Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5394 (August 12, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5394 Tue 12 August 2008


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


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Contents:
Re: Pumpkin Ale ("Michael P. Thompson")
Re: HERMS and denaturing enzymes ("David Houseman")
pumpkin ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
Re: Herms and Enzymes ("Stephen Neilsen")
HERMS: Controlling Mash Temp ("Dave Larsen")
Dumb HERMS Question ("Dave Larsen")


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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:20:07 -0600
From: "Michael P. Thompson" <thompson at ecentral.com>
Subject: Re: Pumpkin Ale

On Aug 11, 2008, at 8:55 PM, Josh Knarr wrote:

> 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.

OK, two questions. First of all, raisins? I can see everything else,
but raisins? Is that just to add some fruitiness or what?

Second, how do you broil canned pumpkin? Spread it out on a cookie
sheet or something?


- --
Doras Cuil Travel--Your one-stop travel source
Do you like to travel? How about wholesale, AND tax-deductible? Ask
me how.
http://www.dorascuil.com

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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:21:25 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: HERMS and denaturing enzymes

Dave,

A valid concern and good question. But as I have found out it's not a
problem. Denaturing enzymes is a function of time at temperature so unless
you raise the temperature too high or run too slowly at a high temperature
this works to raise and maintain mash temperatures. I, like perhaps
hundreds of others, have a B3 sculpture that employ HERMS and some have won
numerous awards for their beer.

Dave Houseman

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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:59:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: pumpkin

I also do a pumpkin ale every year, but I am currently on vacation so I
cannot access my records.

One thing that I would drop from the spices is the vanilla....

Good luck!


..Darrell

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Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:13:15 +1000
From: "Stephen Neilsen" <stephen.neilsen at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Herms and Enzymes

Short answer..depends on the temp of your HERMS tank liquor.
The problem you may have is that the mash liquor is enzyme rich and
the amylase enzymes become progressively less heat tolerant as the
water ratio increases (alpha and beta amylase are not denatured at
kilning temp because there is so little water and lots of
"substrate").
I would suggest that the beta amylase will shuffle off the coil (?)
quite quickly, though is certainly a lot of beta left in the mash
until it too gets HERM'd. The alpha should be fine at reasonable
temps.
I would set my mash temp before I started recirculating and keep the
HLT at same temp as the mash, ie use it to even the temp not increase
it.
On the other hand....

Stephen in Kanbeera


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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:02:01 -0700
From: "Dave Larsen" <hunahpu at gmail.com>
Subject: HERMS: Controlling Mash Temp

Continuing my quest to build a HERMS. It seems to me that if you use
the temperature of the mash to control the heat to the HLT -- and
therefore the mash liquid cycling through it -- the HLT will heat up
significantly more the the mash. As a result, the top part of the
mash, where the return is, can be higher temperature than the bottom
part, where the temperature probe is (that is the way my mash tun is
designed, at least). Also, you could also have a slight rise in
temperature -- a kind of latency -- after the heat is removed from the
HLT, as it will take some time for the HLT to cool off below the mash
temperature.

On the other hand, you could use the temperature of the HLT to control
the heat to the HLT. Then, the temperature of the liquid returning to
mash will never exceed the set temperature. However, your mash would
be significantly lower temperature than the set temperture, as the
liquid will cool off a bit before it returns to the mash.

I was doing some research, and found the website:

http://blog.flaminio.net/blogs/index.php/beer/HERMS/

In his system, rather that using the temperature of the mash or the
HLT to control the heat to his HLT, he uses the temperature of the
return liquid. He has a thermowell inside the line that returns the
liquid to the mash tun from HLT. Is this a common technique?

I guess that my question is: How do I control the heat to my HLT, and
therefore the mash liquid cycling through it?

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


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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:26:46 -0700
From: "Dave Larsen" <hunahpu at gmail.com>
Subject: Dumb HERMS Question

What exactly does a PID do? I know it has to do with temperature
control, and has relays to turn things on and off. I assume that that
is to turn on and off the heat. But, doesn't say a Ranco temperature
controller do the same thing? Why would I need a PID?

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


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5394, 08/12/08
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