HOMEBREW Digest #907 Mon 22 June 1992

Digest #906 Digest #908


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


Contents:
  Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps (Barry Cunningham)
  Midwest beer and a request ("Dr. John")
  liquid yeast (Michael Gildner)
  Wort Chillers and Kegs (KIERAN O'CONNOR)
  English Bitter styles (G.A.Cooper)
  Beer Barrels (Phil Bacon)
  Samuel Adams Wheat Brew (Rob Winters)
  Spruce Essence, etc . . . (sami)
  home brew list (BORNSTEIN)
  Beer Styles (George Fix) (George J Fix)
  Re: Reading SG from wort after it's in the Carboy? (reid)
  Re: Specific gravity readings (Dances with Workstations)
  Michael Jackson's 4 star beers (Bob Devine  19-Jun-1992 1054)
  English Bitter, etc. (stevie)
  yeast starter karausen (Bryan Gros)
  Cherries lost in the snow (korz)
  Beer Snobs (Jack Schmidling)
  Beginner ("Sheheryar Hasnain")
  Air filters (BOB JONES)
  Fruit beers info compilation (lee_menegoni)
  Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) over trub (Josh Grosse)
  Recipe request: Fuller's "London Pride" (James Paschetto)
  AHA transcripts (Jeff Frane)
  BBC vs BBC lawsuit (chuck)
  Southside Steam Beer (Nick Cuccia)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 08:11:42 EDT From: bwc at icd.ab.com (Barry Cunningham) Subject: Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps In Homebrew Digest #906 (June 19, 1992) Bryan Olson (bryan at tekgen.bv.tek.com) asks: > Anyone have any phone numbers or addresses for somewhere that sells > the .1 or .2 micron air filters mentioned in the last couple of digests? > I.e. ones that can be attached to aquarium pumps. Since a couple of people have written me asking the very same question, I thought I ought to post the answer. The 0.2 micron filters can be obtained from Alberta Rager, of course, at Bacchus & Barleycorn, Ltd. 8725Z Johnson Drive Merriam, KS 66202 (913) 262-4243 I got the impression from Alberta at her talk that one would have a lot of trouble finding these otherwise. | Barry Cunningham bwc at icd.ab.com | | Allen-Bradley Company, Inc. or ICCGCC::CUNNINGHAMB | | 747 Alpha Drive or BWCUNNIN at MRGSD at REMNET | | Highland Hts., OH 44143 phone: (216) 646-5241 FAX: (216) 646-4484 | Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 08:19:40 EDT From: "Dr. John" <JELJ at CORNELLA.cit.cornell.edu> Subject: Midwest beer and a request Greetings all, After reading the various reports on the AHA conference, I'm sorry (mostly) that I was unable to attend this year. Lest the wrong impression, that hops are unknown in the midwest, be left with too many digest subscribers, let me suggest that all you hopheads seek out, drink, and savor both the August Schell Pilsner, and the Capital Special. Unless the recipes have been radically altered of late, I think you will find that both of these fine MIDWESTERN lagers feature an adequate hop character. A noted British beer expert has commented that Capital brews ". . . a Pilsener called Special **->*** that has lots of hop taste . . ." A couple pages later, this same expert notes that Schell's "products include a good, hoppy Pils*** . . ." I'm sure that there are other hoppy beers brewed in the midwest, these just happen to be two of my favorites, and two which should give the lie to the notion that midwest micro-brewed lagers are generally lacking in hop character. On another note, I'll be travelling to Baltimore in early August for the American Agricultural Economics Association's annual meeting. So far, I've uncovered a few possibilities for nighttime relaxation and recovery from the days' presentations of esoteric research papers: Baltimore Brewing Company, Sissons/South Baltimore Brewing, and perhaps Bertha's Mussels (reputedly serving a cask-conditioned Oxford Ale from British Brewing Company on the weekends). I welcome private e-mail evaluations of all, or any, of these, suggestions for other possibilities for an enjoyable evening's beer drinking, and information on good retail beer outlets. Ooogy wawa, Dr. John Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 07:42:35 EDT From: mmlai!lucy!gildner at uunet.UU.NET (Michael Gildner) Subject: liquid yeast Hello Brewers, I was at my local homebrew supply store last night and the proprietor said that a new brand of liquid yeast is coming later this summer. Does anyone have more details on this rumor? I've decided to make a batch a Charlie P.'s Rocky Raccoon Lager. However, I not setup for lagers so I'll be brewing R.R. Ale. Does anyone have any comments on what I should expect? Extra: I toured the Frankenmuth Brewery in Frankenmuth, Michigan last weekend. The tour consisted of a short video, looking through small windows and tasting samples. What can you expect for $1.50 ? Their Old Detroit Amber Ale and Pilsner were terrific. My next stop was a school reunion where the only beer to drink was Blatz. What a let down. Mike Gildner "Brew like Mike" Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 09:00 EDT From: KIERAN O'CONNOR <OCONNOR%SNYCORVA.bitnet at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> Subject: Wort Chillers and Kegs Regarding wort chillers. I'm a high school teacher and I paid (with Brew) our district plumber to make mine. I bought 50 feet of copper tubing at 37$. I also bought all the fittings as decribed in Tuesday's HBD. Two thoughts: 1) Becuase I have more tubing, mine cools a lot faster. I can get wort from 212 to 50 degrees in 18 minutes. Thats a little faster than what I have read. 2) I have these quick connect garden hose connections (bought from my friend Dwight's suggestion). You hook then to the hoses and to the chiller. Then you dont have to worry about twisting the hoses to connect them to the chiller and to the faucet. I would get the brass ones, they are more expensive, but i would figure more durable too. 3) You might think aobut a cvounter flow chiller. It is better in that you chill parts of the wort to 50 degrees or whatever, and the rest of the mass is at 200 degrees, prenting infections. However you have to deal with filters, and sterilization etc. On Kegs: 1) Go to a restaurant and see if they will sell them to you for a meager price. Dwight went to a local joint and they would be happy to part w/em for 10$/keg. You may be able to do better/worse, but its cheaper than new ones. Kieran O'Connor oconnor at snycorva.bitnet Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 15:01:00 +0100 From: G.A.Cooper at qmw.ac.uk Subject: English Bitter styles Hi I had just joined this list and spotted: > I'd like some info on the English bitter ale style. What characteristics > define an English bitter? Eric Pepke replies well, and observes "Bitter" is a continuum not a point. I offer the following definitions for your thoughts. It is true that precise beer style definitions are not normally produced, but the homebrewers over here do just that. The National Guild of Wine and Beer Judges (NGWBJ) is the organisation to which 'certified' amateur judges belong and they publish, for the guidance of judges and competitors, a small book which includes the these definitions: Light Ale. The term 'light' refers to the flavour and not colour, so with an OG of 30-35 and alcohol level of 3-3.5%, the colour may vary from straw to amber. The beer should have a bouquet light in hop. The taste should be clean, dry and lightly hopped with no flavour components too prominent. Pale Ale or Bottled Bitter. OG should be from 40-45 and the colour from golden to deep copper. The aroma of hops in the bouquet should lead to those of malt and grain. The flavour should be full, malty and grainy with a hoppy bitter farewell and perhaps a little sweetness from residual dextrins. Alcohol content ranges from 4-5%. India Pale Ale. This full bodied premium bitter has an OG of 50-60, and a rich golden to deep copper colour. The bouquet should be hoppy, alcoholic and grainy. The flavour should be full, malty and grainy with a prominent hop and a clean bitter farewell. There should be a little residual sweetness to balance the hop. Alcohol content is from 5-6.5%. These are, therefore, the definitions to which the amateurs work, but they do not always translate directly into the commercial arena. For example, most pubs would regard 'light ale' and 'pale ale' as synonymous. Also, historically IPA was the premium bitter as we describe it above, but it is now often the name given to the 'ordinary' bitter in a pub. > One more thing: do not use Cascade hops under any circumstances. > Use Northern Brewer or something like that. I personally don't use Northern Brewer as it can be a little aggressive on the palate. As others have observed, it is difficult to beat Fuggle or Golding on the nose of a good bitter. Geoff Cooper - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Geoff Cooper Phone: +44 (0)71 975 5178 Computing Services Fax: +44 (0)71 975 5500 QMW e-mail: G.A.Cooper at uk.ac.qmw Mile End Road London E1 4NS Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 15:04:00 BST From: pbacon at CVEDG.Prime.COM (Phil Bacon) Subject: Beer Barrels I am a plastics brewer(imperial measures), Glass would be nice but so easy to loose 5 gall of sticky mess all over my kitchen floor more than enough to run all over the living room carpet. I use a 6 gall plastic pail for primary, For secondary i have the option of using polypins(3). These are very handy plastic containers that hold about 36pints(when full) they are a cube with a tap, replace tap with airlock one secondary fermenter. They have a cardboard container which is stiff enough to carry around so they are easy to move. They compress so out goes all the air before the tap/lock goes on. NOTE : They are not PRESSURE vessels so LOW pressure only. The source for these is my local brewery they sell beer in them(#40ish). Second hand empty about #2 ($3.60) I also use them for dispencing my dry still ciders. When the need arises i use them for taking larger quantities to parties "brite"(sp). I have 3 barrels a roto-keg,edme and Boots(edme i think). They all have CO2 injector system and pressure release valves. The key to stopping leaks is to set the spring loaded valve correctly(if it leaks loosen next time). Use without pressure release valve = leak My process is rack into barrel prime close lid and wait, after 2 weeks check condition when ready drink. when priming sugar all used up add a little CO2 out comes some more beer when finished clean sanitize start again. (can often get away with no added gas). The nice thing about the barrels is they have a float so you can use the clear beer at the top and follow it down to the base of the keg. Use without the float takes a little longer to clear but gives the beer more time to condition but will require more gas as the contents is used. I have had beer in the kegs for upto 6 months without any ill effects. COST NEW about #20 for the boots keg. If anyone is realy interested i can get prices for others and accesories but there must be someone in the UK that reads this digest that knows. Second hand #5-#10 depends if the seller knows how much a new one is. I bought my roto-keg for #15(new) the others i got from the growing number of EX homebrewers - MARRAGE + HOMEBREW = MORE Kit for me(i love weddings). I have a co-worker who works in MA. will take any plastic kegs that are taking up the valuable space in your garage ;-) ------------------------- |Phil Bacon | |pbacon at cvedg.prime.com | |44-494-474477 Work | |44-296-415546 Brewery | ------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 10:30:20 -0500 From: rwinters at nhqvax.hq.nasa.gov (Rob Winters) Subject: Samuel Adams Wheat Brew I found _Samuel_Adams_"Wheat_Brew"_ in my local liquor store the other day. Is this new stuff? Has anyone else seen or tried it? I've never tried wheat beer before, so I'm interested how this stuff compares to other wheat beers. Very odd stuff, and very complex. Quite sweet at first, then sort of spicey, then a fairly strong hop finish. It has a taste in there at some point that reminds me of some other food, but I can't quite nail it down. Ripe cantelope? No. Mulled cider? No. I guess I'll just have to keep drinking until I figure it out ;-) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 10:33:52 -0400 From: team login(bmn) <team at sl2arc.ho.att.com> Next week I will be traveling to Santa Fe New Mexico. Does anyone have any recommendations for brewpubs in the area? Thanks in advance! John Costelloe att!homxc!jrcost Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 08:07:48 -0800 From: sami at scic.intel.com Subject: Spruce Essence, etc . . . Chris asked about timing of spruce essence. We made a batch of Papazian's Spruce Ale last February, having read what a treat it was supposed to be. The airhead that I am, I walked out of the brewing store and left the spruce essence on the counter and didn't notice 'til we were ready to add it. I called the guys at the store and they said not to worry, pick the stuff up the next day and just add it during the primary. MISTAKE!!!!! When we opened the first bottle four weeks later, the familiar aroma of Pine Sol floated through the apartment. This batch has mellowed somewhat since then. I tried it two days ago and it still has a strong spruce flavor. Maybe it will mellow with the years . . . Next time I'll try it like you did. Sam Israelit Engineer, Businessman, . . . Brewer Portland, OR Return to table of contents
Date: 19 Jun 92 11:21:49 UT From: BORNSTEIN at ENS.Prime.COM Subject: home brew list Please add me to the mailing list. bornstein at ens.prime.com Thank you. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 10:07:08 CDT From: gjfix at utamat (George J Fix) Subject: Beer Styles (George Fix) After a week in Milwaukee it appears many have tired of malty/sulfury lagers. Jay, I think the use of Pabst with its elevated DMS levels did not get things started off on the right foot! I bet, however, after a week in Portland some will tire of the floral Cascade West Coast taste. For the record, I greatly admire good beers in both styles. Right now, I crave the original, namely cask conditioned English ales. Someone point the way to Burton! Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 12:14:05 EDT From: reid at kali.mit.edu Subject: Re: Reading SG from wort after it's in the Carboy? Kent Dalton <kentd at bach.ftcollinsco.NCR.COM> writes: >So, does anyone have any sure fire methods for measuring SG when >brewing malt extract recipes with glass? I want to minimize the risk >of ruining a batch since that's why went to the trouble of >switching, but I still want to know when I can bottle and how >much alcohol my beers contain .... Well, we've got a method, but I'm not sure it qualifies at "sure-fire." We use a glass turkey baster to pull out enough beer to fill a test-tube, which just fits the hydrometer. The baster has a rubber squeeze bulb which can be disconnected from the glass tube for easy sterilization. Most basters these days have plastic bodies (probably for safety reasons) but you could sanitize them if you make sure the bulb separates. I got mine at a garage sale (for 25 cents!) but it is vintage 1950's. Make sure you squeeze the bulb before you stick the end into the carboy to avoid forcefully blowing nasties into the headspace. Of course, after all these precautions, sometimes the master brewer then tosses the contents of the test-tube back into the carboy (heresy, I know, but never a contaminated batch...). Oh, and another thing -- make sure the extract/water is really well mixed up before taking readings. Hope this helps... Lynn B. Reid Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory for Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 Internet/Bitnet: lbreid at athena.mit.edu UUCP: mit-eddie!mit-athena!lbreid Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 12:42:36 EDT From: Dances with Workstations <buchman at marva1.ENET.dec.com> Subject: Re: Specific gravity readings Ken Dalton writes: > I've tried using the blow off to read my OG but I'm convinced the > stuff that's blown off is not representative of the whole batch. So am I. Don't trust SG readings based on blowoff. > So, does anyone have any sure fire methods for measuring SG when > brewing malt extract recipes with glass? Why is it any more difficult to take SG readings in a glass carboy? Did you formerly put the guage straight into the wort, and now can't do that because of the narrow opening on a glass carboy? We take readings by sanitizing our siphon tube and siphoning out enough wort to fill a 100ml graduated cylinder, into which one of those SG guages fits very neatly. We don't even have to formally start the siphon, because one tube's worth fills the cylinder enough to take a reading (don't need to fill it all the way, since the guage itself displaces some). Any tall, thin container should work. Other ideas: - Avoid taking SG readings without reason, since it is just another opportunity for infection. We only take SG readings at pitching time, whenever we transfer to secondary or bottle, or if we suspect something is wrong. - Go ahead and drop the SG guage into the carboy anyway! In this, the glass carboy is better than the plastic because you can monitor the SG throughout the ferment without opening the carboy again! The only problem is getting it out again, but a) you can wait until after bottling, at which time the carboy will be empty; or b) we have had good luck fishing it with a bottling wand. As your guage bobs proudly in five gallons of fermented beer, push the wand over the tip of the guage, tilt sideways, and gently pull the guage out. Enjoy, Jim Buchman buchman at marva1.enet.dec.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 10:08:16 PDT From: Bob Devine 19-Jun-1992 1054 <devine at cookie.enet.dec.com> Subject: Michael Jackson's 4 star beers The Associated Press carried an article on Michael Jackson's "Pocket Guide to Beer" during the week of the Milwaukee conference. Rather than type the whole thing in, here are the 32 beers given a 4 star rating. Belgium Duvel Liefmans Goudenband Rodenback Grand Cru Westmalle Tripel Westvleteren Tripel (St Sixtus monastery) Cantillion Rose de Gambrinus Framboise Hoegaarden (De Kluis brewery) Chimay Blue Orval Saison Duppont Czechoslovakia Pilsner Urquell England Brakspear Bitter Fuller's ESB Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout Worthington's White Shield Ale Marston's Pedigree Courage's Imperial Russian Stout Thomas Hardy's Ale (Pope brewery) Germany Jever Pilsner (Bavaria St. Pauli brewery) Export from Dortmunder Kronen Zum Uerige Augustiner Hell Hofbrauhaus Maibock Paulaner Salvator Schneider Aventinus Spaten Ur-Marzen Kloster Schwarz-Bier (Kulmbacher Monchshof) Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Schultheiss Berliner Weisse Ireland Guinness Extra Stout Scotland Traquair House Ale Switzerland Samichlaus United States Anchor Steam beer Bob Devine Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 12:09:50 CDT From: stevie at spss.com Subject: English Bitter, etc. Allan Wright and Eric Pepke justifiably recommend a visit to the Commonwealth Brewery in Boston. The Burton Bitter is a mandatory pint for any beer-loving visitor to Beantown. Alas, many HBD'ers don't make it East very often. Luckily, there's a Midwest alternative -- the Bishop's Bitter at the Sherlock's Home (yeah, yeah, it's a dumb name) brewpub in suburban Minneapolis, MN (in Minnetonka). It's the best (to my taste, at least) of their four standard fined and hand-pumped beers (the others are a Scottish Ale, a porter, and a stout). You'd be hard-pressed to find a more authentic British pint served in the U.S. And yes, it even has enough hops to satisfy a Portland homebrewer! Finally, I'd also like to say how much fun it was to match the faces up with the net addresses at the AHA conference. Hell, even in those cases where we had actually met before, our network connection added a new element for lively discussions and great laughs. Hard to believe, but Jack and his Arf Generic are no longer "Chicago's Own" -- it's about time we shared him with the world... And for those of you who did NOT mistake me for Jeff Mendel, a hearty thank you. - ------ Steve Hamburg Internet: stevie at spss.com SPSS Inc. Phone: 312/329-3445 Chicago, IL Fax: 312/329-3657 Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 10:29:39 PDT From: bgros at sensitivity.berkeley.edu (Bryan Gros) Subject: yeast starter karausen In answer to questions from a few days ago, the way I tell when to pitch from my yeast starter is by looking for bubbles. There is usually only a very small layer of bubbles on the surface, but if you look close at the "beer", you'll see a lot of bubbles rising through the beer to the surface. Then you know the yeast is very active. Of course if you use a dark bottle, then it will be harder to tell. Maybe hold it up to a window. - Bryan Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 12:35 CDT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: Cherries lost in the snow Regarding the article on fruit in the latest Zymurgy, which suggests 0.5 to 2 lbs of cherries per gallon, I have another data point. I used a 96 fl. oz. can of Cherry Wine Base split between two 5 gallon batches. The net weight was not given, but the gross weight of the can was 6.5 lbs. The cherries were whole with pits included. There was a medium, dark red "syrup" in the can along with the whole cherries. There was no indication as to the composition of the "syrup." I hypothesized that if this can was meant to make 5 gallons of cherry wine, then it should have enough flavor to add some subtile cherry notes to two 5 gallon batches of beer. Not so. The first batch was a sweet stout with 6.6 lbs of John Bull unhopped Malt Extract syrup and some crystal malt. I added the 48 fl. oz. immediately after turning off the heat. The resulting beer had no cherry flavor or aroma. In fact, I entered this beer in the AHA Competition and it scored a 38. Suspecting that the CO2 produced during fermentation scrubbed the cherry aromatics out of the beer, I decided to add the second half of the cherries (stored in a glass jar in the fridge for 10 days) in the secondary of a lightly hopped (by midwestern standards :^) pale ale. I boiled up two quarts of water and then added the cherries to it to "sanitize." The resulting beer had a slight tendancy towards an orange color, clarity was fair-to-poor, a little bit of cherry aroma at bottling time (none after conditioning at 65F for two weeks) and the cherry flavor was so slight, that if you didn't know it was supposed to be a cherry ale, you would blame esters for the fruity notes. My contention is that, at least with canned Cherry Wine Base, 0.6 lbs/gallon is not enough and even 1 lb/gallon may not be enough either. I'm off to Michigan tomorrow morning to pick *fresh* cherries, if the blasted birds haven't beaten me to them. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 09:14 CDT From: arf at ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) Subject: Beer Snobs To: Homebrew Digest Fm: Jack Schmidling > -- R. Al Marshall >Subject: Lupulophobia in Milwaukee >Basically, I'm impressed by the report that Jack's beer is clean (and unoxidized?). But of course, what you do not know is that I had previously agreed to write a glowing review of the Fix's new book. :) From a philosophical and political viewpoint, I think your comments are most poignant. However, having been present at the tasting in person and being the Master Brewer of the beer in question, I can assure you that the comments on balance (or at least hoppiness) were probably appropriate. First of all, watching George's lovely wife stick her nose in the beer and snort like a rhino really made one believe they were serious. When she came up for air and pronounced it clean, a new era was ushered into the world of homebrewing and church bells rang round the world. Their comments on the hops actually were an impressive insight into their credibility as judges of beer and my own growing taste awareness. Please understand I mean judges in the common usage, not the politically correct, AHA approved type. That particular batch of beer, AGA #23 was an experiment in hoppiness. My standard hopping rate has been 1 oz Chinook and .5 oz Saaz. Wanting to get a feel for the effect of hops in beer, I doubled the Chinook in this batch to make sure I would not miss it if the difference was subtle. Our impression of the beer was that it is great with popcorn but if tasted with a clean mouth, it is a bit too bitter for our taste. However considering the fact that Marilyn and I usually have a bowl of popcorn with our daily glass of beer, it seems appropriate for a "popcorn style" ale. We, like most people, share our beer with lots of brainwashed Americans and most of them probably would also find it too bitter. So the comments on hops are not surprising. We simply brought the keg that was next in line, not one specially brewed to impress convention folk. The comments on maltiness are far more interesting to us because this batch also was a departure from our normal generic pale malt. We substituted 5 pounds (1/2 the total) of expensive, imported "Munich malt" for the .55/lb Harrington we buy from Minnesota Malting. We were unimpressed with the difference. In fact, when comparing it with the standard, we either could not tell the difference or preferred the standard. So, in summary, I am glad the Fix's were there to taste it and I am glad there are people out there willing to put beer snobs in their place. But you may rest assured that beer snobs, the Fix's most assuredly are not. >From: melkor!rick at uunet.UU.NET (Rick Larson) >Subject: Re: Cheap Kegs and related hardware >BTW, don't bother calling Cornelius for kegs, they are wholesale only. Try looking in the classifieds under Restaurant Equipment (or Brew&Grow). Anyone know of other places for kegs? I bought my first keg through the mail for $35 plus shipping. On my next trip to the scrap yard where I buy my aluminum for MALTMILL castings, I spied a mountain of Coke kegs under a snow bank. I offered him $5 and he glowed like I really blew it. I took two home to see if they were any good and when I got around to going back for more, they were of course, gone. The good news is that he had a few more the next time I went for aluminum. So I suggest checking out scrap yards, you may get lucky but start by offering a buck. Is that cheap enough? js Hope this helps, rick ------------------------------ Return to table of contents
Date: 19 Jun 92 15:43:15 U From: "Sheheryar Hasnain" <sheheryar_hasnain at fpm.uchicago.edu> Subject: Beginner Subject: Time:3:30 PM OFFICE MEMO Beginner Date:6/19/92 Hi, Could anyone post me the absolute basics of making beer at home. I have never attempted it. Could you include everything about it? Thanks Sheheryar Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1992 14:10 PDT From: BOB JONES <BJONES at NOVAX.llnl.gov> Subject: Air filters Let me tell you about an experiment I read about in a microbiology text once upon a time. Keep in mind here that I am not a microbiologist. There was this test apparatus set up to try and figure out why things would spoil. You see in those days they didn't know about yeast or bacteria and didn't have high power microscopes. They didn't even have HLP :-). Ok the test setup looked something like this... =====[ cotton plug]=====< air pump || || |-||---||-| | || || | | || || | | | flask | | | | |---------| | | | growth | | media | |_________| |\|\|\|\ Burner Ok, now you boil the growth media in the flask for a while, then you turn on the air pump and push air through the cotton filter onto the growth media. Well nothing would grow in the media. If the cotton plug was removed and the experiment repeated, the media would quickly cloud up with something growing in it. This told the experimenters that the spoilage mechanism must be air born. Well we all know that, but what I learned was how good a bacterial filter a cotton plug is. So for all you brewers out there looking for .2 micron filters, you already have one in your medicine cabinet. Do what I do and just poke a piece in the hose. I am told you should use real cotton and not polyester. Maybe in a future post and can describe my gadget for oxygen injection that doesn't require an aquarium pump. Bob Jones Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 92 16:33:14 EDT From: lee_menegoni at ptltd.com Subject: Fruit beers info compilation I would like to thank all the people who responded to my post. Below is a list of common threads found in the replies regarding fruit beer which may be of help to those you planning a fruit beer. Use a light bodied beer recipe, OG mid 30s, and light extract or grains since: the fruit taste is subtle and can be easily over powered. the fruit will also add additional fermentables. Use very little hops since rasberies and cherries add bitterness. 1 oz max in 5 gallons at 60, 30 and 10 minutes Cascade, Saaz, Hallertaur e.g. The 1990 AHA Fruit beer recipe used 1/2 oz of Saaz in 3 1/6 oz additions for a 5 gallon rasberry beer Use at least 1 lb of fruit per gallon brewed. for strawberries and peaches 2 lb per gallon is suggested fruit beer isn't cheap to brew if you buy the ingredients. Do not boil the fruit, add it to the wort after the boil the boiling process will destroy the taste boiling also causes problems due to the pectin in fruit, pectin puts the gel in jam and jelly. Do not add whole fruit. crush it or chop it up, others suggest freezing berries to cause the cell walls to break but why go to the expense of fresh fruit if you plan to freeze. IMHO fresh berries smell and taste better than frozen. Other suggetions / comments: Add pectic enzyme when you add the fruit. I found beer/wine stores that sold it, it is used in making fruit wine, but nobody knew how to use it, ie what it does, what temp, how much per lb fruit. Add more fruit to the secondary. I wonder what effect adding more fermentables, fructose, will have late in the fermentation. The intent is to add aromatics like dry hopping. Place the fruit in water with 1 campden tablet, for S02, for 1 hour to sanitize Others feel that well washed fruit placed in hot post boil wort will kill the contaminants and that sulfur even in small quantities, parts per billion, can have negative effects on taste. Ferment the whole mess since you can't separate the liquid from the trub/solids. The trub/solids will settle out during the primary fermentation. In principle I disagree with this since trub is supposed to cause fussel alcohol production. My expeience with 1 batch of strawberry beer, 8 lbs berries = 3.25 quarts of berry puree in 4.5 gallons of wort, was the pureed berries and trub settled out into a thick layer which was about 1.5 gallons of trub / pulp /liquid in about 4 or 5 hours ( I refridgerated the wort trying to get near 32F per Miller's suggestion to maximize percipitates. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 23:02:55 EDT From: jdg at grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Josh Grosse) Subject: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) over trub In Friday's HBD, Chuck Kenyon asked about some marketing boilerplate for American Classic DME: >"... Higher quality control during the malt extraction produces a >cleaner malt. You will therefore notice a reduced trub level in >your primary fermentor and as much as a 50% reduction in sediment >in the bottle with single stage fermentation. Trub is a major >source of off-flavors in beer through the production of esters >and fusel alcohols." > >There was a recent thread about Trub producing off-flavors, but I >seem to recall that it ended in a hung-Digest? A couple of months ago I'd summarized the reasoning behaind Miller's recommendation: Leave your wort sitting on top of the hot and cold break material during the respiration phase (8-12 hours), then rack off the sediment. I'd have to go back to the old HBD to look up the specifics, but I remember the generality quite clearly: During respiration, cell production uses lots of trub components and your lag time will be reduced. Afterwords, the trub is harmful by contributing to overproduction of fusel alcohols and esters (which are combinations of fusel alcohols and fatty acids). >Has anybody got any theories as to what effects (and why) this >high-vac distillation will have on the body and clarity of the >finished beer? ... The only theory I have is once again stolen from Dave Miller: higher vacuum means lower boiling point, which equals less carmelization. Should there be less trub? I'd have to refer to Fred Scheer, Brewmaster and Technical Director of the Frankenmuth Brewery, and industry consultant. I guess all those BJCP classes paid off. I believe I recall his comment that you should have something less than 20% by volume. I hope this helps. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 92 17:59:01 -0400 From: jp07 at gte.com (James Paschetto) Subject: Recipe request: Fuller's "London Pride" Fuller's "London Pride," to me, is like the best of the pub brews I've had when visiting England. Does anyone out there have a recipe for its ilk? Thanks in advance. Jim jp07 at t Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 11:46:22 PDT From: gummitch at techbook.com (Jeff Frane) Subject: AHA transcripts Sam Israelit asked about transcripts from the AHA conference in Milwaukee. These are scheduled to be published within two months, I believe; this year they got all the manuscripts in advance and -- except for some last minute changes-- everything is at the publisher. The plan for next year is to have the transcripts available at the conference, with room for notes after each article. Sam -- or anyone else interested -- should contact the AHA or their local homebrew store for a copy of the book. - --Jeff Frane Return to table of contents
Date: Sun Jun 21 00:12:01 1992 From: synchro!chuck at uunet.UU.NET Subject: BBC vs BBC lawsuit Since this lawsuit seems to have national interest, I thought I'd let you all know the results. Background: The Boston Beer Company (contract brewer/microbrewer) recently sued the Boston Beer Works (brewpub) for $1,000,000 for trademark infringement. This lawsuit made the front page of at least one of the local newspapers. I wrote a letter to the court expressing my opinion that the lawsuit was baseless. During the course of the 1 day trial, Jim Koch threatened to sue Boston Beer Brands (distributor/wholesaler) and the Commonwealth Brewery (brewpub). Why Commonwealth? Because they used the word "Boston" in the name of one of their beers. In the surprisingly quick trial, the judge ruled against the Boston Beer Company. They have 20 days to appeal. The judge reportedly issued a 20+ page ruling stating that "Boston" and "Boston Beer" were generic names and could not be protected. For reasons that escape me, I have been asked not to read the ruling until the appeal period has expired, as I may be requested to testify if there is an appeal. I'll let you know if the BBC is actually stupid enough to appeal, or if there is anything interesting in the finding when I get to read it. ===== Chuck Cox chuck at synchro.com In de hemel is geen bier, daarom drinken wij het hier. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 92 15:05:23 -0700 From: Nick Cuccia <cuccia at remarque.berkeley.edu> Subject: Southside Steam Beer This is a steam beer recipe that I created last month. It's not quite as hoppy as it should be; this is largely due to my not correcting my hop util. for whole hops. Nevertheless, this is my best brew to date (although the porter I've just bottled may surpass this one). Southside Steam Beer 5 Gallons 8# Klages malt 1# light munich malt 1/2# 10L Crystal 1/4# 40L Crystal 1/4# 80L Crystal 2 oz Northern Brewer Hops (Whole) (7.5% a) 1T Irish Moss Wyeast #2112 Calif Lager yeast in 1/2 gal starter Mash Schedule: Elapsed Time Mash-in at 130F/Protein rest at 122F :00 Starch Conversion at 150F :30 Starch Conversion at 156F 1:30 Mash-out at 166F 2:00 Sparge at 170F 2:15 Finished 3:15 //stuck :-( Boil Schedule: 1/2 oz NB :00 3/4 oz NB & Irish Moss :30 3/4 oz NB :55 Chilled 1:00 Ferment Schedule: Days Lapsed Gravity Pitched yeast Slurry 0 1.054 Racked 11 1.010 Bottled 16 1.010 The beer, appearances-wise, is a dead ringer for Anchor Steam; my SO could not tell the two apart on the basis of appearance. As I mentioned, the hop flavor isn't as strong as it should be. In any case, darn nice beer. - --Nick Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #907, 06/22/92