HOMEBREW Digest #3914 Sat 13 April 2002


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  HT yeast ("John Misrahi")
  BJCP etc. ("Fred Scheer")
  Re: Copper Kettles (John Palmer)
  re:Subject: Carboy Shading (susan woodall)
  Ice Stabilization (Troy Hager)
  Rare Vos? (leavitdg)
  kettledrum kettles ("Parker Dutro")
  Bubbles in my tubing ("Parker Dutro")
  RE: Bucket for secondary ("Parker Dutro")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:37:35 -0700 From: "John Misrahi" <lmoukhin at sprint.ca> Subject: HT yeast On a similar note, has anyone used the Whitelabs Super Gravity yeast? They say it can hit 25% ABV John Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 20:32:19 -0400 From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net> Subject: HT yeast JZ said: >Eventually it seems you might get some interesting results and won't have >much trouble with bacteria. Might be fun. Trying it with lager yeast might be even more fun. Imagine being able to produce a good (or even decent) lager entirely at room temperature. - --- [Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] Al - rukbat at optonline dot net Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 07:56:07 -0500 From: "Fred Scheer" <fhopheads at msn.com> Subject: BJCP etc. Alan: As you know the authors of the BJCP Study/beer guidelines are not the authors for the Classical Beer Style Books, which are available at the AOB. Therefore, you will have different opinions on beer styles. I personally think that the BJCP study guidelines have to be updated and other chapters have to be completely re-written. I also hope that the AOB publishes more books on Classical beers. Fred M. Scheer Nashville, TN Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:57:52 -0700 From: John Palmer <jjpalmer at gte.net> Subject: Re: Copper Kettles Dios Mio! Copper boiling kettles for $25!! Weellll Doggies! I am speculating that they are not pure copper, they are likely brass (Cu/Zn) or bronze (Cu/Sn), but either would be fine. And don't give me that whine about lead - it just is not present in a significant amount. Although, Bob, if you can find out a manufacturer on the timpini kettles, it would be a good idea to identify the alloy conclusively. Checking my desk reference book, musical instruments (probably trumpets and tubas), are cited as being made of Low Brass with is 80/20 Cu/Zn, with 0 lead. Could be they use the same alloy for these kettles, since most manufacturers don't have any imagination when it comes to alloy selection. "Use the same thing..." That being said, these should make great boilers! How big are they? Do not clean them with alkaline cleaners! Use dish detergent and a sponge for routine cleaning, and Straight A or PBW for the initial cleaning. You do not, repeat do not, want to clean the copper shiny bright between uses. It should turn a dull copper color with use. You want the passive oxide layer to build up to minimize the dissolution of copper into the wort. Copper and zinc are both beneficial to the wort, and with the advent of stainless steel in brewing 50 years ago, breweries noticed a big difference in the amount of sulfites in the beer that exposure to copper helped take out. But you don't want too much of a good thing. John Palmer Monrovia, CA How To Brew - the online book http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html Homepage http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer Let there be Peace on Earth. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 15:23:04 -0700 From: susan woodall <woodsusa at moscow.com> Subject: re:Subject: Carboy Shading I have also used a standard black plastic bag over my fermenter with no problems what so ever! Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 16:07:10 -0700 From: Troy Hager <thager at hcsd.k12.ca.us> Subject: Ice Stabilization Fellow Brewers, While re-reading G. Fix's (RIP-we all miss him) Principles of Brewing Science I ran across the section on Ice Stabilization on p. 149 and the concept is unique to me (and in the HB world it seems as well - I did some searches in the archives and found nothing) although it seems to have many benefits. Beer treated with the "ice" method, Fix says, "tends to have remarkable flavor stability" and "tends to be very smooth because all the "rough edges" in their precursors have been removed..." Fix mentions in the notes to his Dort. Export recipe that was on his site: "we have had excellent results with the icing procedure discussed in the 2nd edition of PoBS...". This method is used by the commercial breweries (I'm thinking that's what "ice filtering" is referring to) but does not seem to be used by anyone as a homebrewer and although it adds a few more steps in the lagering process, for those who use a temp. controlled freezer to lager in, it doesn't seem to be all that difficult. The benefits that are sited in the book are intriguing and so I'm wondering why haven't I ever heard of people using this method as HBers. For those who don't know what I am talking about here are the basic details. At some point in the lagering process - timing isn't very clear in the book although he mentions commercially it is done right after the centrifuge - the beer is lowered to about -4C (about 25F) where the beer starts to freeze and small ice crystal form taking up about 5% of the volume of the beer. This means that only a small increase in the alcohol level of the beer will result. Ice stabilization is different than the well known "ice beer" methods traditionally used in high-alcohol bock beers which remove a significant amount of water with significant increases in alcohol and is therefore is classified as a distillation process. Ice stabilization is not. After the ice crystals form they are removed through filtration or other methods used in commercial breweries. The benefits sited in the book are: "First, it acts on both haze-active phenols and proteins. Thus, it is a substitute for PVPP and silica gels. Test brews have shown there is about a 5% decrease in simple phenols, tannins, and haze-forming proteins over what is normally achieved in fining procedures using PVPP or silica gel. Yet remarkably, data presented in the next section shows that there is about a threefold increase in chill-haze proofing. This result is indirect evidence that slight ice formation is more selective in the removal of haze-forming compounds than exogenous absorbents." He goes on to say that the method will significantly reduce the beer's oxidation state as well. He says that a beer that is treated with the ice stabilization method and polished up with a 3-5 micron filter will remain *very* haze proof and stable. Is there anyone out there that has tried this or has any insight into this method? Also, Fix says that in the single-tank version, "a general rule is that 72 hours at -3C will keep ice formation below 5%..." My question is would there be any detriment in lagering for a longer period at this temperature. What if the last 2-4 weeks of lagering time was done down in the 27-25F range and then separated from the ice? Troy Hager San Mateo, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 19:51:11 -0400 (EDT) From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu Subject: Rare Vos? Anyone have a recipe for Rare Vos from Ommegang Brewery? I just tried a bottle that has been sitting for several months....and it is wonderful! Amber in color,...I know how to do that, I guess...some special B?...but I think that for me the challenge is the correct yeast...It is rather dry/ hard to describe.. ...Belgian in style...perhaps I can use the Quebec Belgian Yeast that will arrive next week form Northern Brewer?..... Suggestions would be very welcome. ..Darrell Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 16:41:27 -0700 From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128 at edwardwadsworth.com> Subject: kettledrum kettles Bob, Hey, I wish I was answering your inquiry on copper drums, but I'm not. I don't think copper is a wise idea for fermenting, or cooking, but I won't go into why I feel this way because I am usually misinformed and end up sounding dumb. I noticed, however, you mentioned that you're a percussionist, and live in Yamhill, Oregon? I am a Portlander, and also a drummer, so I thought I'd just give a shout out to a native! Oh yeah, did I mention I'm into homebrewing, too? Anyway, it's off the subject so I won't continue to babble. Best of luck in the banging (or is it bonging?) and brewing and all. Keep smackin' those skins. Parker Dutro Portland, Oregon Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 16:51:29 -0700 From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128 at edwardwadsworth.com> Subject: Bubbles in my tubing Well, after a bit of reading I have learned that anytime wort above 80 deg. is aerated, it can adversely affect the beer and contribute to early staling. All concerns are minute, though, anless you happened to be pumping pure O2 into the wort or plan to save your beers for more than a couple years. Sorry for the misinformation. Parker Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 16:57:01 -0700 From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128 at edwardwadsworth.com> Subject: RE: Bucket for secondary John, It is possible to use a food grade bucket as a secondary fermenter, but the plastic will allow oxygen into your beer, and this will harm it. As for the measure of damage it might cause, I don't know. Any long term beer storage really should be in glass or stainless steel. To rack into another plastic container would reduce the sediment in your bottles, but my suggestion if you can't get a carboy would be to wait until you know the beer is done fermenting in the primary (use a hydrometer, please) and bottle straight out of the primary. I know a lot of guys that will do this occasionally, and have no problems, but the initial fermentation MUST be done, otherwise when the yeast begin converting the corn sugar to CO2 the remaining sugar from the wort will make bottle bombs. I you are kegging, you have less to worry about. Good luck. Return to table of contents
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