HOMEBREW Digest #4666 Sun 05 December 2004


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  RE: CFC, pump, and cavitation; peristaltic pump ("Ronald La Borde")
  Re: non priming pump ("Gary Smith")
  flat hefeweisen, mash buffer, sanitizing chillers ("Dave Burley")
  Re: non priming pump (Kent Fletcher)
  link of the week - vanilla (Bob Devine)
  Pumps, Pumps, and More Pumps - 'Morepumps' ("Ronald La Borde")
  Cultural Identity (Alexandre Enkerli)
  German Heritage and home brewing (Leo Vitt)
  RE: non priming pump (Steven Parfitt)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 21:38:30 -0600 From: "Ronald La Borde" <pivoron at cox.net> Subject: RE: CFC, pump, and cavitation; peristaltic pump >From: pacman at edwardwadsworth.com > >...If I hook my pump to the outlet on >my kettle, turn it on and pump my wort through the CFC, when I get toward the >end, if I let the pump run the kettle dry, I risk running the pump dry, and >cavitating it. How do I prevent this? With a peristaltic pump, one can run it dry, without any liquid flow. This is a big plus in my opinion. One can even use it as an air pump or vacuum pump - take your choice. If you get the right model, you can reverse pump flow direction with a switch. A peristaltic pump is a wonderful addition to your brewing apparatus. The quintessential quality is the fact that you use a length of tubing that is not interrupted by anything. This tubing can be sterilized, sanitized, etc. Nothing is in the path for contamination. I do use a 3/8 inch I.D. tubing because it fits all my equipment (racking cane, flare type quick connects, etc.). You need to look for a pump head for size 18 tubing, which is 3/8 I.D. You can use the pump for beer transfers, wort transfers, etc. You can relegate racking to the scrap heap of history. Before, when I did siphon from the kettle, if I had a clog, it was a major problem requiring re-starting the siphon. With the peristaltic, I can reverse flow and continue transferring. If - that is, I have a stuck flow. This has not happened because the pump can pull a suction, will not choke on an air bubble or whatever. I can even pause the flow and restart at will. The pump has a speed control which can be set for any flow rate you desire. Look for LS (Lab Science) or IP (Industrial Pump) models made for/by Masterflex - yep that's the key word to search for. It's modular design allows you to change the pump head and keep the same drive for many different pump types and tubing sizes. New pumps are expensive, I agree, but on ebay (yes, I am an addict) good bargains can be found. ===== Ronald J. La Borde -- Metairie, LA New Orleans is the suburb of Metairie, LA www.hbd.org/rlaborde Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 02:59:51 -0600 From: "Gary Smith" <Gary at doctorgary.net> Subject: Re: non priming pump Kevin wants to know how to prime his mag drive pump. If the pump is placed in the lowest part in the line, the water will reach that by gravity (unless you have some gooseneck in the path). I never have to worry about priming my magnetics because of this. Check out my RIMS pumps on my web page & you will see how I have them set up. Gary Gary Smith CQ DX de KA1J http://www.doctorgary.net http://www.doctorgary.net/homebrew.html If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. - Mark Twain - Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 08:03:23 -0500 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: flat hefeweisen, mash buffer, sanitizing chillers Brewsters: Steve asked "what happened to the CO2?" in his hefeweisen. Here's my guess if there was no leakage. "Beer gas" is a mixture of nitrogen and CO2 and typically used for long runs from keg to tap ( the longer the run and the smaller the delivery line , the higher the % nitrogen) from the keg to avoid the over saturation with CO2 ( and subsequent foaming - slowing down the serving rate) of normal American beer styles. Hefeweisen normally is highly carbonated. If the Hefeweisen use rate was low and the pressure was lowered ( to prevent foaming, which big houses do not like) , the CO2 came out of the hefeweisen into the gas above the beer in the keg on standing around in an atmosphere in which the CO2 saturation level was less than the applied partial pressure of CO2. I would go back to the bar and adjust the keg pressure, making sure the CO2 partial pressure ( total pressure X the fraction of CO2 in the gas mixture) at the keg was equal to the CO2 pressure you measured in the keg when you delivered it. If delivery is now a problem because the total pressure is too high ( too fast and foamy) , they will just have to lower the % nitrogen by buying a different blend of beer gas or go to the pure CO2, depending on your calculations. - ----------------------- Bill Solomon comments on his experiments with various waters and the phosphate buffer system offered commercially. 1) what happened to the pH of the mash without the bufffer, but with the various waters? Do you have a table of results comparing with and without the added buffer? My own experience is that the mash is highly buffered naturally and self adjusts, but I haven't been to the extreme. Low mineral waters with low roasted malts ( like Plzen's famous lagers ) do not get down to this "magic" British number of 5.2 This pH of 5.2 ( at mash temperature) maximizes the saccharification rate ( which is all <British> commercial brewers care about, since they do one step infusions and aren't concerned with protein and other enzyme steps ) for the British brewing style. This doesn't address other mash and brewng styles, esp the multiple mash levels once of German fame. 2) what temperature are you talking about where the pH = 5.2 with this buffer system? My biggest concern with these buffers ( since calcium phosphate is insoluble - ask your bones) is what happens to the calcium level in the mash when you add phosphate? And the effect that has on beer clarity, since calcium helps improve clarity? Why is any experiment with water pH less than 7 meaningless? Why not use lactic acid to adjust any high mash pH problem? Adding it or generating it ( acid rest) to lower the pH. No problems with calcium solubility problem as with phosphate, (since calcium lactate is soluble - ask your cow). - -------- David Harsh asks for other idea on sanitation of his chiller. I always run boiling water through my chiller after I finish to bring the volume of the wort up to about 5.5 gallons and then turn off the chilling water and drain the chilling water, so the water comes out very hot from the central chiller tube ( the wort delivery tube). This cleans the chiller and sanitizes it for storage. Then next time I use it, I keep the chilling water off until the wort comes out hot out from the wort delivery tube and then turn on the chilling water. You can recyle the first wort out of the chiller (not very much ) back to the boiler to resanitize it. This has worked for me for many years. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 07:52:29 -0800 (PST) From: Kent Fletcher <fletcherhomebrew at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: non priming pump Kevin said: > I bought a non priming magnetic pump for > transfering my sparge water and wort and need > to find a method to prime it. I am thinking > of using a inline priming bulb from a outboard > motor gas tank setup (new of course) [snip] Kevin, first off, forget about the priming bulb. Use gravity to prime the pump. The pump should be mounted as low as possible, at all times, and have a ball valve on the output (discharge). If you are not using the pump for HERMS or RIMS mashing, you will start with the inlet (suction) side of the pump connected to your HLT. All you have to do is open the discharge of the pump and then open the HLT drain valve. Wait for water to flow from the discharge and then close ONLY the pump output. An easy way to eliminate air from the path and prime the pump at the same time is to fill the HLT THROUGH the pump. Connect the pump in the normal configuration (HLT drain to pump suction), then connect your water supply to the pump discharge, open both valves and turn on the water. When filled, remember to turn off the water supply first, then the pump discharge valve, leave the HLT valve open. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 13:57:30 -0700 From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net> Subject: link of the week - vanilla Earlier this week, I wrote a quick survey of the commonly available vanillas for cooking. Rob Moline prompted me to dig deeper on the subject for us homebrewers. Vanilla Porters are increasingly popular from craft brewers. Several craft brewers make one. Vanilla appears in other styles too -- stouts, cream ales, Okay, so how much vanilla to add? In HBD #4458, Matthew Riggs reported that a full vanilla bean in a 1-gallon test batch was overwhelmingly vanilla-y. These recipes used from 1, 4 and 6 beans per 5 gallons. http://www.angelfire.com/pa/beerandweather/van.html http://www.weaselbreweries.com/recipes/surprise.html Two tablespoons: http://www.thebrewpub.com/homebrew/vanilla.html Three tablespoons: http://www.skotrat.com/skotrat/recipes/ale/ales/recipes/46.html Would a vanilla stout use more? This one has one bean: http://www.beermakerforum.com/showthread.php?t=104 And this one has only 1-1/2 teaspoon http://www.skotrat.com/skotrat/recipes/ale/stout/recipes/9.html But a blueberry stout has two beans? http://www.glidemagazine.com/5/columns90.html On the lighter side, this cream ale uses 3 tablespoons http://www.brew-monkey.com/recipes/html/vanilla18.htm Or maybe 1-1/2 pounds ... for somewhat more than 5 gallons http://www.flatbranch.com/beers.asp?68 So, after all that the "right amount" is still unclear. I'd suggest start with a low amount, one bean or one tablespoon. Too much vanilla can be cloying. If you do experiment, let us all know! BTW, a vanilla taste in beers that don't have an added is likely due to the breakdown of barley cell wall material and other phenolic compounds. Getting ready for the "Twelve Beers of Christmas"... Bob Devine Riverton, UT Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 15:18:12 -0600 From: "Ronald La Borde" <pivoron at cox.net> Subject: Pumps, Pumps, and More Pumps - 'Morepumps' - ----I replied to pacman and thought it might be useful to others on the HBD. Ron---- I am concerned about the magnetically coupled pump that you have. Most of this type cannot pull a suction. In fact, it's darn near impossible to get it going unless you first prime it with liquid. I mean, when you want to use it, you may need to first get the pump innards and tubing full of liquid and rid of any air, or it will never stop cavitating. I know because I use this type of pump on my brewing rig. You can see them on my web page URL shown below. What I do when I get ready to brew is to fill up the HLT and mash tun with water, then let gravity fill the pump chambers up. Then I start the pump and run it a bit to get all the air out. I drain out just about all the water from the mash tun, then I am ready to use the rig to brew with. By the way, a little cavitating or dry running is not the curse of the universe, a few seconds is OK, especially after a wet run where the innnards are still wet, lubrication is there. The only thing to avoid is initial dry running before any priming. Also, you cannot get the pump much hotter than 170 degrees or it will melt, unless you have the rare one rated for 212 degrees. That's why the pump should not be located at the kettle output. You really want it at the chiller output where the temp will be cool. If you do have the 212 degree rated pump, that is the best because then you can use it right out the kettle, and can even circulate to sanitize the whole setup. I have learned over the years by making mistakes that it's best to try things out before brew day by testing with just some water. Try the pump, see what happens, then if things surprise you, then at least you have time to make changes without worrying about the brew being half done. Now some have mentioned the pulsing phenomena involving peristaltic pumps. Yes, this is a reality. I wonder myself what effect this will have on moving finished beer. I figure with the receiving keg purged of air and filled with CO2, any pulsing will not matter. It would be a good idea to purge the tubing before filling because some air may be in the tubing. Ron ===== Ronald J. La Borde -- Metairie, LA New Orleans is the suburb of Metairie, LA www.hbd.org/rlaborde Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 18:56:35 -0500 From: Alexandre Enkerli <aenkerli at indiana.edu> Subject: Cultural Identity Thanks to all who responded to my post on German-American brewers. Bear in mind that this was not supposed to be about ethnicity per se but about cultural identity. There's a huge difference but I won't elaborate. Still got some great data on both sets of issues. So thanks! There could be other discussions on other components of a brewer's identity, including gender, primary occupation, native language, etc. But these would probably open other cans of worms... ;-) Thanks again! AleX, French-speaking Canadian-Swiss of Irish/Scottish/Italian origins and of Quebecois cultural identity, lover of Belgian, spiced, and big beers, temporarily living in South Bend, IN [129.7mi, 251.5] Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 17:02:20 -0800 (PST) From: Leo Vitt <leo_vitt at yahoo.com> Subject: German Heritage and home brewing I don't think the fact I have ancestors from Germany enfluenced my decison to homebrew. It did enfluence some of my decisions of styles to make; O'fest pilsner, altbier, kolsch, dunkel, bock, hefe weizen. I have also made stouts, pale ales (more English than American) Belgian Dubble, wit. ===== Leo Vitt Sidney, NE Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 19:29:28 -0800 (PST) From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com> Subject: RE: non priming pump Kevin Jongsma querries about "non priming pump" >Hello all i am a lurker in need of some help. >I bought a non priming magnetic pump for transfering >my sparge water and wort and need to find a method to >prime it. ...snip... >Kevin Just lay out your system so that the wort drains down and fills the pump. Be sure you have a valve that you can open (in my case recirculation to the mash tun) to bleed the air out of the system. Good luck. ===== Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery http://thegimp.8k.com Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] Rennerian "There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks." Wings Whiplash - 1968 Return to table of contents
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