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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
Nitro in Beer (Drew Beechum)
Re: Contaminated Pils ("Braam Greyling")
All Grain Questions (Steven)
More Rollermills ("Joshua Johnson")
degrees C -> degrees F (Darrell.Leavitt)
RE: Roller Mills (Wayne Page)
RE: Home Brew Clubs... (Peter Torgrimson)
Re: Doug Hurst view on Homebrew Clubs (Joel Plutchak)
Ach! The yeast respiration thread!! ("Alan Meeker")
homebrew clubs (Peter Torgrimson)
re: Hazy about air/oxygen ("Stephen Alexander")
inline filters clear beer & spam ("Joseph Marsh")
RE: CONTAMINATED PILSNER / Clubs ("Steven Parfitt")
Re: Munich Dunkel (LJ Vitt)
Thoughts on a high FG Alt (RiedelD)
Bernzomatic O2 (RiedelD)
Re: Roller Mills ("Rick Hamel")
The Jethro Gump Report - Lallemand Scholarship ("Rob Moline")
Mashing Temperature/thickness, Mills, contests , judging and (Dave Burley)
Gott erhalts, Sad Stories, Roller Mills, & Spam ("Charles R. Stewart")
Raise a Pint to Roger Briess ("Rob Moline")
Re: translation, please (Hubert Hanghofer)
Molecular Web Site ("Robert J. Waddell")
The club thread ("Richard Sieben")
ROGER BRIESS (by way of Jeff Renner)
Translation ("Doug Moyer")
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Drew Beechum <Drew.Beechum at disney.com>
Subject: Nitro in Beer
The people who know me or have brewed with me know that I'm an
intermible gadget freak. (You know the kind of guy, dvd player, tivo,
ph meter, laptop, etc.)
So as my birthday gift to myself, I bought a beer gas setup and a
stout faucet. Of course it never occured to me that I dunno how to
actually "nitrogenate." I've got a porter that could be good on
nitro. Any help from my fellow gadget heads as to what to do with a
completely unconditioned beer to a fully treated nitro beer?
- -- Drew
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:41:08 +0200
From: "Braam Greyling" <braam.greyling at azoteq.com>
Subject: Re: Contaminated Pils
George Krafcisin is worried about his Pils...
I'd say if it taste fine why throw it out ?
Pity I am not there cause you can throw it down my throat...
The long lag time before fermentation can be a problem. Did you
prepare a proper yeast starter and did you oxygenate your wort ?
A fermentation by-product of some Pils yeasts (especially Wyeast
Czech Pils) , is a rotten egg smell. Are you sure this is not what
you are smelling ?
Leave the beer until it is finished in the secondary, if it tastes fine
drink it, if it is a little of use it for cooking.
My 2 cents only..
Braam Greyling
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:58:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Steven <stevensl at mindspring.net>
Subject: All Grain Questions
I'm not near ready enough to go all grain, maybe in a year or so, once I
have a nice basement to brew in. My question, which my fellow local
homebrewers could not come up with a convincing argument for/against is
this:
I assume the boil of the wort in all grain is to accomplish several
things... sanitize the wort, extract the bittering of the hops and to
reduce the volume of the liquid. Is this indeed the case? Making a hop tea
would tend to reduce the time needed in the boil + using less water/more
grain in the sparge would also accomplish the same thing?
Ideally I like spending more time drinking my homebrew than brewing it, or
at the very least equal parts drinkin' and brewin' so any advice would be
appreciated.
Steven St.Laurent ::: stevensl at mindspring.net ::: 403forbidden.net
"You want the government to handle your medical care? You want the
government to take care of your retirement? Go stand in line at a post
office." -- Neil Boortz
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:57:55 -0400
From: "Joshua Johnson" <jjohnson at cctlabs.com>
Subject: More Rollermills
I am also looking for a rollermill - I was thinking about Jack's
non-adjustable model before I saw the website for the Barleycrusher - Does
anyone have a Barleycrusher that would like to offer their opinions. Any
other info on other mills would be appreciated as well.
Joshua Johnson
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:19:37 -0400
From: Darrell.Leavitt at esc.edu
Subject: degrees C -> degrees F
I just saw a cute and simple way to convert C to F, and though that I'd
share it with you good brewers:
this comes from: kflowers at aws.com ( AWS WeatherMania eNews April 23,
2001)
=======
Question: When is 25 degrees considered a warm temperature?
Answer: When it's 25 degrees Celsius!
If you are like most people who still
use the English system of measurement, you find it hard
to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit quickly ? mainly because that
equation is
so hard to remember.
To convert Celsius (C) to Fahrenheit (F), use:
F = 9/5 C + 32
But our meteorologists here at AWS have discovered an easier way!
To easily compute a fairly accurate temperature in Fahrenheit, follow these
simple, easy-to-remember steps:
1. Double the temperature
2. Subtract the first digit of that number3. Add 32
For example:
T = 25 degrees Celsius, what is it in Fahrenheit?
1. 25 + 25 = 50
2. 50 - 5 = 45
3. 45 + 32 = 77 degrees Fahrenheit
Let's see if it worked using the actual mathematical equation which is:
F = 9/5 degrees Celcius + 32 degrees Fahrenheit = 9/5(25) + 32
F = 45 + 32F = 77It worked!
- -------------------------------------------------------------
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:24:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Wayne Page <wdpage at pinn.net>
Subject: RE: Roller Mills
John,
Try the Barley Crusher! I bought one several weeks ago (NAYY), it is a
great mill at a great price. MUCH better than the one that I was using at
my LHBS (JSP). Check it out here:
http://www.barleycrusher.com/
Wayne D. Page
Chesapeake, VA Brewing Deep in the Great Dismal Swamp
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 06:31:30 -0700
From: Peter Torgrimson <petertorgrimson at prodigy.net>
Subject: RE: Home Brew Clubs...
"Taliesin2" <shane.saylor at verizon.net> writes:
>> What is everybody's opinion of brew clubs? And what can one expect
from
>> the club?
Here's my opinion: I encourage everybody to join a homebrew club. I
have learned a ton of stuff about homebrewing from my fellow club
members, and as a result of joining my local homebrewing club. My beer
is much better as a result. Also, I have met a lot of interesting
people through the club. This includes club members and people in the
surrounding homebrewing community. Every club is different, and you may
want to switch clubs at some point to find a club viewpoint more closely
aligned with yours; this is like any other avocation. Some clubs are
competition-oriented, and some are not. Some are chemistry-intensive
and some are not. Some are beer-drinking-oriented and some are not.
Some are very large and some are small. Some do a lot of projects and
some do not. Like most clubs in any interest area, what you can expect
from the club depends on the club and what you put into it.
To pick a club: A lot of club affiliations appear in these postings and
the AHA has a list of affiliated clubs, which you can access on their
web site. I think most clubs actively welcome new members. As an
example, if you can, come to any meeting of my club; no invitation is
necessary. The next meeting location is posted on our website at
www.wortsofwisdom.org. There is no obligation to join. If you like
what we do and who we are (and it may take several meetings to decide),
you are welcome to join. I think most clubs operate on a similar basis,
and many have web sites so you can get an idea of a club just by
visiting their site. Remember that these are volunteer organizations,
so the web site may not be completely up to date.
Peter Torgrimson
Worts Of Wisdom Homebrewers
Mountain View, CA
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:40:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: Joel Plutchak <plutchak at ncsa.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Doug Hurst view on Homebrew Clubs
In HBD #3617, Marty Milewski wrote:
>This is in regard to Mr. Hurst's experience with Homebrew Clubs...
>I couldn't have said it better myself. I too had a similar experience
>with a Chicago Homebrew Club (I'm quite sure the same one).
Hmmmm, surely you and Doug must not be meeting the
same Chicago-area homebrew club members I've enjoyed
partying and judging with over the years! When I moved
to this area (downstate a bit) I was definitely not in
the 40-55 demographic, and most of the rest of the club
members down here were (and still are) much younger. I
don't think any of us were made to feel "outside" or
unwelcome in any way by Chicago-area club members when
we'd visit.
Granted, now I'm in that demographic and could be
seen as an insider, but there are some great guys and
gals up there. Maybe it just takes a bit of time to
get to know them-- sometimes we less outgoing people
can be seen as aloof when we're really just a bit shy.
At any rate, y'all are both welcome to come down to
Champaign and party with us. Many of our members are
in the 21-28 demographic, and I promise the few "old"
fogies like me won't shun you.
Joel Plutchak
Part of a Welcoming Brew Club in East-central Illinois
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 09:10:44 -0400
From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: Ach! The yeast respiration thread!!
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:04:37 -0500
From: "pksmith_morin1" <pksmith_morin1 at msn.com>
Subject: Hazy about air/oxygen
Paul Morin wrote, in part:
"Let me clarify: yeast will respire oxygen; of course, proper oxygenation
is
necessary for their growth and excess oxygen will quickly be scrubbed by CO2
production."
Yes, oxygen will promote healthy yeast growth but not because they will be
respiring. Due to the typical sugar spectra in wort, brewer's yeast
metabolisn will be strictly fermentative due to the phenomenon known as
catabolite repression. This will absolutely be the case after bottling if
you prime with glucose (aka dextrose, corn sugar).
-Alan Meeker
Lazy Eight Attobrewery
"Where the possibilities are limitless"
Baltimore, MD
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:27:57 -0700
From: Peter Torgrimson <petertorgrimson at prodigy.net>
Subject: homebrew clubs
david.persenaire at abnamro.com writes:
>> Any one have any suggestions for events, outings, meeting ideas?
Your club sounds a lot like my club in terms of meeting locations and
major events. Activities we do which you did not mention include:
- Meeting topic: Sensory evaluation, commonly known as doctored beer,
where we taste beer samples each doctored with a chemical commonly found
in beer to learn what it tastes like.
- Meeting topic: Show & Tell. We did this at last night's monthly
meeting and it was a big hit. Several members brought their favorite,
most unusual, most depraved (just kidding?) items of brewing equipment
and we discussed them (the items, not the members).
- Sponsoring study sessions for the BJCP exam. This has dramatically
increased the number of BJCP-affiliated judges in our club. Preparing
for the exam is an excellent way to increase one's knowledge of beer.
At our study sessions about 50% of participants are attending in
preparation for the exam; the rest just want to taste and discuss all
the styles of beer as we taste them.
- Managing the judging of the homebrewer competition for a local charity
brewers festival. Managing a homebrew competition for a county fair is
another venue for this kind of thing.
- Performing group experiments on brewing ingredients, processes, etc.
- Group brews.
I, too, am interested in new ideas for club activities. It would be
great to continue this thread.
Peter Torgrimson
Worts Of Wisdom Homebrewers
Mountain View, CA
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 10:26:20 -0400
From: "Stephen Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: Hazy about air/oxygen
>Paul says we should avoid oxygenating the wort if we want to avoid haze.
>Does this mean we should not oxygenate when pitching yeast, or did I miss
>something?
If you have a way to avoid the bad effects of a sluggish and limp
fermentation w/o aerating the wort then yes, avoid all wort oxygenation.
Till you come up with that method, aerate/oxygenate only between pitching
and the time the 1st bubbles appear in your airlock or shortly thereafter.
That's probably a better rule of thumb that a number of hours.
Yeast with decent glycogen levels (that's when an iodine test is useful)
will use air saturation level of O2 (0.27mMol/L), ferment almost all of
their acid soluble glycogen and lose 20% of dry mass and increase total
sterol levels from 0.1% to 1% and UFAs similarly increased in the first 2
hours after pitching - the lag period. Contrary to HB lore, the lag period
is very important. It's about converting glycogen stores + O2 to sterols
and UFAs.
There may be clever ways to make the yeast happy, not aerate the wort, and
not add to the flavor difficulties, but I don't have any such method.
-Steve
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 09:49:21 -0500
From: "Joseph Marsh" <josephmarsh62 at hotmail.com>
Subject: inline filters clear beer & spam
Rich Medina asked me for filter brands...
I'm using Kleen-Plus by Ametek. The model # for the ice maker charcoal
filter is IC 101. It has quick connects for 1/4" tubing and you'll have to
make up your own adapter to garden hose or whatever. The filter is about 1
foot long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter and claims up to 1000 gallons
capassity.
The counter top by the same people is model CTR-210. Replaceable cartridge
about 1000 gal cap.
It doesn't matter much which brand you get, these were the cheapest I could
find at a going out of business sale. Any good hardware store can fix you
up.
If you are brewing just once in a great while you might be better off using
the counter top model. If you store the filter for long periods you will get
bacterial growth and alga. There was a minor war a few weeks ago about that
topic here. The point being that you'll use the counter top unit daily and
keep it flushed out.
Cade Morgan of clear beer fame.... I recomended he get the Al Korzonas book
"Homebrewing Vol. I" (which I do to everyone, excellent book) but he
mentioned he might have trouble finding it in South Africa. First off you
can try amazon.com and secondly there seem to be at least a couple others
from South Africa that read here. They might be able to help you with local
supplies etc.
Got spammed again. I don't know if they got my address from here or not but
I don't give out my address often at all. They're selling office supplies.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 11:00:21 -0400
From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: CONTAMINATED PILSNER / Clubs
George Krafcisin Has a smelly Pils -
....
>Problem is, the smell from the airlock was slightly musty/sour. >After
>two weeks, the Gravity was down to 1.008. Smell was still there >- not
>strong, but not the real beer smell I'm used to. I tasted the >brew, and
>it was OK, no sour taste. So I racked to a glass carboy, >and put it in
>the frig where it's happily resting at 33 deg F.
>Question: Is a Pilsner supposed to smell that way until fully fermented?
>Or is my batch contaminated? Will the smell go away? Or should I just
>pour it out and try again?
>George Krafcisin
>Glencoe, IL
George, DON'T Pitch that Pils!
I have a Kolsch that tasted pheonolic when it was one and a half months old.
Now, at two and a half months it tastes fine.
Let it age a while and try it again. The smell will probably go away. If
not, you can always pitch it later. IF you pitch it now, you will never know
for sure!
I had a Hefe Weizen that smelled strongly like rotten eggs
(HydrogenSulphide?) when it was fermenting. It ended up taking third place
in our local brew-club open competition.
Speaking of the Hefe-weizen, and its third place in the club open
competition:
I'm for joining clubs. Join, go to several meetings and give it a chance.
What have you got to loose. PARTICIPATE!!!
I've been brewing for fifteen years, and I think I have learned more in the
last six months from being in the club, than I learned in the past twenty
years.
Our club (State of Franklin Homebrewers) is great! - The competitons are
done in the spirit of learining.
We have trips, such as the memorable Highland BUll Pub visit (130 beers from
around the world!).
We share information. Taste each others beer and critique them.
Taste commercial beer for characteristics.
Group buy for cost savings on Hops and Grain.(this really helps on whole
grain shipments where we pooled for a total of over 18 bags of grain).
We have a diverse group from the mid 20s to the 60s. Extract brewers,
partial mashers and whole grain brewers all contribute to an excelent
experience.
Steven
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 06:57:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: LJ Vitt <lvitt4 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Munich Dunkel
Eric asked about his Munich Dunkel recipe:
>Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:07:46 -0400
>From: "Murray, Eric" <emurray at sud-chemieinc.com>
>Subject: Munich Dunkel
>I was wondering if the collective could give me their input on creating
>an
>authentic Munich Dunkel along the lines of Augustiner.
>My initial thoughts for a 11 gallon recipe are;
>20 lbs of German Munich malt (8-12 L)
>4 oz roasted barley (for color)
>2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker for 60 minutes
>Double decoction mash, 122 F for 30, decoct 1/3, raise to 146 for 30,
>decoct
>1/3, rest at 156 for 60.
>Munich Lager yeast.
>S.G approx 1.051
>IBU 21.2
>Est. SRM 14.2 (which will probably be a little darker from the mash)
>I have not used a decoction Mash before, and I use a rectangular cooler
>to
>mash in. Any tips or advice here would be appreciated as well.
Eric, I suggest skipping the roasted barley. 1) a german brewer would not use
UNMALTED barley. 2) I believe Munich brewers would not add a roasted malt to
make this beer dark. They use(d) munich malt and decoctions to get the dark
color. You might hear comments like "you can't mash 100% munich". That is
probably true for American made munich. Are you using European produced munich
malt? I would suggest any of these brands: Dorst, Weissheimer, Weyermanns,
DeWolf Coysns.
Without it, you have 100% munich malt. That will produce dark colored malt.
Since you plan to use decotion, it will be darkened more if your boil time in
the decoction is 30 minutes.
I think you will need to make the second decoction be 40% of the mash.
I base this on experience - I came up lower temps after recombining the
decoction back into the main mash. You will not need 60 minutes on the
last rest, I suggest 30.
You made a nice hop choice.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:12:39 -0400
From: RiedelD at pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Subject: Thoughts on a high FG Alt
Last night I racked a batch of Alt to a corny keg and took an SG
reading along the way. To my unhappy surprise, I've got a final
gravity of about 1.016 - for an OG of 1.047, this is really high.
Specifics:
4.1 kg DWC Munich
75g DWC Cara-Munich
500g DWC Aromatic
Single infusion at 154F for ~90min. 90 min boil with a
huge pile (155g) of Spalt Select (because the AA was only 2.3%).
Pitched slurry from 3.5L starter: Wyeast 2565 (Koelsch).
*No oxygen (forgot to get cylinder); shook ~4L in 13L carboy with
yeast slurry and shook final full carboy - probably not great
aeration.
Fermented the batch at 64-65F.
Discovered (about 24hrs in) that krausen had blow through the
airlock - switched to blow-off.
Vigorous ferment continued for at least 2 more days.
So, I've got a beer that's underattenuated. Oddly enough, it doesn't
seem to taste sweet. In fact, I got out a different hydrometer to
double-check
the FG because it didn't *taste* like 16 pts. I know that when I moved to
aerating with O2 my FGs went down (as a general rule), so I'm fairly certain
that lack of O2 caused the premature finish. However, is it possible that
I blew a sizeable portion of my working yeast out the blow-off tube? This
2565 really forms a big, yeast-rich, krausen. In other words, could I lose
enough yeast in mid-ferment to affect the FG?
any thoughts?
Dave Riedel
Victoria, Can.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:23:09 -0400
From: RiedelD at pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Subject: Bernzomatic O2
I'm thinking of trying to adapt a Bernzomatic O2
cylinder to do my aeration.
1. Is the threading the same as on the propane
canisters?
2. If so, I thought I might just cut the end off the
standard propane torch fitting and affix some tubing
to it. The propane fitting has a wheel valve on it...
I don't really need a regulator to apply a couple of
1-2 min bursts of O2 do I?
Is there something I've overlooked? Standard "I won't
blow myself and my loved-ones up, will I?" inquiry.
Note: Yes, I'm aware of the setups available from
Brewer's Resource, etc. I'd just like to avoid conversion
to an increasingly expensive US dollar and the hazards
of UPS bringing the package from Canada Customs to
my door when it was already paid for via surface mail.
cheers,
Dave Riedel
Victoria, Can.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:46:44 -0400
From: "Rick Hamel" <hamelrick at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Roller Mills
I have experience with the Phil Mill and the Automatic Roller Mill.
The Phil Mill uses a 2 litre bottle as a hopper. Because of the small
opening at the bottom and the small rollers it takes forever and a lot of
effort to crush 10 pounds of malt. For extract brewing i.e. specialty
grains, I'm sure it would fine. Also because it clamps on the edge of a
table you can't really put a bucket directly under it because then you can't
turn the handle. The bucket has to be a foot under. The dust produced gets
all over the place.
If anyone wants one cheap let me know....I'll throw in the 2 litre bottle
for free!
The Automatic Roller mill works great. I can crush 10 pounds of grain in
about 5 minutes and this is by hand! You can also hook up a 3/8 inch drill.
The only problem I had with it was the hopper was not assembled very well.
It is made out of sheet metal. There was a small gap in the bottom that let
some grain leak out. I had to take it apart and put it together in such a
way so the gap was small enough so grain would not leak out. If I had
access to a sheet metal bender I could do a better job, but this is more
than adequate. This mill is not very good for crushing small qtys of malt.
You need to keep the rollers covered in order for them to crush properly.
The rollers are very easy to adjust. It has two adjustment knobs on each
the knobs so you can reproduce the setting over and over. The knobs also
"click in" at the different increments.
The phil mill just uses a screw to adjust the roller so have no way of
reproducing the same setting unless you never touch it.
Some mills only have one adjustment screw that moves only one side of the
roller. One end will be have a narrower gap than the other giving an uneven
crush.
The automatic come mounted to a bucket. All the crushed grain goes into the
bucket with no mess.
Sorry I don't have any experience with the Valley Mill. The Automatic Mill
seemed the best to me so I got that one.
Rick
Boston, MA
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 11:57:01 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <brewer at isunet.net>
Subject: The Jethro Gump Report - Lallemand Scholarship
The Jethro Gump Report
Lallemand Scholarship
It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce that Lallemand of
Montreal, Canada is once again sponsoring a full Scholarship for a "Concise
Course in Brewing Technology" (previously known as the Short Course) for a
member of the American Homebrewers Association to the Siebel Institute in
Chicago, Illinois.
The Lallemand Scholarship awards the full cost of a Concise Course,
valued at $2750 USD, plus a $1000 USD stipend to help with travel and
accomodations.
The Inaugural Scholarship winner, Richard Sieben, had a wonderful time,
and wrote of it for Lallemand and the AHA. You can access his experiences at
http://www.aob.org/AHA/Zymurgy/zymonline.htm where he details the day to day
events as a student at the oldest and most prestigious brewing academy in
the United States.
"I entered the AHA/Lallemand drawing just because I could, I really
figured I had a fireman's chance in hell of winning! Still, I did win, so I
would like to thank the AHA and Lallemand for making this course available
and encourage everyone who reads this to sign up for the Scholarship next
year," said Sieben.
At the end of his professional training he went on, "Now I want to get
home and make some much-needed improvements to by brewery and brewing
processes. I feel like my eyes have been opened and while it may not take
rocket science to make beer, I like the rocket science part!"
Applications for the Lallemand Scholarship are open to all members of
the AHA, who submit their entry. The winner also has the option of taking a
2 week Microbiology Course, similarly valued. Course must be taken within 1
year of being awarded.
Current members of the AHA should go to
http://www.beertown.org/AHA/lallemand.htm for more details on entering the
drawing.
You can increase your odds of winning just by sponsoring new members.
You will receive one additional entry for each new member you sign up. And
an additional entry into the Scholarship drawing will be granted to each AHA
member that submits a vote in the AHA Board of Advisors Election. The winner
will be drawn at the 2001 AHA National Homebrew Conference in Los Angeles,
California, June 21-23.
Brewers who are not yet members of the AHA, but who wish to join in
order to enter the Scholarship drawing should go to
http://beertown.org/catalog/static/members.html?;;1 or call
1-888-U-CAN-BREW. You can ask to enter the Scholarship drawing when you join
the AHA.
This is a fabulous opportunity to gain a chance at accessing Brewing
Heaven! Believe me, as one who was awarded a Special Scholarship to Siebel
some years ago, there is simply nothing like Siebel for anyone who is
serious about brewing. Science, art, history and a simple lust for knowledge
all collide there.
Secure your chance to attend by submitting your entry! It's the best
lottery ticket any brewer will ever buy!
Cheers And Good Luck!
Jethro Gump
Rob Moline
Lallemand
AHA Board of Advisors Secretary
jethrogump at home.com
brewer at isunet.net
robmoline at aob.org
1-888-U-CAN-BREW
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 13:08:59 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Mashing Temperature/thickness, Mills, contests , judging and
Brewsters:
Brian Lundeen asks about mash temperature and thickness and fermentability.
I'm not going to try to duplicate the megabytes
( check the archives), I, SteveA and many others have written on this
subject of mashing conditions and fermentability but the very basic idea is
that in the range of 149F to 158F two enzymes are very active which
degrade carbohydrates - starches and dextrins. Beta amylase which is
largely responsible for producing sugars from short chain carbohydrates is
more temperature sensitive and thermally degrades faster than alpha amylase
which degrades starch into dextrins and sugars. As a result, for normal
mash times of, say, 60 minutes, the higher the mash temperature, the lower
the fermentability of the wort, since the alpha amylase keeps on breaking
down the starch into wort soluble but not fermentable carbohydrates (
dextrins) after the beta amylase is deactivated. As a result the %
fermentability of the wort soluble carbohydrates goes down as the mash
temperatrure goes up.
In general, beta amylase is more stable in thicker mashes, so thicker
mashes will produce a higher fermentability if all other things are equal.
Of course, life isn't that simple, as these and many other similar and
dissimilar enzymes are active ( and have different rates of activity and
some do more than one thing) over a large range of temperatures, calcium
ion concentrations, mashing times, etc. and we haven't even discussed
decoction nor white wort production as in Belgian beers nor the fact that
starch is not totally degradable to sugars by these enzymes. Now , I've
made enough general statements to ignite a thorough rehashing of this
excellent subject in the near future, I hope.
- ------------------------
John Lovett asks about mills. Mills is also another subject to which
megabytes of storage ( check the archives) has also been devoted. I
suggest you buy a mill on which you can adjust the milling gap so you can
try my double milling method (coarse and then fine to emulate a four roll
mill) and produce a free running lauter and very efficient mash. It is
also a faster method of milling, believe it or not. You can also handle
different sizes and types of malts with an adjustable mill.
Mine is a Marga mill ( no affil) and I can attest it does an excellent job,
is sturdy and has served me for nearly a decade or so hooked up to my power
drill. I have never tried any of the currently available mills but you will
find many devotees to each.
You will be happy if you can power your mill, but do it safely with both
mechanical and electrical cutoffs as malt often contain bits of metal and
rubber among other things. Pre-screening malt is a good idea, but not
always 100% effective.
- --------------------------
I think the idea of judging of beers independent of knowing the brewer is
an excellent feedback method and helps prevent "cellar palate", especially
for new brewers and especially if helpful comments like "use less crystal
in your lager next time" or "try fermenting at less than 80F" are provided.
And if some need the thrill of a contest to spur them to greater heights
that's OK too. But to enter all possible contests at locations clear across
the US to say "Look, I have hundreds of ribbons!" ( after entering
thousands of contests!) as a famous author often does is a little too much
for me and outside the meaningful purpose of these contests, IMHO.
I do have a basic philosophical problem with the concept of judging in
general and that is it is too limiting, since it uses commercial beers as
the goal. Frankly, I do not want to emulate today's beers as I find them
most often too constricted by shelf life concerns, clarity, profit and laws
to be at their best. That's why I brew beer - to make it better than the
professionals can with their limitations. Why be judged by their standards?
I often worry that the rule that a beer can be only entered in one category
is to prevent embarrassment of the judges and not to get the best judging
possible. I have never heard a good argument as to why a beer can't be
entered in more than one category, especially if it doesn't fit any
category exactly.
Clubs can provide excellent support for new brewers and an exposure to a
range of beers you've never heard of or tasted, but don't be surprised if
these old fuddy duddies in their 40s and 50s don't want to spend all their
time discussing brewing basics with new brewers at a meeting. Likely these
guys have been through the brewing wars together and are good friends or
good enemies. If you feel left out of it, suggest that one of the members
provide some outside help via a newbie brewer's meeting held before or
after the main meeting in which these subjects of interest to you get
discussed. Most will gladly comply and even hand the various topics around
from meeting to meeting to the local expert or that subject. Don't expect
this to be a one way street as you will have to involve yourself in the
club by volunteering for various duties. And in a year or so you will be
right in the swing with those old fogies ignoring the new brewers to
discuss esoteric topics like how to brew a classic Rodenbach.
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 13:20:15 -0400
From: "Charles R. Stewart" <Charles at TheStewarts.com>
Subject: Gott erhalts, Sad Stories, Roller Mills, & Spam
On Wed, 25 Apr, Dan Listermann responded to Randy Walker:
> Would someone please translate this?
> "Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalts"
> > I assume that "hopfen und malz" is "hops and malt",
> > but I don't know what the rest means.
>
> "Hops and malt, God maintains."
>
> I always liked, "Da ist Hopfen und Maltz vorloren." He has lost his hops
> and malt. It describes someone totally lost.
And I always liked "Das Leben ist zu kurz, schreckliches Bier zu trinken"
(Life is too short to drink bad beer).
On Wed, 25 Apr., Brian Lundeen cried into his beer:
> A good competition (and by good, I mean well judged) can provide you with
> valuable feedback on fault identification. Once the fault has been
identified,
> you can investigate what may be causing it and take corrective measures.
> The end result, you make better beer, you enjoy it more, you drink twice
as much
> of it, your wife leaves you, your health deterio... sorry, I digress.
Good! And then you go find a woman who loves beer. See? A happy ending.
And finally, on Thu, 26 Apr, John Lovett asked about roller mills:
> I am thinking of buying a roller mill. It would seem to come down to a
> choice between the Listermann and Valley mills. Has anyone experience of
> either of these and the pros and cons of each? I'm just trying to get some
> recommendations.
I just bought a Valley Mill and used it for the first time Monday to brew a
batch of lawnmower brew (whilst home "sick" from work). I absolutely
Lovett, er, love it! I hooked it up to my Makita cordless drill and it
ground 12# in a couple of minutes! I've never used a Phil-Mill, but you
certainly wouldn't go wrong with the Valley Mill.
Finally, does anyone have physical contact information for "Rachel?" I'd
like to use that spam as a test case for my sig line and file suit in small
claims court. My address was obviously culled off the HBD, and my sig line
would have put "Rachel" on notice of my spam policies.
Chip Stewart
Charles at TheStewarts.com
http://Charles.TheStewarts.com
Pursuant to United States Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Section
227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) sent to this address
is subject to a download and archival fee of US$500.00. The sending or
forwarding of such e-mail constitutes acceptance of these terms.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:21:47 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <brewer at isunet.net>
Subject: Raise a Pint to Roger Briess
Folks,
It is with the greatest sadness that I heard that Roger Briess, of
Briess Maltings died unexpectedly on April 25th, 2001.
Mr. Briess was a member of a Moravian, Czechoslovakian family that has
been in the malting business since 1876, and as I am sure you all know, was
a staunch supporter of the microbrewery, brewpub and homebrewing worlds for
decades. Every brewing gathering that I can remember attending whether small
MBAA District Tech Conferences, major industry events such as IBS CBC's and
MBAA National Conventions, the AHA NHC's, and even smaller bashes like the
MCAB's have all been graced by the Briess presence and financial support. He
will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please raise a pint to Roger tonight. If you wish
to send a card, the address is...
Briess Malting Company
625 S. Irish Road
Chilton, WI 53014
Jethro Gump
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 23:22:02 +0200
From: Hubert Hanghofer <hhanghof at netbeer.co.at>
Subject: Re: translation, please
Cheers,
"Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalts"
don't take that too literally, the *meaning* is:
"God save hops and malt"
What else! ...Except the queen, perhaps...
Allzeit gut Sud! (may your suds always succeed)
Hubert
Salzburg, Austria
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 18:09:21 -0600
From: "Robert J. Waddell" <rjw at dimensional.com>
Subject: Molecular Web Site
Folks, this site may or may not help increase your understanding of what is
going on at the "teenie" level. If it doesn't, you'll probably enjoy
looking at the pictures anyway, but it may stimulate enough interest to
pursue some more research. I didn't take any chemistry classes in high
school or college and I'm still trying to really understand "The Principles
of Brewing Science". I'll let everybody decide for themselves if it has
any value or not:
http://www.molecularuniverse.com
I *L*O*V*E* my [Pico] system. 'Cept for that
gonging noise it makes when my wife throws it
off the bed at night.
Women...
--Pat Babcock
*** It's never too late to have a happy childhood! ***
****************************************************************************
RJW at dimensional.com / Opinions expressed are usually my own but
Robert J. Waddell / perhaps shared.
Owner & Brewmaster: Barchenspeider Brew-Haus Longmont, Colorado
****************************************************************************
(4,592 feet higher than Jeff Renner)
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 19:39:01 -0500
From: "Richard Sieben" <sier1 at email.msn.com>
Subject: The club thread
Doug, sorry to hear of your bad experience with brew clubs, maybe the wrong
one(s) for you. I have had very good experiences with my TWO clubs, Club
Wort (meets at Durty Nellies in Palatine on the second Monday of every
month) and the Midnight Carboys (meets at Duke O'Brien's in Crystal Lake on
the first Tuesday of every month). [in case anyone was interested.] Each
club has it's own personality.
Club Wort, is an older club and has evolved into a more socially oriented
club. By that I mean that they have more events such as pub crawls and beer
fests (in fact there is one this Saturday, $20 for all you can drink from
noon til 5...if it isn't sold out already). There is also a club picnic
every year and usually at least one brew-in (joint brew day). Last year the
club made a whiskey stout and a whiskey barley wine in some barrels obtained
from the Jack Daniels distillery. The brew in was held at Skot Abene's
house in Oak Park and while I couldn't make the brew in, a good time was had
by all. The contests have ranged in participation from one beer entered to
as many as 7. There are quite a few specialty commercial brews brought to
meetings as well as homebrews. I find that the majority of the folks that
show up on a regular basis don't find much time to brew but they do like the
good beer.
Midnight Carboys is a younger club than Club Wort, but there is more
dedication to brewing. We may have contests with as few as 6 beers entered,
but that was a night with only 7 members showing up. We have had other
contests with up to a dozen entries and have had as many as 20 people at a
meeting. Commercial brews are fairly rare at these meetings, maybe only one
or two most nights and the discussion is primarily around brewing. The club
is now getting large enough that we are planning our first beer fest for the
fall of this year. The only other event is an October fest.
I am also a member of the BrewRat chat, but as others have said, there are
fewer opportunities to try other folks beers and learn by taste. The online
chat is always interesting and sometimes educational. The discussion there
may stray from brewing, but it always comes back to that at some point.
I got to know the personalities of these clubs through time and consider the
members of each of them to be collectively and individually friends.
In summary, maybe you just need to try some other clubs, they all have
something to offer. Also, to get the most out of a club, what are you going
to put into it? Nobody is going to be 'Astounded' that you have graced them
with your presence, they don't know you. You being the new person has to
make the effort to get known. Basic people skills that will help you in
other areas of your life as well. I hope it wasn't one of my clubs that
left you with the bad experience, but if it was maybe you should give
yourself another chance. Otherwise, you are only brewing with yourself and
that is a pretty bland experience. I think most homebrewers who quit after
3 years (about average)did so because they had no social aspect to thier
brewing activities. But that is a story that is in the archives here
someplace.
Rich Sieben
Island Lake, IL
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 20:58:05 -0400
From: "Fred Scheer" <fhopheads at msn.com> (by way of Jeff Renner)
Subject: ROGER BRIESS
Brewers
Fred Scheer <fhopheads at msn.com> has given me permission to post this.
Sad news.
Jeff Renner
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Fellow Brewers:
Today I received a call from Chuck Skypeck that our Friend Roger
Briess from Briess Malting passed away.
Especially all my friends and fellow Brewers from the aabg knew him
very well, as Roger participated in the TASTE OF THE GREAT LAKES in
Frankenmuth, MI, all times.
I knew Roger a long time, from the old days (not so long ago) in
Germany, we had lots of good Beers and good food.
When I immigrated to the U.S, Roger helped me a LOT, we became the
best friends. Then, in 1985, I judged the first time at the GABF with
Charlie Papazian, Roger, Jo Kortuem, Hans Kesstler, Fred Eckhardt,
George Fix and some others.
After I was elected to the advisory board of the IBS and later its
Chairman, it was Roger I always asked for advice. I know that a lot
of us German Brewmasters (Immigrants) were happy to have him as a
friend and a helping hand in questions about immigration.
Roger and Briess Malting (especially Marie Ann Gruber) were the only
ones in the beginning of the Microbrewing revolution in the US who
believed in the vision of Charlie Papazian, and helped all of us to
be where we are today.
I spent some time with Roger in the Caribbean, where we had lots of
fun. This was the year after I came back from my illness in Germany.
I'll never forget the good times.
Please, after you receive this message, do the same as I do, have a
Beer (brewed with Malt from BRIESS), and PROST to Roger.
Thanks,
Fred Scheer
BOSCOS Nashvile, TN
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 20:31:08 -0400
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: Translation
A couple of days ago, Randy Walker asked for a translation of "Hopfen und
Malz, Gott erhalts"
Well, I couldn't pass up the chance to play with one of my favorite internet
toys. AltaVista's Babelfish (http://world.altavista.com/tr) sez: "Hop and
malz, God of receipt"
Hmmm....
On the same vein, I was reading a technical description of operation of a
DGPS system for container cranes that sounded like it was translated from
German by Babelfish. But, hey, Babelfish can be quite amusing in that
(familiar, mind numbing) manner of the web.
Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Salem, VA
Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity
"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.'"
~ Dave Barry
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