Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Homebrew Digest #5719 (August 24, 2010)

HOMEBREW Digest #5719 Tue 24 August 2010


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


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Contents:
Dry Hopping in the Keg (Calvin Perilloux)
Re: raising temp in freezer ("Pat Casey")
An AHA TT Refugee ("Michael D. Noah")
Re: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter (Bruce Fabijonas)
RE: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter ("David Houseman")
Mead (drusedum)
Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter ("Mike Maag")
Re: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter (Calvin Perilloux)
Re: Dry Hopping in the Keg (Calvin Perilloux)
Transition from TechTalk: to HBD? (IT)" <stjones@eastman.com>


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Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:19:58 -0400
From: Calvin Perilloux <rottenswill at hotmail.com>
Subject: Dry Hopping in the Keg

(Joe had some trouble posting from Hotmail, so let's try this
again from a test Hotmail account. -- Calvin)

I've dry hopped in the keg for the first time ever.

The hops have done their thing and now it's time to try
and get the beer off the hops.

I used pellet hops in a 5-gallon corny.
Most are in tea balls but some went in loose.
Other than filtering to another keg any ideas?



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Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:43:02 +1000
From: "Pat Casey" <pat at bmbrews.com.au>
Subject: Re: raising temp in freezer

Open the lid.

Pat
www.absolutehomebrew.com.au

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Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:16:50 +0900
From: "Michael D. Noah" <michael.noah at physaliaos.com>
Subject: An AHA TT Refugee

OK, I'll bite... I'm an American homebrewer/expat living and working in
Japan, and about the only place I can gain any insight is either in my
backyard making mistakes (occasionally even learning from them), or by
lurking on the likes of TT and HBD. I refuse to "play" on Social Networking
websites, though I've signed up on a few. I prefer to archive the e-mail I
get from TT and HBD, and then search those archives for the answers I need
from within Outlook. I don't delete ANYTHING!! I even still have work
e-mails that date back to the days of 300- and 1200-baud dial-up modems
using e-mail applications that I don't even remember the names of - -Eurdora
was one of them, I think!!!!

With TT apparently going away, HBD may indeed see a LOT of traffic!!!

Thanks for sticking with us old folks, and often geographically challenged
ones at that!

Michael
Yokosuka, Japan

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Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:40:24 -0400
From: Bruce Fabijonas <mathboy at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter

Nathan,


Put a light bulb into the freezer. At HD, you can get a work light
(clip on type or hanging type) for under $10. The bulb provides
heat. I'd point it away from the carboy so that you're not heating
the beer itself. However, if you pointed it at the beer, one could
create a temperature difference within the carboy, which in turn
could create a circulation within the carboy and keep the yeast in
suspension....


Cheers,
Bruce

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Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:03:09 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: RE: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter

Nathan,

Yes, I think you've hit on one way to raise the temperature of the chest
freezer. I've just turned my controller off/up and opened the lid. It
will approach the ambient room temp and isn't as controlled as adding some
heating capability. I'll set my chest freezer for say 45 to ferment a
lager, then remove my fermenter and let it sit at room temp for several days
for a diacetyl rest then back to freezer at 32 for laagering. Frankly I
don't try to raise/lower temperatures by a few degrees at a time. I found I
would nearly always forget anyway. I just count on the thermal mass of the
fermenter to avoid too abrupt changes. This has worked for me without
causing any problems and resulting in beers recognized to be on style. So
IMO you don't need to be too rigorous in step temperatures and whatever
works for you to raise/lower temperatures will work.

David Houseman

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

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:59:04 -0400
From: <drusedum at verizon.net>
Subject: Mead

First, I have move over from Tech Talk.

Second, I have a friend who raises bees and is getting more and more honey
and is interested in making Mead. Are there any good references (book or
web) that I can get him. Also, beyond your basic brewing equipment, is
there any additional equipment needed.

Third, anyone have a good mead recipe?

Regards,

W. Barry Drusedum

All beer is good, some beer is better than others


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

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:26:50 -0500
From: "Mike Maag" <mikemaag at comcast.net>
Subject: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter

Hi Nathan,

My Brewer's Edge Controller II is set with the Differential at 3. I have
the temperature probe taped to the side of the fermentation vessel with a
"band-aid like" arrangement. I place a folded paper towel over the probe,
then use some duct tape to attach it to the vessel. Make sure the tape
seals all around the folded paper towel by adding duct tape. You should
just have the probe wire breaking the seal between the duct tape and the
vessel. The point is to make sure you are monitoring the temperature of the
fermenting wort, rather than the fridge temp.
If you already have the controller set up this way, open the fridge door for
as long as necessary to raise the wort temp.
By the way, I set the Dif at 3 during the more exothermic part of
fermentation, then set it at 1 for lagering. The Brewer's Edge Controller
has an anti-short cycle delay to protect the compressor, while allowing more
precise temp control.

Mike Maag, Shenandoah Valley


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

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:08:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Raising the temperature in a chest freezer/fermenter

Nathan asks how to get his freezer up to 50F from a 44F start.

> However, 24 hours after I turned the set point from 44F
> to 50F, the temperature is still down at 44F.

One thing you could try is to temporarily run a light bulb
in there (incandescent, not flourescent!), or better yet
a brew heater pad. That will raise the temperature gradually,
and once the temperature hits the thermostat set point,
the freezer will then hold it there.

Obviously, you don't want to run all the time like this,
since you'll be using 25 to 60 watts of electricity to
heat, and at least that to extract the heat, but it's
good for just a short term measure.

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA

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

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:36:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Dry Hopping in the Keg

So to answer Joe Dunne's question that I helped him post...
:-)

First, welcome to HBD, Joe!

> I used pellet hops in a 5-gallon corny.
> Most are in tea balls but some went in loose.
> Other than filtering to another keg any ideas?

You might get by with a careful racking procedure,
especially if there is still yeast in the cornie keg
holding the hop particles together, and double especially
if you have a shortened dip tube on that keg.

Obviously, filtering would remove all the particles, but
with luck, you can get most or nearly all of them this way.

I rack off most of my beers from secondary to a serving
keg so that I leave yeast and hops behind, and in your
case with hop bits in the mix. My suggestion:

(1) Do NOT move the keg! Try and do it in place.
(2) Get a connector made with tubing and two beer out fittings.
(3) Vent the keg slowly and pressure it to only 2-4 psi.
(4) Pull off a pint of beer with your tap till it runs clear.
(5) Using the connector, transfer from OUT to OUT, to the new keg.
(6) WATCH OUT for the end of the keg! Stop transfer before this!

I'd run this transfer only until I was somewhat close to the
end of the keg and then drink a couple of beers at the end because
that last bit blowing through might bring a lot of crud/trub/
hops/yeast with it, as the junk at the sloping bottom is no
longer supported by liquid and slumps towards the dip tube.

This is why I have a couple of kegs with an inch cut off
the dip tube; I use these for secondaries, and that way
I only have to make sure I stop the flow as soon as the
first gas blows through; I don't have to stop four seconds
BEFORE the gas comes through. It's clean beer till the end.

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA

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

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:50:01 -0400
From: "Jones, Steve (IT)" <stjones at eastman.com>
Subject: Transition from TechTalk: to HBD?

So how many folks are transitioning from TechTalk to HBD rather than the forum?

I sure would love to see HBD get back to some semblance of its glory days.
Maybe this is just the thing that will help that to happen.

And don't forget to contribute ... just 5 bucks a year from every member would
keep the HBD going a long time.

Pat, you may want to prepare for an increase in subscriptions, just in case.

Steve Jones
Johnson City, TN

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5719, 08/24/10
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