Home Brew Digest: Homebrew Digest #5386 (August 03, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5386 Sun 03 August 2008

FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org

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Contents:
Beer program ("Dave Draper")
Re: Dornbusch and Vorlauf ("Aaron Hermes")
Re: Renner's Pretzels ("Aaron Hermes")
Matching the beer to the festival ("Chad Stevens")
Re: Hop Questions/Advice ("Keith Anderson") ("Amos Brooks")
Will I ever find Mr. Right? ("Caroline Albert")
From Guan Chen (Guan Chen)
Will I ever find Mr. Right? ("Caroline Albert")
Malt Madness Homebrew Competition ("Al Hazan")
Re: Filtering instead of Vorlaufing? (Kai Troester)

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Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:27:15 -0600
From: "Dave Draper" <david at draper.name>
Subject: Beer program

In HBD #5385, Josh Knarr says:

> The host is a waif. I don't care that he's a PhD in Robotics or that
> he's the mastermind of The Gay Agenda. What does that have to do with
> the core interest of the program?

What does anyone's physique or seck-shoo-al preferences (I had to
spell it that way to get through the language filter!) have to do
with their ability to understand, appreciate, or brew beer? Geez.
Does one have to be a hetero bodybuilder to be able to talk about or
brew beer? If a guy or gal can brew a fine pint, I don't give a cr*p
how big their muscles are or who they choose to sleep with.

And:

* "All beers are ales or lagers." Absolutely no mention was made of
"steam beers", etc. I find the spirit of homebrewing is in Doing It
Wrong to find out what works. (I have a pilsner I'm intentionally
fermenting at 80F to try to make it interesting, for instance).
Where's the adventure?

Surely you must recognize that shows like this are intended to
introduce the idea of brewing to people who have no idea at all how
it's done. Introducing "adventure" simply muddies the waters and is
counterproductive to the attempt to make an informative show. I'm
not defending its every choice and detail, but this criticism seems
misplaced. What *you* find to be the "spirit of homebrewing" is not
what *everyone* finds to be so.

Cheers, Dave in ABQ

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
David S. Draper, Institute of Meteoritics, Univ New Mexico
David at Draper dot Name
Beer page: http://www.unm.edu/~draper/beer.html
Life's a bitch, but at least there's homebrew ---Norm Pyle

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 12:21:54 -0400
From: "Aaron Hermes" <aaron.hermes at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Dornbusch and Vorlauf

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 11:30 PM, Steve Alexander wrote:

> Either that or Dornbush is misleading (wouldn't be the first time).

Without wanting to start anything too crazy, is he known for being
inaccurate/misleading? What sort of things does he tend to get wrong?
Is he agenda-driven, or just inaccurate?

I appreciate the references to Kunze. I've been tempted to get that
and read it, but I haven't seen a reasonable place to get my hands on
it...

> OK -so if you want to experiment with filters have at it, but
> you need a vast membrane surface area and some way to introduce
> sparge water and allow runoff. This is not an in-line filter
> sort of solution. My reading is that it makes a lot of sense an
> a large scale where an extra 3 percent of extract recovery
> and making drier lighter grist waste is important.

This sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth at my level of
production... That's what I was looking to know!

aaron

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 12:30:22 -0400
From: "Aaron Hermes" <aaron.hermes at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Renner's Pretzels

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at Rick Theiner wrote:

> 1) Give the pretzels a decent amount of time in the boil. I can't
> remember the time requirement, but I go by appearance now. I
> look for the dough to be turning brownish yellow under the influence
> of the lye.

I go by color, too. After upping the concentration of the lye (based
on the proportions in this recipe:

http://www.kabish.com/recipes/recipes.php?id=351

the color changes very quickly, like in less than 30 seconds. Is the
color change indicative of the change in texture, too? Or are there
two different (but related) mechanisms at work?

aaron

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 10:33:10 -0700
From: "Chad Stevens" <zuvaruvi at cox.net>
Subject: Matching the beer to the festival

All:

A bit of to-do is being made over the American breweries being featured at a
British festival. I feel the need to toot my own horn a little. We had the
2nd annual "Craft Brewer's Competition & Festival" at the San Diego County
Fair in June. I define "Craft Beer" a little loosely. If someone is making
a quality product and is proud of the sweat and toil they put into it, I'm
happy to show their product at our festival. Why does that person have to
make beer in America for it to be "craft" beer. "All politics is local,"
and all beers are local to someone. And by the same token, just because the
brewer has computers and a big budget does not mean they don't share the
same zeal for beer the little guy does. I've met the guys brewing small
pilot batches for Michelob and others. They have the same fire in their
eyes I see in small craft brewers. Long story short, what follows are the
breweries that were represented at the San Diego County Fair Craft Brewer's
Festival. We had 287 beers from 115 breweries. I was pretty proud of the
line-up. When the public sees Ballast Point presented next to Belhaven
presented next to Bierbrouwerij St. Christofel, they soon realize it's all
beer, and it's all good. I was happy to have every one of them. And
hopefully, the next time that consumer steps into the market, they don't
treat the "craft beer" section as a phase in brewing history that will pass
or something to be ignored.

And as long as I'm pontificating, the unsung heroes in all of this are the
importers and distributors. Were it not for guys like Dan Shelton who go
out and find these wonderful beers, we here at home (wherever that may be)
would be stuck with the same ol' beer day after day. These are the guys who
have made the Belgian craze in the U.S. and the American hop craze in Europe
possible. All of these festivals would be pretty boring were it not for
distributors working their tales off behind the scenes.

Chad Stevens
QUAFF
San Diego County Fair - Beer Events Organizer

Brewery

Abita Brewing Co

Affligem

Alaskan Brewing Company

Ale Smith Brewing Co

Alpine Beer Co

Anderson Valley Brewing Inc

Angel City Brewing

Anhauser Busch Inc

Avery Brewing Co

Baird Brewing Co.

Ballast Point

Belhaven Brewery

Bierbrouwerij St. Christoffel

Big Sky Brewing Co

Bjs Restaurant And Brewery-Oxnard

Bosteels Brewing Co

Boston Beer Company

Brasserie Cantillon

Brasserie De La Senne

Brasserie Duyck

Brasserie Lefebvre

Brauwerij De Koninck

Brauwerij De Ranke

Brewery De Landtsheer

Brewery Ommegang

Brothers Brewing Co

Cervejaria Sudbrack

Chimay Brewing Co

Coronado Brewing Co

De Proef

Deschutes Brewery

Dixie

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Drie Fonteinen

Erdinger

Firestone Walker Brewing Co

Fox Barrel Cider Company

Full Sail Brewing Co

Fullers

Green Flash Brewing Co.

Green Mountain Cidery

Grotten Brewing Co

Hacker Pschorr

Hoegaarden

Inveralmond Brewery

Isle Of Skye

Jolly Pumpkin Artisanal Ales

Karl Strauss Brewing Co

Kona Brewing Co

Konig Brauerei

Koningshoeven Brewing Co

Kulmbacher Brauerei

Lagunitas Brewing Co

Leffe Brewing Co

Left Coast Brewing Co

Lightning Brewery

Mad River Brewing Co

Maui Brewing Co

Meantime Brewing Co

Mendocino Brewing Co

Michelob

Mikkeller Brewery

Mission Brewery

Moretti

Mountain Meadows Mead

Moylans Brewing Co

New Belgium Brewing

New English Brewing Co

Nimbus Brewing Co

Nogne-O Brewery

Norrebro Bryghus

North Coast Brewing Co

Oggis Pizza And Brewing Co

Oskar Blues

Palm

Paulaner

Pizza Port-Carlsbad

Pizza Port-San Clemente

Pizza Port-Solana Beach

Port Brewing Co

Pyramid Breweries

Redhook Ale Brewing

Redstone Meadery

Ridgeway Brewing Co

Rock Bottom Brewery

Rogue Ales

San Diego Brewing Co

Santa Cruz Mtn. Brewing

Schneider Brewing Co

Sea Dog Brewing Co

Shipyard Brewing Co

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co

Skyscraper Brewing Co

St Feuillien Brewing Co

Stella Artois

Stone Brewing Co

The Brew House At Eastlake

The Bruery

Urthel Brewing Co

Victory Brewing Co

Wells And Youngs Brewery

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co

Wyders Cider

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 14:35:39 -0400
From: "Amos Brooks" <amosbrooks at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Hop Questions/Advice ("Keith Anderson")

Keith,
I think what is happening with the freezing non-dried hops becoming
mush is ice crystal formation. If you don't want that to happen you
need to flash freeze the hops so that the freezing happens so fast the
crystals don't have a chance to form. I'm not sure the ice crystals
are really a bad thing though. They will rupture the cell walls of the
plant and make it easier to get the contents out. This is good for
berries as it breaks up pectins that form and releases the sugars more
realily. I'm not sure about the hops though.

Amos Brooks

- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think the only potential problem is moisture which could encourage
rotting/mold/mildew in the long run. If you freeze hops right off the
vine and thaw them (as with herbs) they can get slimy and appear to be
decomposing. But sounds like you don't have this problem so I
wouldn't worry. I found my fresh hops added a flavor a bit too
vegetal for my taste and preferred the flavor of dried hops (although
the Sierra Nevada fresh hop ale is superb). Overall, my homegrown
cascades lacked the oomph of "professionally" grown cascades and
suspected I wasn't getting a very high %AA due to some missing
nutrient from my soil but that was just a guess.

Keith

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 20:05:57 -0700
From: "Caroline Albert" <caro at carolinealbert.com>
Subject: Will I ever find Mr. Right?

Dearest,
I need a man I can call my own.

This sadness in me right now,
Is giving me pain in a way that I don't know how.
It's just that I'm alone with nobody,
My life sure is colorless.

I don't know why or what to do.
I just want my heart stop the bleed.
It hurts all over me again and again,
I hope somebody could lend me a helping hand.

An injury I have in my heart.
I wish somebody could repair its parts.
But nobody sure is with me right now,
I sat and pondered all alone,
Will I ever find a love of my own?

A love I can trust,
A love that's a must?
A love without the pain,
Such a love--Will I gain?

Will he hurt me too?
Just like the others do?
Will he cheat and lie,
Or will he hold me high?

Will he appreciate what I do?
Or will he laugh and say we're through?
Will I ever find Mr. Right?
Or will all love be a fight?

Will he always make me cry?
Or will he care and ask why?
Will he want me, as I want him?
Or will love, he just pretend?

I sat and pondered all alone,
Will I ever find a love of my own?

I need you especially now that I'm alone,
Please get back to me if you are single and real
Yours,
Caroline Albert
Email:carolinealbert at ymail.com
phone number 234-7081-548-655

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:33:43 -0500
From: Guan Chen <guanchen8 at gmail.com>
Subject: From Guan Chen

I am Guan Chen, Branch Manager of Bank of China. I have an urgent business
proposal for you. Please reply via my email: guanchen8 at gmail.com

Guan Chen

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 23:34:09 -0700
From: "Caroline Albert" <info at carolinealbert.com>
Subject: Will I ever find Mr. Right?