HOMEBREW Digest #611 Fri 05 April 1991

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


Contents:
  water treatment (CONNELL)
  generations of yeast (Chip Hitchcock)
  hallucinogenic Jamaican S ("KATMAN.WNETS385")
  Things to see in Milwaukee (Tom Quinn 4-nnnn)
  Water Conservation (Russ Pencin)
  carbonating kegs (C.R. Saikley)
  Re: Repitching (Marc Rouleau)
  Flaked Maize (C.R. Saikley)
  Soda keg fermentation (hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer)
  Re: Calculating IBU's (hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 08:21 CST From: CONNELL at vax.cord.edu Subject: water treatment My local water system tells me that our water has 80-100ppm of temporary hardness and a pH of around 9.3. How much of a problem should that be in brewing lighter, more delicate beers? I've tried to deal with the problem by mixing tap water with distilled at about a 50-50 ratio. I still get an excessively high pH in my mash. Any comments? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 11:37:26 EST From: cjh at vallance.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock) Subject: generations of yeast pbmoss!malodah at decwrl.dec.com writes: > Commercial yeast production is > conducted in aerated media to maximize the reproduction rate, and > naturally, the effect of this is to give a significant "edge" to the > yeast that can most effectively reproduce in an aerobic environment. ... > respiratory-deficient strain, called "petit" by Pasteur. These will > not be at the same disadvantage in a culture that is repeatedly > repitched and therefore spends most of its life in an anaerobic > environment, and over time will become a larger fraction of the > total population. This doesn't seem to make sense biologically. I can see that repitching might not select for respiration \as/ \much/ \as/ true aerobic reculturing. However, the respiratory phase is where most reproduction happens; this would suggest that if you pitch a packet/starter/culture/slurry with a certain R/r ratio (where R is normal and r is respiratory-deficient), the slurry at the end of fermentation would have a higher R/r ratio unless so much yeast was pitched that there was no respiratory phase. The amount of time in the anaerobic phase shouldn't matter, since very little reproduction happens then (natural selection only works if the survivors reproduce). Even if r were more attenuative, that should simply mean that R would go dormant first---you might get different ratios in different layers but most of the recommendations seem to start with stirring up all the sediment and saving some of the resulting slurry. As a tangent to this, I'd note the opinion/experience of several Wort Processors that single-cell cultures tend not to be as attenuative as their sources until they've gone through a couple of repitchings---suggesting a positive correlation between respiration and attenuation? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 12:10:45 -0500 From: lee at raj2.tn.cornell.edu (Hasung Lee) I have been a sourdough bread maker for seven years now. Recently my husband Joe returned from duty at NATO in Brussels where he acquired a taste for Belgian Lambics. He recently took up homebrewing to reproduce the taste he couldn't find in America. Initially he tried using different yeasts, however, he was unable to achieve that authentic Lambic "bite". Last month a friend from Belgium visited and brought some Chimay beer. Joe cultured the yeast from this bottle and made what was his best Lambic effort to date. BUT he was still not satisfied with the results. On the advice of our local brew supplier, who explained the open fermentation vats found in Belgium, Joe decided to recreate in our house the atmosphere found in Belgium. To do this he took the sediment from a Lambic batch, thinned it with water, put it in a windex bottle, and sprayed it all around our kitchen. After a few days for incubation in the kitchen Joe brewed another Lambic which he let cool overnight in an open bucket. The resulting beer was exquisite. Unfortunately, my subsequent efforts at baking sourdough bread have proved disastrous. I no longer can make anything that tastes remotely like the award winning bread I used to bake. This has put a tremedous strain on our marriage as a result. While my husband Joe is ecstatic about his authentic Lambic, I have lost my impetus for pursuing what was once a most rewarding hobby. I mean if he can have his hobby, why can't I have mine. Does anyone have any suggestions, short of divorce, so that we can return to our normal lifestyle? Perhaps there is a way we can change the atmosphere in the kitchen periodically? Please respond if anyone has any clues as to what we can do. Fretfully yours. Sara Postings or personal responses would be appreciated. Internet-lee at raj2.tn.cornell.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 17:20 GMT From: "KATMAN.WNETS385" <6790753%356_WEST_58TH_5TH_FL%NEW_YORK_NY%WNET_6790753 at mcimail.com> Subject: hallucinogenic Jamaican S Date: 04-Apr-91 Time: 10:43 AM Msg: EXT00807 How do! J. Muller asked in Homebrew digest from April 4 about Jamaican Stout and N2O. I don't know about the N2O but if the beer was brought into the country illegally it might have had ganja as an ingredient. I doubt that US Customs would let anyone bring it in legally as ganja (marijuana) is a controlled substance. On many of the caribbean islands they make something called "bush tea" which is tea from the leaves of indigenous plants or bushes. Often it is made from ganja. I would guess that putting it beer would give something to go along with your Alice B. Toklas brownies. Lee Katman == Thirteen/WNET == New York, NY =Do not= use REPLY or ANSWERBACK, it doesn't get to me. INTERNET katman.wnets385%wnet_6790753 at mcimail.com ****POS DUPE**** Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 12:13:37 -0600 From: lhoff at acc.stolaf.edu Well gang, I have now brewed my first three batches. All are seemingly healthy and at least one is very tasty (the other two are too young to tell as of yet). If I may make a suggestion which could conceivably save water, time, and risk of infection: For my second and third batches I purchased the water from a bottled water company in Minneapolis (Glenwood Inglewood). It comes in glass 5 gallon carboys for only $10.55 (deposit for the carboy is $6) and has three advantages as far as I can see. 1) good water 2) sanitary as all heck 3) cheap carboy The way we used it was to pour some of the bottled water into the brewkettle and brew with it with the rest sitting in the carboy (covered for sanitation) in a cool place. As you can see, there is no rinsing of the fermenter to get rid of chlorine and when the batch is finished, simply return the carboy to the bottled water company for a refill (for $4.55). This way you will always have good water (use spring water) and a clean fermenter. Also, there is no problem with keeping the carboys if you wish. I should also make it clear that you receive a new carboy every time, just like beer returnables. It really seemed to work well for me and I think I'll do it all the time from now on. If anyone has any questions, just e-mail me. Lanny Hoff lhoff at stolaf.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 12:21:37 -0600 From: lhoff at acc.stolaf.edu Fellow NetBrewers, I am seeking any and all recipes that I can find. If any of you have a computer file of recipes or anything like that, please e-mail them to: lhoff at stolaf.edu I would be eternally grateful. Thanks much, Lanny Hoff Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 12:48:35 CST From: quinnt at turing.med.ge.com (Tom Quinn 4-nnnn) Subject: Things to see in Milwaukee Well, I hardly consider myself an expert on area brewpubs and the like, but since there hasn't been much response to the queries about Milwaukee, I'll give it a shot. If you visit on a weekend, you owe it to yourself to try to get to the Sprecher Brewing Company. They are a small microbrewery just south of downtown. Their 'tour' consists of a visit to their brewing room, a discussion of their processes, and of course unlimited sampling of their brews (at least until the next group comes through). Their beers are excellent - be sure especially to try their Special Amber, the Milwaukee Weiss, and (yes!) their Root Beer. Call (414) 272-BEER to get the tour times. Their address is 730 West Oregon Street. To find it, head south on Water street from Wisconsin Avenue downtown. After approx. 1.5 miles look for Oregon Street. Turn right and drive west to 730 West - you'll see signs. The brewery is tucked back behind some other buildings. If you are unable to make it to the brewery, many of Milwaukee's restaurants now have some of their brews on tap. Try Saz's on west State Street (just a few blocks west of the Miller Brewery). Fun place, good ribs, and many good brews on tap. Though other friends of mine disagree, my advice is to avoid the Water Stree Brewery, a restaurant on north Water street. I have never enjoyed any of their beers - I'm still convinced they were serving a bad batch of stout on St. Patrick's Day, figuring that no one could tell the difference. Yech. There's a newer microbrewery in town called the Lakefront Brewery. I've never been there, but I've heard good things about their beers and their tours, which are on Saturdays at 1:30 and 2:30. They're at 818-A East Chambers, phone is 372-8800. If you have ever ordered brewing supplies from Mark May at The Basement Brewmaster, look him up at the Lakefront, which I guess is his day job. Another favorite pub is Zur Krone, an old German tavern at 839 south 2nd street. If you only have a short time to visit, and you want to experience a true Milwaukee beer hall, this is a good choice. Not the place to go for ferns, food, or elegant atmosphere. They have a huge selection of bottled and tap beers. And of course there are the the huge lawnmower beer factories in town. Miller and Pabst run tours throughout the week (see how to make Genuine Draft Light!). They can be fun just to see the sheer size of their operations, and learn a lot of brewing history. A great Saturday can be had by hitting a mid-afternoon Miller tour, then sit and listen to the live music in their outdoor beer garden before wandering over to County Stadium to catch a Brewers' game. Makes drinking the beer worthwhile. So here at least is a weekend's worth of beer-related tourism. I'd love to hear about any other favorite haunts of the locals, since I'm still relatively new to the area. Tom =========================================================================== Tom Quinn || Consultant at || uucp: {uunet!crdgw1|sun!sunbrew}!gemed!quinnt G.E. Medical Systems || internet: quinnt at gemed.ge.com Milwaukee, WI 53201-414 || =========================================================================== Return to table of contents
Date: 4 April 1991 11:27:18 am From: pencin at parcplace.com (Russ Pencin) Subject: Water Conservation I don't post often to this discussion, but really enjoy the topics. After reading all of the Water discussions, I realized that I might actually be doing something right and semi-unique. I am an all grain brewer, currently brewing six gallon batches of wort. The largest water saving area, IMHO, is the cooling phase. I saw a design for an immersion chiller at the Oakland Beer Conference that really seemed to make sense. The design has two verticle 1/2 inch copper tubes that are 12 inches tall, capped at the bottom and fitted with a 3/8 inch tubbing orface at the top of each. The tubes are connected by six 30 inch single coils of 3/8 inch copper tubing silver soldered at 1 inch increments. Cold water enters the top of one verticle and equally distributes itself through the six short coils and exits thru the top of the other verticle pipe, thus increasing the effective cooling surface area many many times over the standard single coil type. Having built this cooler, I found myself with about 20 feet of tubing left over. So, I made a flat coil that will sit in the bottom of a small dutch oven that I have. The night before I brew I place the flat coil in the dutch oven, fill the dutch oven about half full of water, and put it in the freezer. When I get ready to cool the wort, I run the kitchen tap water thru the frozen flat coil into the vertical immersion chiller and out to a 7 gallon carboy. It takes 28 minutes, and between 5-6 gallons to chill the 6 gallon batch to 70 degrees. This is mainly accomplished by constantly monitoring the output temperture ( by feel ) adjusting the kitchen tap to keep the output just slightly warm. The carboy water is then used to wash a load of clothes, which includes the towels and stuff from brewing. Well, that's the way I do it. Hope it helps someone else.. Russ Better Brewing Bureau Bulletin Board (415)-964-4356 (3/12/2400 baud - 24 hours) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 11:35:07 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: carbonating kegs Full-Name: Dan Needam writes: I recently kegged up a batch of wheat beer in my new draft system. I followed a chart of CO2 PSI vs. Temp for different volumes of CO2 for different styles of beer. At 42 degrees F. I used 17.5 PSI to (hopefully) yield about 2.9 Volumes of CO2 in the beer. I rocked the keg around for a few minutes while the CO2 was being applied through the down-tube via a beverage fitting. Four days later when I tapped the keg it was nearly flat! Dan does this mean that the CO2 was applied for only a few minutes ? If so, there's your problem. Put the CO2 into the gas valve and leave it there. I've never investigated the minimum time required to carbonate, but I've applied gas on Thursday and had fizzy beer on Friday. Hope this helps CR Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1991 16:32:30 EST From: Marc Rouleau <mer6g at fuggles.acc.Virginia.EDU> Subject: Re: Repitching Many thanks to those of you who have participated in this discussion of yeast reuse. I have concluded that pouring fresh cool wort on the dregs of a just-bottled batch is well worth a try. I have a few more questions. I'm brewing on Saturday, and there won't be another HBD before then, so could you cc: your response to me at marc at Virginia.EDU? According to Martin Lodahl, over time I will breed a respiratory- deficient strain of yeast due to the fact that my population spends most of its time in an anaerobic state. This seems intuitively sensible to me. Please correct me if I have this wrong, but my impression is that the aerobic phase is mainly useful in order to get the yeast to multiply. In fact, it's really something of a necessary evil, since the yeast produce various unpleasant odors and flavors during this phase. Once in an anaerobic state they absorb the off flavors from the aerobic phase and start making good beer. So from this I conclude that as long as the pitching rate is very high (as it would be if I use all the yeast from the previous fermentation), I should minimize aeration of the cool wort. Is this the case? Also, is there any reason to care if my yeast are respiratory-deficient as long as I have a whole bunch of them? Perhaps it's actually desirable that they be adapted to anaerobic activity? What are the long-term (a year or more) effects on a yeast population of protection from oxygen? -- Marc Rouleau Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 13:54:56 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: Flaked Maize Dan Strahs writes: I've been drinking my first batch of beer. It's a bit thin and the head doesn't last long, though it is well carbonated. I think I can solve this problem by adding flaked maize to the original recipe. Is this correct? I wouldn't recommend adding flaked maize to a brew at all unless you are willing to mash. Maize has lots of starches, but no enzymes to convert the unfermentable starches to fermentable sugars. You don't want these starches in your beer. Many commercial breweries add corn to their brews, but not for its body building properties. They add it because it's cheaper than barley, and it imparts less color, flavor and body. The inclusion of corn in the mash allow them to produce a beer that caters to the average American palate. (i.e. thin and watery!) You'll probably get more satisfying results by adding crystal malt or carapils. One or two pounds can easily be added to a five gallon extract batch. It is best to avoid boiling the grains, as this can result in extraction of undesirable tannins from the husks. One way around this is to simply place the grains in your brew water before heating. Then as you are bringing the water to a boil, remove the grains when the temperature reaches 165-170. This should allow you to get most of the sugars, dextrins, etc. from the grains and leave most of the nasties behind. Happy Brewing CR Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 21:42:57 mst From: hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer Subject: Soda keg fermentation I wrote the article about soda keg fermentation that is in the 1988 special issue of Zymurgy. My method requires acquiring some extra keg parts. 1 two connector bodies, remove the valves. 2 one gas side dip tube. 3 one liquid side dip tube, cut to half length. To ferment more than one beer at a time you need more valveless connector bodies and gas side dip tubes. You can get the extra parts from Foxx or those that sell used kegs have parts from kegs that would not seal. For the blow off stage of fermentation, fit the keg with the two valveless connector bodies each with a gas side tube. Attach a blow off hose to each connector body, secure with a hose clamp, and place free ends in water. The blow off hoses fit tight over the outside of the connector body. Using two blowoff hoses is in case of cloging in one hose, this may be over kill. If you were to use one blowoff tube, then the other connector body (with valve) could get clogged up from the blowoff. After blow off is done, replace one valveless connector body with a normal connector body. Place a fermentation lock on the other valveless connector body. A short hose for the connector body and one for the fermentation lock and a reducer are required for this. The half length liquid tube is used to take hydrometer readings. This avoids any reading problems from trub or yeast at the bottom. For racking I use a normal length liquid tube. The first cup or so will have sediment so I discard this. I stop racking when the sediment at the end is in the tube (clear plastic). I use two sets of hoses and fittings for this. This is all done with Firestone pin lock 5 gallon kegs. My fermentation kegs do not have over pressure valves, making one less thing to clean and sanitize around, hence the dual blow off hoses. Jim Homer att!drutx!homer Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 21:43:22 mst From: hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer Subject: Re: Calculating IBU's Byron Burch gave me the following values for hop utilization: Minutes Boiling > 45 28-30% 15 to 45 8-12% < 15 5% There is an acid reaction at 45 minutes boiling time, that causes the non-linerity of the utilization. He uses hop additions at 60, 30, 15 minutes boiling time. Also note that cool down time will affect utilization. If you change batch volume, but do not change wort chiller, you will get higher bitterness. There is also a factor for those of us who boil a partial batch and top up with water, also those brewing beer higher than 1.050. GA = (GB - 0.5)/0.2 if GB > 1.050 GA = 0 otherwise GA gravity adjustment GB gravity of boiling wort The formula for IBU is divided by 1 + GA This is from the 1990 special issue of Zymurgy. Remember your mileage (utilization) may vary. Jim Homer att!drutx!homer Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #611, 04/05/91 ************************************* -------
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