Monday, August 11, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5393 (August 11, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5393 Mon 11 August 2008


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


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Contents:
Hop weirdness ("Mike Sharp")
Pumpkin Ale ("Josh Knarr")
HERMS and denaturing enzymes ("Dave Larsen")


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Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:03:37 -0700
From: "Mike Sharp" <rdcpro at hotmail.com>
Subject: Hop weirdness

I was at a friend's house party last night, looking over his hops. He has
several that have been around a fairly long time, but the last couple of
years haven't produced real cones. They flower, but the process stops
there; no cone forms. They don't seem to be affected by any pests, and
except for the lack of a cone, seem fine. On the other side of his house he
planted three more this year, and even though they're in their first year,
they have already started forming a few cones. I think he's generally doing
things right; in spring he chooses the three best bines to train up the
trellis, and they get plenty of water. I don't know what he fertilizes
with, if anything. Any ideas what could be wrong with the other ones?

Mike Sharp
Kent, WA

[1891.3, 294deg] AR

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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:55:31 -0400
From: "Josh Knarr" <josh.knarr at gmail.com>
Subject: Pumpkin Ale

It is time to discuss my two favorite things - Pumpkins and Ales!

Stuff I've liked in pumpkin ales:
* Pumpkin pie flavor
* toasted and roasted notes
* Little hops

Stuff that's ruined ales for me in the past:
* No actual pumpkin in the beer (all spices)
* Pumpkin was put in raw (raw pumpkin is disgusting)
* Tastes like vegetables
* overspiced

I have come up with the following recipe which I'm looking for input
on. Similar has been posted to beer advocate and midwest brewing, this
is my take on what should seem right.

Gambrinus Mug has two submissions which look plausible (and one that
was craptacular): Aggie Bumpkin Pumpkin Ale and Pumpkin Head Ale. I'm
not sure if the pumpkin head is related to Pumpkinhead Ale from
Shipyard, but I'm not a fan of Shipyard's offerings.

Malt Bill
6.6lbs Amber malt extract
3.3lbs Wheat extract (adjust this more or less for taste)

Adjuncts Bill
3 cans of pumpkin (30oz cans)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 crushed cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 oz raisins (more?)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 clove

Hops Bill
1.5 oz Fuggles at 60 min
0.5 oz Tettenger at 10 min

Yeast
Any Ale Yeast

For the pumpkin - Lightly roast it, either by broiling it in the oven
for a few minutes or toasting it with a torch. One side should be
charred and one side should be wet enough so that it still has
something to give to the wort. Toss the pumpkin in at flame out and
stir it for 10 minutes or so. Spices go in at the same time.

Dump the whole thing into the fermenter, after a week rack to
secondary, then ferment two weeks. Because of all the suspended
spices, expect the FG to be 1.020 or so.


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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:57:43 -0700
From: "Dave Larsen" <hunahpu at gmail.com>
Subject: HERMS and denaturing enzymes

I'm thinking of building a HERMS. I was wondering, when mash liquids
pass through the copper coil in the HLT tanks, they are likely to
exceed normal mash temps. Doesn't that denature the enzymes in that
liquid? It seems to me all the liquid in the mash would cycle through
the hot coil several times over, denaturing all -- or most, at least
- -- of the enzymes in the mash, even if the main mash stays at
temperature. Am I missing something?

Dave
Tucson, AZ
http://hunahpu.blogspot.com/


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5393, 08/11/08
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