HOMEBREW Digest #3453 Mon 16 October 2000

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  pH Meters ("Jack Schmidling")
  RE: lactose, stouts, & gas ("Keith Menefy")
  Rice Lager In A Plastic Bottle ("Phil & Jill Yates")
  Sugar and Water (Charley Burns)
  Long lager lag length (Charles Preston)
  pre-boiling water ("John Herman")
  Gypsum??? (Hop_Head)
  The Beer Prayer ("Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard")
  help a new brewer ("Michael J. Leavitt")
  More Water Questions (Epic8383)
  grain astringency (ALABREW)
  Re: RIMS Procedures, Mashing In & Sparge Temps, Apple notes,HERMs (Jeff Renner)
  Caught between a cold and a damp place ("Drew Avis")
  Acorn By the Book ("Brett Schneider")
  NCHF Pictures (Bob Wilcox)
  re: old porter recipes (Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative)
  Spooky Brew 2000 deadline approaches ("Jim Hodge")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 22:45:24 -0500 From: "Jack Schmidling" <arf at mc.net> Subject: pH Meters From: William Frazier <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> >I'm going to upgrade my pH meter in the near future. Any recommendations for a source and specific meter that will read to 0.01 pH units? After spinning my wheels with a number in budget type pH meters, I bought a good one and the proper external probe from Cole Parmer and love it. It's called a Digi-Sense and costs about $200 sans probe. The cost of the probe depends on the type and usage. Mine was $135 for organics. As a point of interest, I never saw much need for a pH meter in brewing as it always came out about the same and about nominal and I quit testing. Cheese making is another story and the pH is absolutly critical and determines when to take the next step. Furthermore, .01 unit is also a must for cheese. Anyway it is a great little instrument and a joy to use. I check the calibration every time I use it at 7 and 4 but it almost never needs to be diddled. It is as stable as a rock. js ASTROPHOTO OF THE WEEK http://user.mc.net/arf/weekly.htm Home Page: Beer, Cheese, Astronomy, Videos http://user.mc.net/arf Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 19:27:37 +1300 From: "Keith Menefy" <kmenefy at ihug.co.nz> Subject: RE: lactose, stouts, & gas G'Day Richard asks about making a sweet stout without lactose. I recently made a chocolate stout using Hershey's Syrup (genuine chocolate flavor) aiming for a stout with a slight chocolate flavour. (I'm a chocoholic) The result was the best tasting stout I have ever made. Can't actually taste the chocolate but with a slight sweet finish. That was made a few months ago now and the sweetness is gradually fading. I used about 180 grams in a 22 Litres secondary ferment. Made a sweet stout using lactose about the same time. The chocolate stout tastes sweeter and has a better flavour. Cheers Keith New Zealand Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 22:21:43 +1000 From: "Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: Rice Lager In A Plastic Bottle Dave Humes did not like my imaginary treatment of the neighbour's cat. But I am pleased that he apparently approved of my beer. After all he could have been insulting and claimed it tasted like cat's piss. Though this would hardly be possible considering the extreme lengths I went to in discouraging the neighbour's cat from adding that "final touch". But the lager Dave tried was not my rice lager, the assessment of which will have to lie with Jeff Renner who has just received a plastic bottle of this "girl killer" beer. As I am not posting so often these days, spending an inordinate amount of time nurturing a very sick (well we all knew that) Doc Pivo back to health after his last catastrophic break down, I felt obliged to waste a bit of band width. By the way Pat, I must be due to send you another donation. We've nearly lost the Doc on several occasions, with his heart beat dropping to zero. Not having a defibrillator handy here on Burradoo Estate, I have had to resort to whispering "Steve Alexander" gently in his ear, with most spectacular results. Unfortunately though, it puts the Doc right back in the state from which he started. A very vicious circle! But about the beer in a plastic bottle. Jeff Renner has received it. At the time of writing he had not yet tried it. Perhaps he would like to make a comment. Cheers Phil Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 09:04:10 -0700 From: Charley Burns <cburns99 at pacbell.net> Subject: Sugar and Water Getting ready to do a Chimay clone. My water stinks (literally of chlorine) so I've been using my brotherinlaw's well water. That stuff is hard hard hard (but tastes great). Should I go ahead and use it as is, or perhaps cut it with some distilled water to soften it up? No AJ, I don't know how hard it is or what the various element content might be, I just know it leaves water spots on the car if you don't dry after washing. It makes great pale ales, IPA's and porter. Now about sugar. Does it really make a difference whether I use cane sugar, belgian candi sugar (very expensive), brown sugar, invert sugar, cornsyrup...? The recipe (kindly shared by Jay Spies the other day) calls for cane sugar but I can't help wonder if spending a few extra bucks on the candi sugar would make a big difference. Has there been any experimentation on this or is it all "opinion" out there? And what the heck is the real difference between the red label and blue lable chimay (besides the price). Are they made differently? If you post an answer to the digest, please email me direct too. Charley Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 10:21:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Charles Preston <cp1811 at yahoo.com> Subject: Long lager lag length Methodology: Used about 8oz. slurry from an ayinger which had been in fridge under lock for about 2-3 weeks. Poured it in 1L of starter in gal jug, shook a few times to aerate, and placed under an airlock at 48d F for two days. Brewed the CAP wort, could only chill to 60d with my 2 stage immersion set-up. Took the yeast, shook it again, (had a krauezen) pitched in the five gal wort, aerated with an aquarium pump for about 5", and placed in my chest freezer at 48d. This is day 4, and I'm not getting any "bubbles". ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHY SO LONG A LAG TIME? Charlie Preston in Mansfield, Ohio Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 13:28:21 -0400 From: "John Herman" <johnvic at earthlink.net> Subject: pre-boiling water This will sound like an obvious and stupid question, but I'm prepared to deal with the shame of asking. Better to be safe than sorry. When brewing with extracts I pre-boil a few gallons of water to add to the concentrated wort. I then put the sanitized water into a sanitized carboy and cover the top. The stupid question is - Is there any reason to re-boil that water if I don't use it the next day or two? Can it last a week or more? Thanks, John Herman johnvic at earthlink.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 13:40:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Hop_Head at webtv.net Subject: Gypsum??? How much gypsum do you use for a five gallon batch of IPA? When do you add it? I am using spring water. Thanks, Jim Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 14:37:48 -0400 From: "Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard" <taliesin2 at earthlink.net> Subject: The Beer Prayer Got this off of the About.com msg board om Beer & Homebrewing. It is not meant to offend those with strong religious beliefs. Our Beer Which art in bottles Hallowed by thy sport Thy will be drunk I will be drunk At home as it is in the pub Give us each day our daily schooners And forgive us our spillage As we forgive those who spillest against us And lead us not into the practice of wine tasting And deliver us from Tequila For mine is better The chicks and the bootys Forever and ever Barmen. - -- Everything on this earth has a purpose, and every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence. --Mourning Dove, 1888-1936 - --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: herbs-unsubscribe at witchhaven.com For additional commands, e-mail: witchhaven-help at witchhaven.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 11:39:42 -0700 From: "Michael J. Leavitt" <ml65 at mail.csuchico.edu> Subject: help a new brewer I just made my first batch of beer! It is a Scottish Ale. I made it from a kit using DME pelllet hops and some grains. I have several questions. I am using Wyeast #1728 Scottish. I put the wort into a 6.5 gal glass carboy and added the yeast. It has now been siting for 36 hours and the yeast is very active. There is a lot of stuff floating on the top. is this a top fermenting yeast? If so how do i scrape off all the scum when it is in a glass carboy? If it isnt what is going on? Also while transfering the wort into the carboy a lot of the sedement went in with it, what effects will this have on the final taste of the beer? I plan on racking into a seconday 5 gal glass carboy when the primary fermentation is through. Finaly, while I was puting the air lock on the rubber stoper went into the wort, rather than try to fish it out of the carboy I left it in and used another air lock. Is this going to effect anything? Than you for answering my questions. Im not to woried just curious, Its only beer Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 16:19:10 EDT From: Epic8383 at aol.com Subject: More Water Questions Hi Folks, I just moved to my new (old) house in Massapequa, NY and got a copy of the most recent water report from my new supplier. This water is so soft, it's damn near distilled! My question isn't about chlorine/chloramine (easy, Graham) as they use sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. My activated charcoal filter can handle that. Here's what's got me puzzled-they add "Calciquest" which is said to be "A blend of phosphate compounds, which also aid in maintaining 'optimun treatment' to stabilize naturally occuring dissolved iron." My reaction was phosphates?!? I thought they were the bad chemicals that would end life on earth as we know it (according to Al Gore, anyway). Seriously, does anyone know about this stuff and it's effect on mash reactions through to finished beer? Thanks, Gus Rappold P.S. My iron levels are based on 8 samples and are as follows: High- 1.28 mg/l Low- 0.04 mg/l Avg- 0.39 mg/l Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 16:51:35 -0500 From: ALABREW <alabrew at mindspring.com> Subject: grain astringency Darrell <Terminally Intermediate Home-brewer> wrote: I used Tony (lastname?)'s suggestion (Tony is the brewer at Elm City in Keene, NH) to not put the roasted barley in the mash, but rather in the lauter tun, and I do think that this cuts down a bit on the harshness that can sometimes accompany roasted barley... To which I add: Have you ever tried the Weyermann Dehusked Carafa I, II, or III? The lack of the husk makes these grains have no astringency. Highly recommended. Kim - -- Kim and Sun Ae Thomson ALABREW Homebrewing Supplies 8916 A Parkway East Birmingham, AL 35206 (205) 833-1716 http://www.mindspring.com/~alabrew mailto:alabrew at mindspring.com Beer and Wine Making Ingredients and Supplies Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 17:59:01 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: RIMS Procedures, Mashing In & Sparge Temps, Apple notes,HERMs "Jay Wirsig" <Jay.Wirsig at can.dupont.com> has some questions. First, asylle suggestion to Jay and others. Use short paragraphs and use a line between them, or at least indent. It's easier on the eyes. When I see all that unbroken black text, MEGO and I'm tempted to just page down. I'm not sure why you're getting grains into your pump lines but I suspect you're running the pump at too fast a rate. This will keep you from compacting the grain bed. Throttle it back with a valve. Standard wisdom suggests you do it on the output of the pump, but I throttle it before the pump and I haven't hurt the pump yet (fingers crossed - five years). Instead of dumping the grain into the water, put just enough water in the mash tun to cover the false bottom, put in the dry grains and add the water gradually and stir as you go. I doubt it takes me two minutes to mash in and break up dry lumps This has another advantage - the grain is never heated higher than your mashin temp. If your mash bed compacts, you can often stir it up to loosen it. Also, you might be able to blow in the line outlet to dislodge a plug, so you don't have to disassemble things. Just don't burn your lips. Jeff - -- -=-=-=-=- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, c/o nerenner at umich.edu "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 12:52:59 GMT From: "Drew Avis" <andrew_avis at hotmail.com> Subject: Caught between a cold and a damp place Brewsters: I'm faced with a conundrum. We've just moved into a new old house (built circa 1870) with very little storage space. I have three sacks of grain, and four more on order, and I've just discovered that SWMBO feels that while sacks of grain may have been an acceptable furnishing in the dump we used to call home, they are no longer. So, the choice of home for grain (and other brewing equipment actually) is the garage, which is unheated and easily accessible to sundry small creatures, or the basement, which stays nice and cool year round but is damp. Now, the garage seems like the best candidate if I could use air-tight mouse-proof containers, as I'm sure dampness is worse for grain than sub-zero temperatures. Is that correct? How long will my grain last? I have different varieties of Canada Malting and Hugh Baird malts. On the topic of brewing a historical porter with brown malt, I actually have a 25kg sack of Hugh Baird brown malt, bought with the intention of doing a historical porter. I soon discovered that this malt does not closely resemble the historical variety - I actually use about 10% in my brown porters and brown ales. It lends very nice colour, and a good coffee / roast flavour, although at more than 10% I'm thinking it would be a bit overwhelming. There's no way I would make a beer with 100% or even 50% of this malt. So, anyone in the Ottawa Valley who would like some brown malt, let me know, I've got lots! Drew Avis, Merrickville http://www.geocities.com/andrew_avis/ _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 10:05:52 EDT From: "Brett Schneider" <bikenbrew at hotmail.com> Subject: Acorn By the Book According to Wines and Beers of old New England, by Sandborn C. Brown, ISBN 0-8745-148-8, acorns are turned into flour. See pages 60/62 if you care to get the specific wording. Baiscally, the nuts are shelled and ground coursely thru a meat grinder. Tie them in cheese cloth and place them into a running brook. It takes 3 to 4 weeks to leach them of their tannins. OR boil them and change the water often as it darkens and turns to tea color. This is about a 2 hour process. Then you dry the bits slowly in an oven, grind them again and make a course flour, then dry once more. 5 lbs to make one cup flour. Not sure how this helps but that's then end of my reference on nuts.... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 08:06:56 -0700 From: Bob Wilcox <bobw at sirius.com> Subject: NCHF Pictures Here is a link to some pictures of the Northern Calif. Homebrewers Fest. Held in Napa Ca. Oct. 7. These were taken by Bob Jones from the Draft Board Homebrew Club. What a fun weekend it was. Photo Album: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=183984&a=9340790 I would like to make sure George Fix gets this link, but I don't have his email address or web page address. If someone could send it to me that would be great. Bob Wilcox Alameda & Long Barn Ca. bobw at sirius.com Draught Board Home Brew Club http://www.dnai.com/~thor/dboard/index.htm Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 09:11:15 +1100 (EST) From: Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative <Scott.Morgan at aus.sun.com> Subject: re: old porter recipes morning, after a surfing trip down south i come to you with an extremly bad cold and the memories of Graham's old porter. the porter is entirley different to my take on the whole porter thing. there was an over all balance to the beer, deep brown colour and an entirly different flavour profile. unlike the sweet and bold porter i had made; Sempai's came accross as the 'quite acheivers porter', a bit like the tortose and the hare, it came first because it had not been buggared up by the hands of a tinkler who just cannot resist but add just a pinch more...and then some more of ingrediant X for good measure! the bret was something i have never tried and would like to again. maybe it is the historical bend that has got me interested, but it was definately interesting. scotty aka serendipidous swallow Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 20:10:12 -0500 From: "Jim Hodge" <jdhodge at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Spooky Brew 2000 deadline approaches Just a reminder that the deadline for entries for Spooky Brew 2000 will be this coming Saturday, October 21st. This year's Spooky is an MCAB qualifying event and a leg of Midwest Homebrewer of the Year competition. Details and entry forms are available at the Chicago Beer Society website (URL at the end of this message).....and, of course, judges and stewards are still needed. Jim Hodge Organizer, Spooky Brew Review 2000 Chicago Beer Society 6515 N. Springfield Ave. Lincolnwood, IL 60712 847-679-3829: voice 847-329-8691: fax http://www.chibeer.org Return to table of contents
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