: Guy Mason <guy at adra.com> Subject: Brew Software All Hail the Collective, Having finally convinced the spousal unit that a home computer is mandatory, I now need some advice. I would like to hear some opinions on various brewing software packages, especially anyone who replaced software that was not getting the job done. Send private e-mail and I'll post the results. Thanks - -- guy Elvis has left the building... Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 14:35:52 -0400 (EDT) From: KennyEddy at aol.com Subject: Whither My Hops Strange things happening in El Paso these days... A few weeks ago I planted three Fuggles rhizomes in my backyard. These are fed daily from a drip irrigation system which does a good job of keeping the soil moist but not soaked. I eagerly checked the mounds each day during the first couple of weeks for signs of growth, but alas, no little green things were ever seen. I decided to let them grow in their own time, so I stopped checking on them as often. Yesterday I decided to visit my bittering buddies only to find still-bare mounds. Something's gotta be wrong, I figured. Five weeks oughta be long enough for the little bastards to at least put up shoots. As I crouched down and looked at one mound, I saw a neatly-bored hole diving directly into the center of the dirt. I probed the hole with a stick, and sure enough, something moved... At first I thought it was a box-turtle baby, judging from the color and texture of the object I saw. I shined a flashlight down the hole, which revelaed a glistening, undulating surface, and I jumped back when I saw the huge, cold black eye staring back at me. Too big for a turtle (unless a gigantic turtle had somehow burrowed here without disturbing the ground). Yikes!! A rattlesnake? No, at least I didn't think so. Certainly not mammilian. I began to carefully dig using a garden trowel (rhizome be damned at this point). The dirt fell back onto my nemesis, obscuring any partial view of it that I once might have had. Finally, I scooped up a large lump of moving soil. A friggin' bullfrog. A bullfrog!! "Did YOU eat my hops?", I asked, half expecting an answer. Disappointed by its silence, I tossed it over the rock wall into the desert behind the house. Now that my mound was trashed, I figured I'd look for the rotted vestige of my Fuggle. Nothing. A couple of pebbles, a leaf maybe, but no rhizome. Frustrated, I dug up the other two mounds. Nada. Zippo. Zilch. We don't have typical garden animal pests in the city at least; no rabbits or gophers. Lotsa bugs, I suppose, but can anyone guess what might have happenned to my hops? How long should I expect a rhizome to take to sprout? Is my beer ruined? ***** Ken Schwartz El Paso, TX KennyEddy at aol.com http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 14:40:41 -0400 (EDT) From: BernardCh at aol.com Subject: Check Valves in CO2 Manifold? I'm designing/fabricating a modular CO2 distribution manifold for my keg system. Anyone who's done something similar could provide some input on this design. The description of my design follows: Coming out of the low pressure side of the regulator I plan to connect to a series of Parker or Weatherhead brass Tees, one tee for each "node" on the manifold. On the "branch" of each tee (the outlet that intersects the "run") I am looking to connect a 1/4" brass ball valve and then a check valve to shut off the gas supply and prevent back-flow of beer into the gas line. The Parker Valve catalog lists a series of Standard Check Valves and a series of O-ring Poppet Check Valves. Both series are somewhat similar but the O-ring style uses a pair of O-rings (naturally) to seal, whereas the standard valve uses a custom molded seal. Both are available in "cracking pressures" of 0.33, 1, 5, 10 psi. I'm assuming that I would want the lowest cracking pressure available. Comments on which series or cracking pressures? There is a check valve on the low pressure side of the regulator that came with the regulator assembly. Does this make the check valves I plan to install at each node unnecessary, or does it only provide a level of insuarance against filling my manifold with liquid? Comments, concerns, ideas? Chuck BernardCH at aol.com Music City Brewers; Nashville, TN - 'Music City USA" Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 14:24:29 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: Grand Cru Applied writes: >Made a tasty Grand Cru not long ago... >Nice coriander flavor...rich and creamy... >Want to enter it in a competition... >Not sure where to classify it, Belgian Pale or Belgian Strong >(O.G.- 1.070, F.G.- 1.016) I believe that what you mean is that you brewed a Celis Grand Cru clone, not a "Grand Cru." Grand Cru is not a style... it is a name that a brewer may give one of their beers that is "special" in some way. "Grand Cru" means something like "Special Vintage" or "Special Bottling" or "Deluxe." In the case of Celis (and Hoegaarden, which Pierre used to own), the Grand Cru is a stronger, all-barley version of Celis White (or Hoegaarden Wit). In the case of Rodenbach, the Grand Cru is 100% higher-OG recipe beer, aged in huge oak tuns, whereas the "standard" beer is a blend of the aged beer and a much younger, lower-OG beer. So, back to your question. According to the AHA guidelines, there is no mention of spices being acceptable in Belgian Strong (which is where this beer should really be), so it may or may not get clobbered for having spices (depends on the judges). You could enter it in Herb and Spice under Classic-style and specify Belgian Strong as the classic style. If you do enter it under Belgian Strong, you had better make sure that the organiser promises to give the judges special instructions to allow spices in the Belgian Strong Ales. Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at xnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 14:36:42 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: Polyclar/Wort canning (NOT)! Regarding the Polyclar, I checked this weekend and the Polyclar SB100 is the "standard" Polyclar, also known as "Polyclar AT." The Polyclar 10 is the finer and slower-settling stuff. *** Incidentally, regarding that poster who described his wort canning technique, I'd like to add my name to the (undoubtedly long) list of people who will warn you about botulism. You really need to either pressure-cook the wort (INCLUDING THE LIDS!) to make sure you have killed any botulism spores OR boil and chill the canned wort just before use. Using wort that has been canned simply using boiling water will work fine 999 times out of 1000, but that 1000th time it will kill you. It may actually be safer than that, but you are certainly more likely of killing yourself using boiling-water-canned wort than you are winning the lottery. Frankly, I don't like the odds. Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at xnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:08:23 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: CO2 Toxidity (?) Nathan writes: >In a previous digest (June 6, 1997) Al mentioned that some >"stuck fermentations" are just CO2 toxicity. He says to >swirl the carboy to see if CO2 is liberated and if the beer >continues to ferment thereafter. My question is, what do >you do if your beer is suffering from CO2 toxicity? I >recently had a batch that fermented fine for 3 days and >then pooped out. I racked to a secondary and found tons >of CO2 in solution. I proceeded to swirl/shake/dance with >the carboy at least once a day for what seemed like forever >(I think two weeks) and the gravity finally came down. Is >this the only solution? Help Al. Thanks Firstly, let me admit that I may be using the term "CO2 toxidity" incorrectly, so please don't start using this term unless someone with considerably more knowledge of biochemistry than I confirms that the expression is indeed valid. Biochemists? Anyone? As for what you can do, well, there are two things. One is the temperature of the ferment. Recall that CO2 solubility is strongly dependent on temperature. The cooler the beer, the more CO2 will dissolve in it. You may simply have to warm up the beer to get it to hold less CO2 in solution and therefore finish fermenting without doing the polka with your carboy every day. Another thing you can do (on a subsequent batch) is to not remove all the cold break. According to Malting and Brewing Science (or was it The Practical Brewer?), there are researchers that believe that cold break may provide nucleation sites for CO2 and prevent the fermenting beer from getting supersaturated with CO2 (i.e. if there are no nucleation sites, you can actually dissolve more than the normal level of CO2 in the beer for a given temperature -- that's supersaturation). There have been a couple of Technical Communications on this topic in Brewing Techniques in 1996, I believe. Look for "The Trouble with Trub-less Fermentations" or something like that. Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at xnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 16:02:02 -0400 From: Randy deBeauclair <debeau1 at provide.net> Subject: CO2 tanks Greetings brewers, I have a couple quick questions. 1. About CO2(carbon dioxide) tanks. I have a 20 lb tank but would like = to get a 10 or 5 lb. tank. Anyone know of a relatively inexpensive = source? I would prefer not to buy new (slightly cost prohibitive!). =20 I live in the AnnArbor, MI area. 2. Anyone have experience with using DeWolf-Cosyns Belgian Pilsen malt? = I recently brewed a ginger wit with 50% belgian pilsen/50% raw soft = wheat. I have brewed the same recipe several times, but had used Klages = malt instead of the Pilsen. With the Pilsen malt there was a = bunch(result of iodine test) of unconverted starch. That caused lots of = problems and I think I will be writing it up to experience. I presume = that the pilsen malt had a much lower diastatic power level than I = suspected. Thoughts? Comments? I express my appreciation in advance for any replies. Thanks, Randy deBeauclair debeau1 at provide.net Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 16:06:20 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: Daylight Length Graham writes: >Bear in mind that when Tim does manage to grow hops in Texas, he will >possibly have a different flavour of hop to the prototype variety. Even in >England, the best Fuggles are reputed to be grown in Worcestershire and the >best Goldings in East Kent, and this could be attributed to differences in >daylight length over a short distance of less than 200 miles. This doesn't sound quite right. While I agree that hops transplanted from one place to another tend to develop different characteristics. I have first hand experience with hops that were genetically Hallertauer Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Saaz, and East Kent Goldings, but grown in the Pacific Northwest of the US and indeed they had different characteristics than the same hops from the original country. I'm quite sure that many homebrewers have tried those Northern Brewer plugs that are grown in Hallertau and would agree with me that they are much more "German" in character than American-grown Northern Brewer. A most striking example is Styrian Goldings which are actually genetically Fuggles, but smell and taste like East Kent Goldings! One concern of mine is that there are so many different varieties that are *called* "Goldings." These have all been grouped together into what we call "Goldings" these days ["A Question of Pedigree - The Role of Genealogy in Hop Substitutions" by Don Van Valkenburg, Brewing Techniques, Vol.3, No.5]. The other concern is that it seems hard to believe that 200 miles could change daylight length enough to affect hops. Sure, in Kenya, where the days are 5 hours and 50 minutes shorter than they are in Yakima, Washington on June 21st, but 200 miles? I just checked the sunrise and sunset times for Seattle, WA and Portland, OR which are about 170 miles apart and virtually along the same line of longitude and Seattle will have 17 minutes more daylight than Portland on June 21st 1997. You can check for yourself at: http://www.blackwalk.com/suntimes.htm Furthermore, this is on June 21st. By July 20th, the difference is only 10 minutes! What about soil chemistry, wind, rainfall, daytime temperature, nighttime temperature? Surely these factors combined would influence the characteristics of the hops more than 17 minutes of daylight, don't you think? Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at xnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 15:45:40 -0600 From: hugh at see.sig.net Subject: He's Gott to Have It Just used my Gott^H^H^H^H Rubbermaid 10 gal mash/lauter tun for the first time, it replaced a rectangular Coleman system that recently migrated to California. Both tuns have slotted copper tube false bottoms but the new Rubbermaid model performed superbly. I recycle the first runnings to clarity, as is typical, but the recirculation time for my new system was maybe a fifth of that for the old rectangular model (10mins vs 45-50 mins). This is to be expected - less filter bed area to set up - but I urge those of you considering these two options to bear in mind this advantage of the cylindrical lauter tun geometry. (The brew was a 50% wheat malt, single infusion American Wheat Ale, Corona type mill, Estrella brand, cf. MaltMill with previous mash system; temp. loss was 1 deg C over 60 mins). - -- BTW, if the undigested version of HBD is dead, how can AlK answer questions before they're asked? (re: Matt's stout question HBD2436) Impressive but confusing! - -- Janitorial question: Could/should the list software strip email addresses to reduce spam? I note that this would make off-line replies tricky but might make me, and maybe others, happier to contribute more regularly. (Without the following corrupted address, for which I apologize). Hugh - -- hugh at lamar dot colostate dot edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 16:38:36 -0600 (MDT) From: Ian Smith <rela!isrs at netcom.com> Subject: filtered beer taste Can anyone tell me if I filter my beer with, say a 5 micron filter before kegging will it improve the taste ? I am trying to duplicate the "cleaner" taste of commercial microbrews. Also does anyone have a recommendation for a filter type and size or where I can buy one ? How do you clean and then sanitize a beer filter ? Cheers Ian Smith isrs at rela.uucp.netcom.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 18:54:35 -0400 From: "Applied Computer Resources" <jrmeans at nb.net> Subject: Re: Grand Cru: Where to Classify...Thanks for the Input! Well, folks...the votes are in and the majority (100%, that is) says to classify a Grand Cru in the Belgian Strong Ale category. And that is what I shall do. Thanks for the input. Jim Means Pittsburgh, PA Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 16:44:56 -0600 (MDT) From: Ian Smith <rela!isrs at netcom.com> Subject: RIMS heater controller I need to switch a 20 amp 120 VAC heater on and off with a computer card that is limited to 5 VDC and 25 mA. Do I need a solid state relay or can this be achieved by a less expensive way?. I would like to use an isolated relay or a zero crossing relay to prevent "ringing" the delicate computer card. Also I eventually would like to use PID control which would make the SSR a better choice than a mechanical relay. Does anyone have any experience/recommendations/advice etc ? Cheers Ian Smith isrs at rela.uucp.netcom.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 18:09:21 -0700 From: "Mark Bridges" <mbridges at coastnet.com> Subject: IPA etc Greetings All, Dave Riedel asked for advice on a planned IPA. Great beer for summer (or anytime). For this style you can get an appropriate maltiness with a 100% HB Pale Ale grist, but you will want a healthy OG to give the necessary backbone to support the high hopping rates of the style. A minor amount of crystal malt is OK, but not essential. You might target a gravity of 1.060 and 60 IBU's. You want a yeast that attenuates well, and the Wyeast #1056 will do just fine. Having a neutral flavour profile, this yeast will let the malt and hop flavours shine through. When you ask about suggestions for the hops in your freezer (good selection there) you will likely get a number of responses from the HBD crowd. My two bits worth would be to go with the GR Northern Brewer for bittering and Goldings for flavour and aroma. You might also blend some Fuggle in there as well. My last IPA went something like this... 12.5 lbs HB Pale Ale Malt 2oz HB Crystal Malt *2.25oz First Gold hops at 8% a/a - 60 min *denotes my hop scale broke on brew day ! *0.5oz US Goldings at 5.2% a/a - 30 min These measures are therefore approximate !! *1.5oz US Goldings at 5.2% a/a - steep 5 min 1187 Ale Yeast OG 1.068 (!) FG 1.012 As you can guess this is a big malty beer, but it is still hoppy and approximates the style. Next time I will drop the Crystal and go all HB Pale Ale, or I may add some HB Vienna. And I will lower the gravity, as this version is a bit boozy, though delicious from start to finish. Good luck Dave in your next IPA. Any other IPA suggestions/recent brews from the collective ? Regards, Mark Bridges Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 11:50:37 -0700 From: Andy Walsh <awalsh at crl.com.au> Subject: brew free or die! Hi! >From Sir Gump... > Then, when calling a maltster, "Oh, yeah, by the way, the FBI was just >here asking about you." "What did they want?," I asked. They asked about a >package I had sent you, to an address at the Mail Boxes. "What did you tell >them?" "Only that the package contained malt samples. They asked to see >some malt, and asked what it was used for. But when they asked, "Is it >explosive?", and I replied " 'Only in certain circumstances,' they sure >made a lot of notes!" Would you believe me if I said that it is standard practice on commercial 4/6 roll malt mills to have anti-explosive devices fitted? These take the form of ledges directly underneath the rollers. The ledges ensure the roller gap is full of grain, not air and malt dust, that can be explosive if a bit of metal or stone goes through the rollers, creating sparks. I kid you not! (the FEDS may have been interested by these anti explosive devices!) >Karen said that eyebrows were definitely raised when the only one she had >in her office to show them was a camouflaged model that said, on the front, >"Brew Free Or Die!" Feeling lucky Jethro? Just remove those anti explosive devices from your mill... Andy. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 22:43:43 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: Woops! Daylight Calculations See what 20 years of using a calculator will do? 15:50, minus 12:00 equals 5:50... NO IT DOESN'T! Sorry about that. The daylight length in Yakima, Washington is only *3* hours and 50 minutes longer (on June 21st) than that in the middle of Kenya (which has 12-hour days year `round). Duh! Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 21:50:06 -0600 From: Ronald Babcock <rbabcock at rmii.com> Subject: Weizen Bock Homebrewers: I have brewed several Weizen with 3068 yeast in particular. With great success. I am now looking for a Weizen Bock all grain recipe. I would prefer a light colored malty recipe. I am just about finished with the conversion of my system and would like to brew a Weizen Bock to celebrate the dawning of a revamped system. Private email is fine and I will post the recipe I use at my web site. Ronald Babcock - rbabcock at rmii.com - Denver, CO Home of the Backyard Brewery at http://shell.rmi.net/~rbabcock/ Return to table of contents
[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]
HTML-ized on 06/10/97, by HBD2HTML version 1.2 by K.F.L.
webmaster at hbd.org, KFL, 10/9/96