HOMEBREW Digest #418 Wed 16 May 1990

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


Contents:
  Tasting of Belgian Beers (plus Samichlaus) (John Mellby)
  Boston/Bedford (willa)
  Hazy keg beer (John Greene)
  Brewpubs in Maryland? (Michelle Hodges)
  Wyeast Swelling (GIBSON)
  Buffalo Bound (Ihor W. Slabicky)
  Re: Druids in the Wuids (a.e.mossberg)
  Input requested (CRF)
  Re: Help on best Brewpubs and retail outlets around San Jose (Greg Wageman)
  Overcarbonation (CORONELLRJDS)
  A little on Lites and Marzens (Doug Roberts)
  Extract for conditioning (Doug Roberts)
  On Mild Responses (Doug Roberts)
  Re: Druids in the Wuids (dw)
  cloudy pilsner (florianb)
  M&F "Lite" Malt Extract and My Mutant Mild (Mike Charlton)
  my two cents on mashing (Kenneth R. van Wyk)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 May 90 07:43:20 CDT From: jmellby at ngstl1.csc.ti.com (John Mellby) Subject: Tasting of Belgian Beers (plus Samichlaus) The Offical Mellby Beer-Tastings, year 3. This is the Seventeenth such tasting stretching back over two years. The tastings, in reverse chronological order were of: Belgians + Samichlaus Misc. Lagers (including one Non-alcoholic) Ales, mainly American Misc. Oregon and Michigan (ok its weird, but this is where our last trips were) Available Ales (i.e. purchaseable in Dallas) Northern Beers (Northern US and Canadian) Belgian (and other odd European Beers) California Micro-beers Lagers, mostly American microbreweries Ales (an odd lot which turned out to be poor quality) Ales (Strong, including porters, stout) Mixed Lagers Ales Lagers Christmas and speciality beers Mixed (mostly ales) A few preliminary comments are necessary. In general we are tasting beers which are not commercially available in Texas (curse these state laws!). We're usually tasting special beers which may not move off the retailer's shelves as fast as, say, Budweiser. Hence some beer is not as fresh as it should be. The most important thing we have learned is: The condition under which the retailer keeps the beer is crucial! Age, light, and handling all can cause a good beer to rapidly become bad. Also we have learned to drink the beer rather than keeping it for extended periods (except with a few bottle-conditioned beer, like Celebration Ale, Thomas Hardy, etc.) On with the beer: Belgium + Samichlaus - ------- ---------- 5/10/90 We got Duvel and Sezoens locally to round out this evening. We were surprised that these were as good as they were! I'm going to buy more Duvel (not a lot more at $7.50 for 4 bottles)! This wasn't as successful a blind tasting as before since the first two were lambics, then four ales/trappist beers, and finally, recogniseable anywhere, Samichlaus! It was also difficult since we Belgian beers are so very different, plus we haven't had lambic, other than fruit lambic like Kriek or Frambois, before. And then Duvel and Samichlaus rather define their own style, so what can you say other than to rate them high? If you haven't tasted Belgian beer you are missing a lot! They have more types of Beer in Belgium than any other country. Many of the beers, especially lambics, have a distinctive yeasty-sour tang to the taste which can put you off the first time you try them. The lambics, especially fruit Krieks or Framboise, are nice ways to introduce people to a different world of beers. The moral is to try Belgian beers and be open-minded. On one of the beers (my notes don't say which) a curious thing happened. I have always discounted the people who say that the shape of the glass is important. I had a brandy-shaped glass, and Roy and Mike had tall glasses like champagne flutes. On one beer Roy and Mike claimed it smelled bad. We had all poured out of the same pitcher and my glass smelled very good while their glasses had an unpleasant aroma. JRM Roy Tim MikeG JohnL MikeLeonard Total Ave Goundenband 36 39 35 37 30 37 214 35.7 Gueze 42 40 41 43 32 44 242 40.3 Duvel 43 38 40 45 36 42 244 30.7 Westmalle 33 35 32 30 31 27 188 31.3 Sezoens 29 29 30 29 35 26.5 178 29.8 St. Sixtus 44 37 41 43 34 28.5 227 37.9 Samichlaus 44 43 46 46 39.5 218 43.7 Goundenband, Liefmans, Oudenaarde. Even without fruit addition like Kriek, this still tasted fruity. One said he detected cherry, orange and bananna in the taste. The aroma was black cherry and banannas (I can't usually detect bananna smell so I took their word for it). A very nice wheat-beer-like hint of cloves. Slightly weak on body. Just a hint of the Belgian 'sour' taste. We decided we could drink this for a long time. Gueze, Lindemand, Vlezenbeek This had a much fresher aroma, and a lighter and better appearance. The taste had a little alcohol, stronger fruit than the Goundenband, and a fruity aftertaste which was a little fizzy. This aftertaste was good like a champagne fiz rather than the artifically-carbonated fiz of so many beers. Just a little of the Belgian sour-yeasty taste (which is appropriate in Belgians and after you get used to it, very pleasant). Duvel, Moorgat Brewery, Breendonk I had heard good things about this but it was much better than I remembered! It had a very pretty, dense white head. Champagne-like bubbles. A nice hoppy, wheaty aroma. The taste was very thick, alcholic, and diacetyl, with a mouthcoating body. Mike Leonard again guessed this was Duvel. The Styrian Goldings and Saaz hops came out nicely. Westmalle Trappist Beer (they also make a double and a triple Trappist beer) Sadly this was old (from a small store in Dayton). It had large floaters but did have a creamy head. A distinct apple in the aroma. The taste was still good with alcohol in it on top of sour and oxidized tastes. It was cardboardy and had a sharp aftertaste. This was probably real good fresh. Sezoens, Brouwerij Martens Bocholt Again an old bottle. A colloidal suspension which didn't seem to move when you shook the glass. It had an astringent, husky, catty taste, with a sour-catty aftertaste. St. Sixtus, Abbey Ale, St. Bernardus Bry Trappistenweg-Watou-Belgium When he smelled it, Roy's cry was "Great malt! We're back to beer!" I just sat and smelled this for minutes! GREAT AROMA! This had very strong alcohol in it. Brown color with a beautiful head. This could almost be a Scotch ale. (Not that abbey ale is a Trappist-style, but is brewed by someone outside the Trappist Monastery. Scotch ale is more a Belgian style than it is from Scotland.) A long sharp alcohol aftertaste. One person noted cherry, another a nutty flavor. A complex ale. Mike Leonard rated this low otherwise it would have a higher rating. Samichlaus 1989 Dark, Hurlimann AG, Zurich About 14% alcohol - billed as the strongest beer in the world. Because of the alcohol its difficult to maintain a head. Caramel and butterscotch in the aroma. Hops are in the aroma which is usually difficult with this much alcohol. A very nutty, sweet (honey?) complex taste. Its hard to compare this to anything else. The Summary of the beers is: 44.4 Optimator, Spaten, Munich, Germany 43.7 Samichlaus 1989 Dark, Hurlimann AG, Zurich 43.4 Fullers ESB (Extra Special Bitter), Griffin Brewery, London 43.3 Kriek, Lindermans, Belgium 43 Red Tail Ale, Mendocino Brewing 43 Golden Gate Malt Liquor, Thousand Oaks Brewing (RIP) 42.6 Red Hook Ale, Red Hook Brewing, Washington 42.5 Addison Double Eagle, Addison, Texas 42.1 Samichlaus 1987 Dark 41.5 Cock O' The Walk Porter, Big Rock Brewing, Calgary, Canada 41.5 Beer de Paris, Brasserie de Paris? 41.4 Bachis Bock, Eugene City Brewing Co., Oregon 41 Old Peculier, Theakston's (Marsham, York) 41 Celebration Ale, Sierra Nevada 41 Pilsner Urquell, Czechoslovokia 40.8 Lighthouse Amber, Santa Cruz Brewing (Front Street Pub) 40.8 Trippel Affligem Abbey Ale 40.75 Capital Garten Brau, Capital Brewing, Middleton, Wisconsin 40.7 Duvel, Moorgat Brewery, Breendonk, Belgium 40.4 Eugene Ale, Eugene City Brewing Co, Oregon 40.3 Corsendonk; Bry de Block, Flanders Brown Ale 40.3 Lindemand Gueze, Lindemand Brewery, Vlezenbeek, Belgium 40.2 St. Stan's Amber Alt, Stanislaus Brewing, Modesto, CA 40 St. David's Porter, Feilinfoel Brewing, Wales 40 Chesbay, Chesapeak Bottling Co, Virginia Beach, Virginia 39.7 Bigfoot Ale, Sierra Nevada barleywine ale 39.7 Vail Ale, Vail Brewing, Colorado 39.5 Blackhook Porter, Red Hook Brewery, Washington 39.5 Mackeson Stout 39 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 39 Spaten Dopplebock, Munich 39 Crock Ale, St. Sebastian, Belgium 38.8 Lighthouse Lager, Santa Cruz Brewing (Front Street Pub) 38.7 Golden Pacific Bittersweet Ale 38.5 Vondel, Brewery Riva, Dark Flanders Ale 38.5 James Paige Special Reserve, Minneapolis 38.3 Oops Ale, My homebrew (rated also below at 36.3 - better with age?) 38.1 Youngs Special London Ale 38 Anchor Christmas Spiced Ale 38 Summit Extra Pale Ale, Minneapolis 38 Red Hook ESB, Red Hook Brewery, Washington 38 Cable Car Classic Lager, Thousand Oaks Brewery (RIP) 38 Swan Lager, Bond's Brewing, Australia 37.9 St. Sixtus; Abbey Ale, St. Bernardus Bry Trappistenweg-Watou-Belgium 37.6 Ranier Ale 37.6 Rhomberg All Malt, Iowa 37.3 Hercules Ale, Felinfeol, Wales 37.3 Samuel Adams, Boston Brewery 37.3 Saranac 1888, F.X. Matt Brewing 37.3 Brooklyn Pre-Prohibition Lager, Brooklyn Brewery 37.1 Fischer Bitter 37 Young's Winter Warmer, United Kingdom 36.8 Orval, Brasserie d'Orval (Old and it still rated this high!) 36.8 Strong Viking Ale, my homebrew 36.8 Golden Bear, Thousand Oaks Brewery (RIP) 36.75 " 36.7 St. Stan's Amber Ale, Stanislaus Brewing 36.5 Ruddles County Ale; Rutland Brewery 36.5 Winterhook, Red Hook Brewing, Washington 36.4 Pete's Wicked Ale 36.3 Oops Ale (homebrew) 36.2 13th Colony Amber Lager, Savannah Brewing, Georgia 36 Grant's Celtic Ale, Grants Brewing, Yakima WA 36 Frankenmuth Pils, Frankenmuth Brewing, Michigan 36 Cinci Cream, O'Keefe 35.7 Liefmans Goundenband, Liefmans Brewery, Oudenaarde, Belgium 35.5 Lucifer, Blonde Ale, Brewery Riva, Belgium 35.5 Ballard Bitter (Ya Sure You Betcha), Red Hook Brewing, Washington 35.5 Grant's Scottish Ale, Yakima WA (personally I rated this higher) 35.4 Bell's Cherry Stout, Kalamazoo Brewing, Michigan 35.4 Demsey's (Irish Style) Ale, Huber Brewing 35.3 Algonquin Special Reserve Ale, Algonquin Brewing, Ontario 35.2 Berghoff Original (Huber Brewing) 35.1 Maes Pils, Maes Brewing, Belgium 35.1 Aegean Lager 35 Maisel Dampf (Smoke Beer) 34.25 Telluride Lager, Telluride Brewing, Monroe Wisconsin 34.1 (Stale) Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Pale Ale, Tadcaster 34 Great Lakes Cherry Stout, Kalamazoo Brewing 33.8 Down Under Lager, Mildura Brewing, Australia 33.75 Catamont Gold (ale), Catamont Brewing, Vermont 33.7 3 Monts, Flanders Golden Ale, Brasserie de Saint Sylvestre 33.6 Frambose, Liefman's, Belgium 33.6 Weinhard's Ale, Blitz Weinhard 33.4 Bass Pale Ale, Bass-Charrington 33 Great Northern Porter, Summit, Minneapolis 33 Portland Lager, Maine Coast Brewing 33 Franziskus Heller Bock, Spaten, Munich 32.8 St. Stan's Alt, Stanislaus Brewing, Modesto 32.5 Mitchell's Centenary Ale; Mitchell's of Lancaster 32.4 Ballard Bitter 32.3 Penn Pils, Allegheny Brewing 32.1 Not-so-pale-ale, John Mellby Homebrew 32.0 one of my homebrew bitter 31.8 Thomas Coopers Real Ale, Thomas Cooper, Australia 31.7 Santa Barbara Extra Pale Lager, (brewed by Kessler in Montana) 31.3 Westmalle Trappist Beer, Westmalle Belgium 31.2 Calgary Amber Lager, O'Keefe 31 Frankenmuth Olde German Dark, Michigan 31 Eugene Weizen, Eugene City Brewing Co., Oregon 30.4 Pete's Pacific Dry, Pete's Brewing (contract brewed at Schells) 30.3 EKU Kulminator 28 Urtyp Hell, Erst Kulmbacher Actionbrauerei 30.25 MacAndrews Scotch Ale, Caledonia Brewing (probably a Old Bottle!) 30.1 Bulldog Lager, Old Canada Brewing (no city given & I don't blame them) 30 (Old?) Pacific Porter, Santa Cruz Brewing (Front Street Pub) 30 OLD Bottle! Royal Oak, Eldridge Pope Brewing, Dorset 30 Bulldog Lager, Old Canada Brewing 29.9 Pale Ale, Big Rock Brewing, Calgary 29.8 Sezoens, Brouwerij Martens Bocholt, Belgium 29.8 Growling' Gater Lager (The Beer with a Bite) 29.7 Big Rock Bitter, Big Rock Brewing, Calgary (Old!) 29.7 Ballantine XXX Ale, Ballantine Brewing (canned) 29.4 Bell's Best Brown Ale, Kalamazoo Brewing, Michigan 29.3 Harley Davidson Heavy Beer, Huber Brewing (canned) 27.6 Oregon State Fair Golden Ale, Eugene City Brewing, Oregon 27.1 St. Stan's Amber Alt 27 Lorelei, Kessler Brewing (2nd bad tasting, but a separate good report) 26.8 Ruddles Bitter Ale; Rutland Brewery 26.5 Little Kings Cream Ale, Schoenling 26.3 Bronco Beer 26* Tusker Premium Lager, Kenya (skunked bottle, should be tried again) 25.5 Castemain XXXX, Bond Brewing, Australia 23.8 Cold Spring Export, Cold Spring, MN 22.5 Fischer Amber, Brasserie d'Alsace 22.0 Boulder Extra Pale Ale 21.6 Thomas-Brau, Paulaner, Non-alcoholic beer 20.3 OLD Bottle! McNally's Extra Ale, Big Rock Brewing 20.0 OLD Bottle! Lorelei 18.8 Neptune's Famous Green Rooster, Neptun Bryggerietus, Denmark 13.7 Ivanhoe Ale, Saxon Brewing, Chico, CA Surviving the American Dream John R. Mellby Texas Instruments jmellby%ngstl1.ti.com P.O.Box 660246, MS 3645 Dallas Texas, 75266 (214)517-5370 (214)343-7585 **************************************************************** * "Virtually no one's allowed to vote...women, servants, * * chimpanzees (gestures to Baldrick)...even lords." * * * * "That's not true, Lord Nelson's got a vote." * * * * "He's got a boat, Baldrick." * * -- BlackAdder * **************************************************************** Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 08:05:39 PDT From: willa at hpvclwa.hp.com Subject: Boston/Bedford Full-Name: ----- Will Allen ----- Howdy All: I'll be in the Boston area (Bedford to be precise) early next month. Of course, I'm looking for some local brews to rival those available here in the Portland, OR area. Any suggestions? Thanks to those that reply. E-mail is fine. . . .Will Will Allen HP Vancouver Division willa at hpvcfs1.hp.com or ...!hplabs!hpvcfs1!willa Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 08:18:04 PDT From: greene at venice.sedd.trw.com (John Greene) Subject: Hazy keg beer In response to Florian's request on keg beer being hazier than usual. I have found that the beer remains hazy for a longer period of type but will eventually clear up. Back when I was bottling, I would see the hazy clear in 3-4 weeks. With kegs it takes at least 6 weeks to completely clear, sometimes even longer. My last batch of IPA was hazy for over 7 weeks after I put it in the fridge but during the 8th week it turned crystal clear. I had enough extra at kegging time to fill two grolsch bottles. The bottles cleared in three weeks. I usually tap a keg at 4 weeks due to impatience and used to be disappointed with the haze but over the next few weeks it slowly becomes clear. By the time I finish the keg, it's perfect! John E. Greene "People are just like frankfurters....You have to decide if you're going to be a hot dog or just another wiener" DLR TRW Systems Engineering and Development Division INTERNET: greene at venice.sedd.TRW.COM USENET: ..trwrb!venice!greene Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 08:32:27 PDT From: hodges at Tops.Sun.COM (Michelle Hodges) Subject: Brewpubs in Maryland? I'll be visiting Maryland in about six weeks and was hoping someone could recommend some brewpubs in the area. I'll be staying in the Baltimore/Wash, DC area and travelling to Ocean City for a couple days. I'm anxious to see how they brew on the East Coast... Michelle Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 08:33 MST From: GIBSON at rvax.ccit.arizona.edu Subject: Wyeast Swelling Well, I've never had a Wyeast Packet go boom on me before, although I've certainly tempted them often enough. On several occaisions I've put them back into the fridge when they got ready before I did (or I got lazy). More recently I've gone to making starter solutions by adding the Wyeast packet to 1 cup of light dry malt extract boiled (and cooled) in 3 cups or so of water. A wine bottle or empty Newcastle Nut-Brown Ale bottle (or the like) with a fermentation lock worked fine. I've also found that the temperature at which you store the Wyeast packet after breaking the inner pouch does make a BIG difference in the swelling rate. Speaking of starter solutions, I'm a devotee now. I like the idea of putting in more of the "good guys" to beat the few inevitable "bad guys" to my wort. I've also had excellent results when I made a yeast starter from a particularly fine previous batch. Make up the starter as usual and pour in that last bit of beer and yeast sediment that you normally throw out. (And most importantly, drink a toast to the rejuvenating yeasties.) Ken Cornett Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 11:53:44 EDT From: iws at sgfb.ssd.ray.com (Ihor W. Slabicky) Subject: Buffalo Bound I will be visiting the fair City of Buffalo, New York and it's environs in a few weeks. Anyone have any suggestions of what to see/eat/drink there in the way of brewed and/or carbonated beverages: brewpubs, good stores at which to buy beer, interesting sodas to try, breweries to tour, places to eat, visits to Canada, etc... I know where the Beer and Retail is in Fort Erie, Ontario. I know where Frank's Anchor Bar is. I've been to Niagara Falls (Canadian side). Where is that market place with all the good sausage and smoked keilbasa? Oh, I'll be there on a Friday... Thanks, Ihor Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 11:01:22 MDT From: hplms2!mage!lou In HBD #317 Chuck Coronella writes: >So my question is this: Do you substitute dry extract for corn sugar, one >for one on a volume basis, or what? Maybe we screwed something else up? According to Colonel John, use twice as much dry extract as you would corn sugar. I've done this with reasonable results although slightly more than 2:1 might be better. - ------------------------------ and Russ Gelinas writes: > ... >On a different subject, I have a brew that never cleared (a "Pilsner" ale made >with M&F extract, M&F yeast, crystal, and corn sugar...nothing unusual). The >only difference between it and my other brews (all clear) was that I primed >this whole batch with a (boiled) sugar solution, as opposed to putting dry >sugar in each bottle. Of course, it could be an infection of some sort, (it >takes just fine), but I was wondering if the liquid sugar could have something >to do with the haze (that should be it "tastes" just fine...). Anyway I'm >not worried about it, and it's prompted me to improve my (brewing) cleanliness >just in case.... I like to boil almost everything that goes into my beer (I obviously haven't tried dry hopping), this includes the sugar (again obviously, not yeast). Some of my beers are hazy and some aren't so it seems that the method of adding sugar doesn't affect haze. BTW, I have no desire to enter competitions so I don't care if my beer is hazy - I only care about the taste. Louis Clark reply to: mage!lou at ncar.ucar.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 17:15:43 GMT From: aem at mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU (a.e.mossberg) Subject: Re: Druids in the Wuids In digest <1990May15.142814.24447 at mthvax.cs.miami.edu> Martin A. Lodahl <hplabs!pbmoss!mal> writes: >I'm beginning to think this is my PERMANENT .sig file! I've been >told that it's by Pete Seeger, to be sung to the tune of "Ol' Time >Religion". [...] It is indeed one of the verses to "Old Time Religion", and is on the Pete Seeger/Arlo Guthrie album "Precious Friends". aem - -- a.e.mossberg / aem at mthvax.cs.miami.edu / aem at umiami.BITNET / Pahayokee Bioregion [God] is inordinately fond of beetles. - J.B.S. Haldane Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 15:14 EST From: CRF at PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU Subject: Input requested Hi, all! I'm getting increasingly interested in purchasing the book, "Brewing Beer Like Those You Buy." However, I'd like some more info before doing so. Let me explain: due mostly to spatial, as well as other, constraints, I am an all-extract brewer. Furthermore, our local brew supply store doesn't have a really wide variety of supplies. (I'm well-aware that I can get anything by mail-order, but you need to order in quantity for that to be cost-efficient, and I ain't got the space for lots of supplies.) This being the case, I'd really appreciate input from those who already own this book. Should I buy it? Will I be able to get anything out of it? Reply to the address below. Thanks in advance. Yours in Carbonation, Cher "Nothing is foolproof; fools are *so* ingenious!" ============================================================================= Cheryl Feinstein INTERNET: CRF at PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU Univ. of Fla. BITNET: CRF at UFPINE Gainesville, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 13:04:23 PDT From: greg at cemax.com (Greg Wageman) Subject: Re: Help on best Brewpubs and retail outlets around San Jose >Since I want to sample and bring back good beer >could anyone comment on any of the following brewpubs? Which is best, and >where to find local bottled beer (we're going to specially pad a suitcase >just for beer). As to finding bottled beer from the local breweries, the Safeway supermarkets in this area carry a pretty good assortment. You should be able to find products from Dead Cat brewery, Red Tail Ale (brewed, appropriately, in Hopland Ca. by the Mendocino Brewing Co., and a personal favorite), Lighthouse beers and ales (brewed in Santa Cruz), for starters. Liquor Barn *used* to be a good source, but since filing for bankruptcy, their assortment has gone yuppie and their prices skyward. Be glad to comment on the brewpubs I've visited. Opinions are mine, and you're sure to get others... >BP - Brewpub; P - Pub/restaurant; R - retail; ? - other >San Jose: > BP - Winchester Brewing Stay away. Bad food, tasteless beer. Don't waste your time. >Santa Cruz > BP - Front Street Pub Recommended. Good food, good beer. Great way to end a day at the beach! >NW from San Jose >Mountain View > BP - Tied House Recommended. Good food. Beer varies; the Amber's pretty good. >Palo Alto > BP - Gordon Biersch Highly recommended. Actually, this is really a Pub/restaurant. The food is unusual, of gormet quality, and is fantastic and so is the beer. Best I've been to in the area. >N from San Jose >Fremont > BP - Brewpub on the Green "The only brewpub in California on a golfcourse." Decent beer, and a small pub-style food menu (fish-and-chips, burgers, cheese steak, etc.). Though limited, the food is excellent. Their standard beers are good; a few of their special-occasion brews have "achieved greatness". Good luck, and enjoy! Greg Wageman (greg%cemax at sj.ate.slb.com) Cemax, Inc. Santa Clara CA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 14:24 MST From: CORONELLRJDS at CHE.UTAH.EDU Subject: Overcarbonation In response to Keith Winter's complaint that his bottles were over- carbonated: I've had this problem twice, although I've been brewing for a relatively short period of time [just bottled the tenth batch the other day.] My solution, while not very pretty, is effective. One bottle at a time, I gently lift the cap off the bottle, until I hear the characteristic hiss [PHSSSIISSSS?]. Then, as the the foam rises up the neck of the bottle, I quickly recap the bottle. The trick is to get the cap sealed at the right moment. If the overcarbonation is very excessive, you'd want to let more pressure out than otherwise, but before the foam spews out of the bottle. Depending on what kind of capper you have, this may be tricky. My capper is a wrench-like tool that has to be guided carefully onto the cap, and so requires a gentle touch. But I can still get 45 bottles depressurized in about 20 - 30 minutes. There is no real danger of infection, since the pressure inside the bottle is so much greater than ambient pressure, and besides, the beer should already be virtually finished fermenting. [Don't worry, ... ;-)] Happy Fermentations, Chuck Coronella CORONELLRJDS at CHEMICAL.UTAH.EDU Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 14:49:38 MDT From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts) Subject: A little on Lites and Marzens > For those who keg: > > Have you found that haze is greater in kegged beer than in bottles? I seem to > find this the case. > I have found just the opposite. My kegged beer seems to clarify a little faster than the bottled stuff. - --Doug Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 14:54:50 MDT From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts) Subject: Extract for conditioning > I have a question regarding the use of malt extract for conditioning ( > instead of the standard corn sugar.) I've seen in Zymurgy that many of the > award winning recipes seem to be conditioned with either wort or extract > itself, so my brewing partner and I decided to give it a shot in our last > batch, which was an Indian Pale Ale, so we used 3/4 cup dry amber extract > for conditioning. The beer itself tastes fine [no metalic flavor at all, > despite the use of an Aluminium pot ;-)], but it's totally flat. Now I > know that British ales are traditionally somewhat less carbonated than > many other beers, but I was hoping for some carbonation! > > So my question is this: Do you substitute dry extract for corn sugar, one > for one on a volume basis, or what? Maybe we screwed something else up? I've used between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of either dry malt extract or syrup (light, unhopped) for the last 5 years, now., and I've always gotten the desired level of carbonation [low to medium, as suites the beer recipe]. If yours was flat, I'd suspect that something killed the yeast -- temperature, or perhaps residual sterilant in your bottles. - --Doug ================================================================ Douglas Roberts | Los Alamos National Laboratory |I can resist anything Box 1663, MS F-609 | except temptation. Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 | ... (505)667-4569 |Oscar Wilde dzzr at lanl.gov | ================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 15:00:07 MDT From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts) Subject: On Mild Responses > Most refreshing. Just like Bud ... 8-) > Go ahead, express your opinion. Ok. :-{ :-} - --Doug Return to table of contents
Date: 15 May 90 17:27:50 EDT (Tuesday) From: dw <wegeng at arisia.xerox.com> Subject: Re: Druids in the Wuids The song that mentions drinking strange fermented fluids can be found in a song book called "Rise Up Singing," published by Sing Out! magazine. Rather than bore the entire mailing list with the lyrics, please send me e-mail if you would like a copy. /Don wegeng at arisia.xerox.com hplabs!arisia!wegeng Return to table of contents
Date: 15 May 90 10:42:58 PDT (Tue) From: florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com at RELAY.CS.NET Subject: cloudy pilsner In #417, Russ Gelinas sez: >On a different subject, I have a brew that never cleared (a "Pilsner" ale made >with M&F extract, M&F yeast, crystal, and corn sugar...nothing unusual). The >only difference between it and my other brews (all clear) was that I primed >this whole batch with a (boiled) sugar solution, as opposed to putting dry I have had exactly the same thing happen to me when I used crystal malt in pilsner lager. Noting all the other beers that have never cleared, and those which have had a significant chill haze, I have begun to suspect that crystal malt is a significant factor in chill haze. So this could be the critter. In as much as pilsner lager is supposed to be dry, it makes little sense to add crystal malt to the recipe. I did it once as a test, and wouldn't do it again. All my other pilsners have come out "crystal" clear, and they were similar recipes, but without crystal malt. Do you use a cooler to ferment and lager the pilsner at below 48 degrees? I find the best success when fermenting and lagering at 40 degrees in a fridge. But I usually need a period during final fermentation when I increase the temperature to 50 degrees or so to "ferment out." After bottling, I again drop the temperature to 40 degrees. Return to table of contents
Date: 15 May 90 17:49 -0500 From: Mike Charlton <umcharl3 at ccu.umanitoba.ca> Subject: M&F "Lite" Malt Extract and My Mutant Mild Hi all. A friend of mine wanted to make a quick batch of beer and decided to use a beer kit (We normally brew together and do our own mash, but I was busy and he wanted some beer right away...). Since both of us are convinced of the necesity of all-malt beer, he decided to add malt extract instead of sugar to the kit. However, he wanted to preserve the character of the kit beer. So, for an experiment he used the M&F Lite Malt Extract which he hopes will increase the alcohol content of the beer, but keep the body and and colour to the level that it is intended to be at. Most of all there shouldn't be any "cider" flavours. Has anybody tried this as a substitute for sugar? I'll post the results of this experiment when the beer is ready to drink. On another note, somebody was mentioning that they were collecting recipes for commercial look-a-likes. It was completely unintentional, but I have stumbled upon a very easy recipe for something that tastes like Newcastle Brown Ale. Just take a John Bull Bitter kit, add two cans of Canadiana (I think) pale unhopped malt extract and 2 oz. of Fuggles hops. The result is a beer that tastes remarkably like Newcastle Brown except that it has a bit too much body and a bit too much hops (actually, they should be tweaked a bit; the flavour isn't quite right. However, I don't have the experience with hops to suggest what should be done.) Sorry for the vague measurements, but this was basically a totally random batch of beer that I made when I was trying to show someone else how easy beer-making can be. Mike Return to table of contents
Date: 15 May 90 19:33:38 EDT (Tue) From: hplabs!gatech!oldale.pgh.pa.us!ken (Kenneth R. van Wyk) Subject: my two cents on mashing For what it's worth, I thought that I'd toss in my feelings on mashing - perhaps it'll be useful to those who might be considering trying a mash but don't think that they have the {equipment|experience| inclination|whatever}. Though I still consider myself a novice (just started brewing in December, but I've been doing a lot of experimenting), I've been really drawn to the idea of mashing. When first learning about the logistical details and all, I thought that I wouldn't be able to do it without considerable expense. Then, I gradually talked myself into trying things, after thinking out each step of the progress. First, I decided that I'd start with doing a small mash in addition to 2 cans (actually, bags) of extract. I made an India Pale Ale (I'll include the recipe for those who can stomache this long message :-) and mashed an additional 2 lbs of pale malt. Then, I tried a half mash. The half mash is still fermenting, so I can't comment on that, but the IPA was, IMHO, truly wonderful. Certainly the best that I've made so far. I use a 5 gallon stainles steel stockpot that I got for $32.95 at a local Service Merchandise (discount warehouse store) for boiling and I mash in a 2.5 gallon stockpot that cost me about $15 a few years ago. For sparging, I use the "tea bag" method with a sparging bag (so the local supplier calls it - it's actually a filter bag with a coarser bottom than side) and sparge in 2 baths of 170F water. Granted, the extraction efficiency with this type of sparge can't be as good as doing a false-bottom, etc., sparge, but I have no complaints thus far. For the boil, I use about 3.5-4 gallons in the stockpot. Of course, you have to be extra careful for a boilover with this much wort in a 5 gallon pot, but the gas stove helps in turning things off Real Fast if need be. Finally, I made an immersion worth chiller using 10 ft. of copper tubing, a compression fitting, and a couple other odds and ends - all bought at the local Hechinger (mainstream (yuppy) house supply store). The entire chiller cost me about $13 and 10 minutes to make. If there's enough interest, I'll post the details of what I did. I put the stockpot in my basement utility sink with the wort chiller inside, and the sink filled up to about the 2/3 mark on the stockpot. Then, I crank up the chiller, carefully allowing some water to drain from the sink as it gets near the top of the stockpot. Between the chiller and the cold water on the outside of the stockpot, I can cool 4 gallons of boiling wort in about 15-20 minutes easily. (I add some previously boiled and cooled water to the carboy when I pitch the yeastie boys to bring the level up to about 5 gallons.) Sorry to get so long winded. I think that my approach works pretty well - the results have been real tasty. BTW, I found that mashing 5 lbs of malt in my last beer was tremendously *easier* than mashing 2 lbs in my first attempt, because maintaining a constant temperature was (not surprisingly) much easier. For those who have stuck it out so far, here's the recipe for the IPA that I made (which is modified from Papazian's IPA): Pale After Math Ale (I brewed this after an exam...): 6.6 lbs American Classic light extract 1 lb Crystal malt (didn't have the lovibond - and I added this at sparging time) 2 lbs British Pale Malt (mashed via step procedure up to 155F) 3 oz Fuggles leaf hops (1 at 50 minutes, 1 at 30 minutes, 1 at 20 minutes) 1 oz Cascade leaf hops (sprinkled in from 10-0 minutes) 2 tsp gypsum (in mash water, to lower ph) 1/2 tsp Irish moss (added at 10 minutes) 1 pkg M.eV. high temperature British ale yeast Notes: - I used a 1 Qt. starter culture started 2 days before brewing. - For bottling, I used 1/2 cup corn sugar prepared in a coffee maker, with about 1/2 oz. Cascade leaves in the filter and the corn sugar in the pot. Makes a great semi-dry hopping. The aroma on the IPA was, IMHO, perfect! - O.G. was 1.054. - F.G. was 1.018. Again, sorry for being so long winded here. Hope someone gets some use out of all these words... Cheers, Ken van Wyk ken at oldale.pgh.pa.us Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #418, 05/16/90 ************************************* -------
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