Home Brew Digest: April 2012

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5940 (April 22, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5940 Sun 22 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
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No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

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***************************************************************

Contents:
Announcing the 6th Annual ABC BrewsCrews Homebrew/Cider/MeadCompetition (jrankert)
Promash Carbonation Levels of Belgian Witbier (Fred L Johnson)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NOTE: With the economy as it is, the HBD is struggling to
meet its meager operating expenses of approximately $3500
per year. If less than half of those currently directly
subscribed to the HBD sent in a mere $5.00, the HBD would
be able to easily meet its annual expenses, with room to
spare for next year. Please consider it.

Financial Projection as of 03 March 2012
*** Condition: Guarded ***
501(c)3 revoked in process of retroactive reinstatement.
See Site News on http://hbd.org for details and progress.
Projected 2012 Budget $3191.79
Expended against projection $ 721.78
Unplanned expenditures $ 79.98
Projected Excess/(Shortfall) ($ 725.01)

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:58:38 +0000 (UTC)
From: jrankert at comcast.net
Subject: Announcing the 6th Annual ABC BrewsCrews Homebrew/Cider/MeadCompetition

The 6th Annual ABC BrewsCrews Homebrew/Cider/Mead Competition is coming up
soon. This year judging will be held on June 9, 2012 at Arbor Brewing Company
at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Entries will be accepted mid May.

Details may be found online at:

http://BrewsCrews.AABG.org

Judges and stewards will be needed, and information and links for
registering for this one day BJCP sanctioned competition can be found at the
above site.

Jeff Rankert

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

Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:04:11 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Promash Carbonation Levels of Belgian Witbier

I am looking for information regarding the recommended carbonation level
ACCORDING TO PROMASH for Belgian styles, especially witbier. I do not use or
have Promash, but I understand that Promash recommends what I believe are
quite low carbonation levels for several Belgian style beers--in the 1.9 to
2.5 volumes of CO2 range. Surely this is not correct. Would someone please
investigate this for me and comment as to how accurate Promash is on this
topic?

Fred L Johnson

Apex, North Carolina, USA

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5940, 04/22/12
*************************************
-------

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5939 (April 15, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5939 Sun 15 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

DONATE to the Home Brew Digest. Home Brew Digest, Inc. is a
501(c)3 not-for-profit organization under IRS rules (see the
FAQ at http://hbd.org for details of this status). Donations
can be made by check to Home Brew Digest mailed to:

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

or by paypal to address serverfund@hbd.org. DONATIONS of $250
or more will be provided with receipts. SPONSORSHIPS of any
amount are considered paid advertisement, and may be deductible
under IRS rules as a business expense. Please consult with your
tax professional, then see http://hbd.org for available
sponsorship opportunities.
***************************************************************

Contents:
RE: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels ("David Houseman")
RE: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels ("Keith Christian")
bubbles, tiny bubbles ("Dave Burley")
Re: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels (stencil)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NOTE: With the economy as it is, the HBD is struggling to
meet its meager operating expenses of approximately $3500
per year. If less than half of those currently directly
subscribed to the HBD sent in a mere $5.00, the HBD would
be able to easily meet its annual expenses, with room to
spare for next year. Please consider it.

Financial Projection as of 03 March 2012
*** Condition: Guarded ***
501(c)3 revoked in process of retroactive reinstatement.
See Site News on http://hbd.org for details and progress.
Projected 2012 Budget $3191.79
Expended against projection $ 721.78
Unplanned expenditures $ 79.98
Projected Excess/(Shortfall) ($ 725.01)

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word
"subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL
ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!**
IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to
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for the automation - that's your job.

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright
HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK
before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content
cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:24:35 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: RE: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels

Keith asks:

"Looking through past messages, I saw a reference to Ray Daniels recipe
called the Perfect Pilsner. Does anyone have the recipe? If you brewed it,
what are your thoughts?"

Like any recipe from someone I would look at this as a starting point and
not expect that my result will be exactly what someone else brewed. If
Ray's pilsner is perfect, my version of this will not be an exact clone. It
could be "better" or "worse" but it won't be the same. Why? Even the most
detailed recipe will not contain all the variables that affect the resulting
beer. The grain bill and hopping and mash schedules are great starting
point, but water chemistry, mash tun and kettle composition and shape, the
fermenter shape, rate of oxygenation, the amount, viability and cell count
of the yeast and other factors were involved in the production of the
original beer. Your system will be different. Not necessarily worse or
better, but different. So the beer will be different. If you drink a
beer you really, really like, you can make a beer that is close but it will
be different. So go for it, but just manage your own expectations and
after you make this beer, modify the recipe to suite your own tastes and
your system's performance.

David Houseman

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

Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:35:46 -0700
From: "Keith Christian" <keithchristian at roadrunner.com>
Subject: RE: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels

Yes David, excellent points. I really should have clarified... Over the
years many recipes had been shared in this forum. Many I have tried and
enjoyed. A great resource for sure. In my recipe collection and notes,
there were several references to Ray's Perfect Pilsner being a really good
beer. I was interested in grain bill, hops, yeast, etc. as a starting
point.

I am interested in brewing a beer with huge hop flavor and aroma. I had a
pilsner around 2001 at a BJ's Brewery and I would like to make something
similar to it. We had a Maltose Falcon's meeting at the brewery and the
brewers brought out their special reserves... It was so good that I never
forgot it. Sometimes I am reminded of that beer when I open a Sierra Nevada
Torpedo. It is the balance of the alcohol, body, and hopping that I am
chasing. I know the Torpedo is an IPA and not a pilsner, But It brings
back my memory to that beer.

The beer probably had an SG of about 1060 to 1070 and a huge amount of Czech
Saaz. It was almost like drinking Saaz. It looked , smelled, and tasted
great. For me, it was the Perfect Pilsner.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Keith

- -----Original Message-----
From: David Houseman [mailto:david.houseman at verizon.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 5:25 AM
To: post at hbd.org; Keith Christian
Subject: RE: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels

Keith asks:

"Looking through past messages, I saw a reference to Ray Daniels recipe
called the Perfect Pilsner. Does anyone have the recipe? If you brewed it,
what are your thoughts?"

David Houseman

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

Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:03:50 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave Burley at charter.net>
Subject: bubbles, tiny bubbles

David Huber. I think the CO2 is already dissolved since the sugar is
dissolved, the enzymes in the yeast body are fully hydrated, so the CO2 never
leaves the solution.

As the pressure builds the rate of change drops since the sugar is being
depleted.

Keep on Brewin',

Dave Burley

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

Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:26:44 -0400
From: stencil <etcs.ret at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels

On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:16:43 -0400,

in Homebrew Digest #5938 (April 13, 2012)

Keith Christian wrote:

>Looking through past messages, I saw a reference to Ray Daniels recipe

>called the Perfect Pilsner. Does anyone have the recipe? If you brewed it,

>what are your thoughts?

Haven't brewed it (not a Pilsner fan) but here's the recipe,

peached from

<http://groups.google.com/group/rec.crafts.brewing/browse_thread/thread/5bc0
1752d2f6c5a8/ead7a5e92a89c0c9%3Fq%3D%2522Alexander%2BSun%2522%23ead7a5e92a89c
0c9&ei=iGwTS6eaOpW8Qpmqic0O&sa=t&ct=res&cd=55&source=groups&usg=AFQjCNGq8lISi
o-ijCoGsnLjDl6boOP5yw?pli=1

The All About Beer site itself doesn't seem to show any

response to a search for <perfect pilsner>.

- ---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: JS <jayceeessfouratfrontiernetdotnet>

Date: Jan 4 2007, 5:27 pm

Subject: Bohemian Pils Mash Temp

To: rec.crafts.brewing

RAY'S FAVORITE RECIPES

>From Brewing Editor Ray Daniels

Perfect Pilsner

I remember this recipe as the first of my beers to earn the

praise of

an established professional brewer. Looking at it now, I see

why! This

is a classic Bohemian pilsner recipe with darn near

everything done

right. It employs specialty malts with subtlety but goes

straight for

the heart with the Saaz hops. If you are mashing and have the

ability

to ferment at lager temperatures, you should definitely give

this one

a try.

Extract brewers may also enjoy this recipe by substituting 6

lbs of

Alexander's Sun Country Malt Extract for 8.5 pounds of the

two-row

malt.

O.G. 1.050

F.G. 1.015

Ingredients

10 lbs Two-row Malt (American or European)

0.75 lb Crystal malt - Light (10-40 deg L) German

0.25 lb Cara-Pils malt

0.375 lb Wheat malt

0.25 lb Munich malt

1.0 oz Saaz* (5.0% aa) - boiled 60 minutes

1.5 oz Saaz - boiled 30 minutes

0.5 oz Saaz - boiled 10 minutes

0.5 oz Saaz - boiled 5 minutes

1.5 oz Saaz - Dry hopped in Secondary Fermenter

* Given the amount of hops added to this recipe, you may want

select pellet rather than whole hops to reduce wort loss.

Also, if the

Saaz hops available to you are below 4% alpha acid, you

should select

another European-type hop with an alpha acid content near 5%

for the

first two hop additions. Try Hallertau, Hersbruck, Spalt,

Liberty,

Crystal, or Mt. Hood.

1 tsp Calcium chloride was used in mash water. Sparge water

was

acidified with food grade lactic acid.

Wyeast Munich Lager Yeast (2308) -- 2 packages in 2 quarts of

starter.

Irish Moss was used in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

Procedure

The mash for this beer included a protein rest at 130 deg F

(a bit

high) for 30 minutes and a saccharification rest at 154 deg F

for one

hour. If you can do a protein rest at 122 deg F or so, it's

not a bad

idea, but if you can't, don't let that stop you. Just do an

infusion

mash at 154 deg F and go from there. My mash water volume was

quarts (3.75 gallons) and the sparge water volume was 5

gallons.

Total boil time was 100 minutes, with the hop additions

beginning

after the first 40 minutes of the boil.

Fermentation was conducted at 45 to 48 degrees for five days

and then

raised to 55 to 58 degrees for another 10 days.

The dry hops were added during the lagering phase which was

four weeks

at 35 to 40 deg F.

============ end transcript ===========

gds, stencil

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5939, 04/15/12
*************************************
-------

Friday, April 13, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5938 (April 13, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5938 Fri 13 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
re:bottle conditioning ("oobyjooby")
Re: Bottle Conditioning (David Huber)
Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels ("Keith Christian")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:27:41 -0400
From: "oobyjooby" <oobyjooby at cs.com>
Subject: re:bottle conditioning

Isn't there a little more to bottle conditioning than just getting fizzy?

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

Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:49:31 -0400
From: David Huber <n3uks.dave at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Bottle Conditioning

Nathan Letcher asked a very interesting question regarding carbonation
time: is most of the time spent waiting on the yeast to consume the sugar
added to the bottling bucket, or waiting for the CO2 to go into solution?
There are competing factors here. You'd expect that it shouldn't take the
yeast that long to consume the little bit of added sugar, however by
bottling time you have a lot less yeast in there. If I had to venture a
guess, I would say that the dominant time is waiting on the yeast because
it goes through various stages (lag cycle, growth phase) that can have
characteristic timescales of days. I couldn't easily find info on the
timescales for CO2 to dissolve into solution, but you would expect it to
depend upon temperature and headspace pressure. Opening a bottle of beer
or soda shows that it can come out of solution very quickly.

My guess is that there isn't anything you can do to dramatically shorten
the carbonation time other than speeding up the yeast activity with storage
temperature. Getting the bottles cold after that will make them seem
better carbonated because the beer would hold more CO2 at lower
temperatures. If there was an easy way to quantitatively measure the
pressure in the bottle, it does seem like there is room for some
interesting experimentation here.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:17:08 -0700
From: "Keith Christian" <keithchristian at roadrunner.com>
Subject: Perfect Pilsner by Ray Daniels

Hi,

Looking through past messages, I saw a reference to Ray Daniels recipe
called the Perfect Pilsner. Does anyone have the recipe? If you brewed it,
what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Keith

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5938, 04/13/12
*************************************
-------

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5937 (April 10, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5937 Tue 10 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Judges needed for April 21st !!! ("Jeff McNally")
bottle conditioning (Loren Blom)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 23:08:20 -0400
From: "Jeff McNally" <jeff_ri at cox.net>
Subject: Judges needed for April 21st !!!

Hi All,

We are in need of some additional judges for this year's South Shore
Brewoff to be held on April 21st, 2012 in Mansfield, MA.

If there is any way that you could help us out, please contact me
directly.

Thanks.

Jeff McNally
Judge Coordinator
jeff_ri at cox.net
401-624-3953

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

Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:43:35 -0500
From: Loren Blom <ljblom at iowatelecom.net>
Subject: bottle conditioning

Want to know how long it takes to carbonate with bottle conditioning?
Replace a couple of your glass bottles with a couple of plastic soda pop
bottles. Keep them at different temperatures and test them every day.
Before carbonation, pinch them. They will be soft to the touch. As
they carbonate, they will become harder. When the bottle is at least
as hard as a soda, you are ready to go.

You will find that the warmer the beer, the faster it carbonates.

Loren

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5937, 04/10/12
*************************************
-------

Monday, April 9, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5936 (April 09, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5936 Mon 09 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Re: Bottle Conditioning (jeff)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:59:15 -0400
From: jeff <climbzen at pa.net>
Subject: Re: Bottle Conditioning

bottle conditioning in the fridge won't work well, if at all because the
yeast will be at best very sluggish. i have had bottles fail to ferment
in the winter when i had them sitting on the cold side of the living
room where it was in the low 50's, then moved them closer to the
woodstove and the carbed up. as to the time it takes there is more going
on when bottle conditioning then just carbonation. if that is all you
are going for say in a pale ale or ipa then they are probably good to go
in a week. if you really want to know how long just open a bottle every
day and see how it changes each day.
peace
jeff

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5936, 04/09/12
*************************************
-------

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5935 (April 08, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5935 Sun 08 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Sparging (Bruce Fabijonas)
Mash tun capacity (Fred L Johnson)
Bottle Conditioning (Nathaniel Letcher)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 23:51:34 -0400
From: Bruce Fabijonas <mathbruce at gmail.com>
Subject: Sparging

I know that there are strong opinions about fly sparging vs. batch sparging.
Lately, I've been blending the two methods to speed up the brew day. I
batch sparge the first runnings, and I fly sparge the rest. That is to say,
after the first runnings have emptied, I refill the mash tun with water, stir
up the grain bed, vorlauf until the runoff is clear, and then I fly sparge
from that point forward. I have not heard of anyone else doing this. Is
there some obvious reason why no one does this and I've simply missed the
boat?

Thanks.

Bruce Fabijonas

HOPS (Homebrewers of Philadelphia and Suburbs)

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

Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 08:33:20 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Mash tun capacity

Keith wants to know how much he can mash in a quarter barrel keg. Assuming a
quarter barrel (US) is 31.5/4 gallons, i.e., 7.875 gallons, you already have
the total volume the tun will contain. The amount of grain you can mash in
this will, of course, depend on the amount of water you mash with. I have not
performed the measurements myself, but what I have read is that grain can be
assumed to occupy 0.08 gallons/lb. If you have 19 lb of grain to mash, you
will be at the capacity of the tun if you mash with 1.337 quarts/lb. (You do
the math for other amounts of grain and for other amounts of water relative
to the grain.)

I am sure you do not want to completely fill your mash tun because it is
impossible to actually contain that volume with stirring, etc.

Fred L Johnson

Apex, North Carolina, USA

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

Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 07:22:52 -0500
From: Nathaniel Letcher <nathaniel.letcher at gmail.com>
Subject: Bottle Conditioning

Conventional lore suggests letting your beer sit for two weeks at room
temperature when carbonating in the bottle. This certainly works but
I was wondering whether it was necessary. How long does it really take
for the yeast to consume such a miniscule amount of sugar? Are we
waiting on them to produce the CO2? Or are we waiting all that time for
the CO2 to go into solution? I only know enough about chemistry/physics
to speculate, but I do know that the process of CO2 going into solution
is a function of temperature and the pressure of the vessel. Commercial
breweries that force carbonate their beer first chill it down to below forty
degrees Fahrenheit and then apply extra pressure to the tank. In the
case of bottle-conditioned homebrew, might it actually carbonate more
quickly in the refrigerator than at room temperature as the CO2 will more
readily go into solution at a lower temp? Has anyone tested this theory?

Nathan Letcher
St Louis, MO

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5935, 04/08/12
*************************************
-------

Friday, April 6, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5934 (April 06, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5934 Fri 06 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Re: Question about mash yield ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
Re: Fining on a large scale (Fred L Johnson)
Mash Tun, Hops, and Milling ("Keith Christian")
RE: Question about mash yield ("Ryan Thomas")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 07:11:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: Re: Question about mash yield

Mike;
I brew a lot, and while I don't do a lot of calculating (I let Promash do
that for me), it appears to me that beyond the conversion temperature/s,
other factors that have had an impact on my efficiencies have to do with
the amt of water used in the mash, the amt of hot liquor, the length of
the boil, and I am sure that there is also some water chemistry goin on
too, but other than real light brews when I have to use some distilled
water (my water is like Munich water, rather on the hard side), I don't
do much beyond calcium sulfate in the mash (drops the ph) and acidifying
the sparge water.

Happy Brewing!
Darrell

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

Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 08:59:38 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Fining on a large scale

Aaron is having trouble dropping yeast in a 780 gallon batch of beer and
asks if the amount of gelatin he uses for what approximatley 5-gallon batches
can be simply scaled up to use for a 780 gallon batch. Assuming that the
amount of gelatin Aaron uses for 5-gallon batches is an appropriate amount, I
can't imagine any reason why this would not be directly scalable to a
different size batch, unless the concentration of yeast he is trying to drop
in the large batch is different than in the 5-gallon batches. The amount of
gelatin relative to the amount of target material (yeast) in suspension
should be a constant in my opinion. Of course, gelatin binds other things
also, and these must be in the same concentration as in his 5-gallon batches
also for this to work as expected.

Fred L Johnson

Apex, North Carolina, USA

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

Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 07:27:48 -0700
From: "Keith Christian" <keithchristian at roadrunner.com>
Subject: Mash Tun, Hops, and Milling

I am making some changes in my brewing setup and I am looking for some
advice.

I am switching to a quarter barrel instead of a half barrel keg as my mash
tun and I am interested in how much grain others are able to mash
comfortably in one. My next batch consists of 19 lbs of grain and I am sure
that it will work just fine, but wondering how much would max it out.

My next batch is going to be an IPA and I thought I'd try Magnum hops for
bittering. The AA is listed at 20! I have never used hops with that high
of an AA and wonder how best to use them. The later additions of hops are
going to be Simcoe. Looking forward to brewing a hoppy beer!

When purchasing grain, I have always requested that it be bagged up
separately so it can be milled by itself. I am wondering if this is
something that I should continue to do or not. Milling Carapils with 2 row
will be easier to mill than just the carapils by itself. The mill I use is
a Malt mill set on its finest setting.

Thanks,

Keith

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

Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 09:53:23 -0600
From: "Ryan Thomas" <ryanthomasai at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Question about mash yield

Mike inquires about differences in his brewhouse efficiency between batches.
One thing to look at is differences in grain, and another is how you are
calculating your efficiency. I use ProMash for my efficiency calculations,
and I use the included values for Pale and Pils malts. I have a consistent
supply of both but I do not have the actual specs from the maltster as far
as potential yield. Using the defaults I always have very high (95+)
efficiency when using pale malt and lower (80-85) efficiency when using
mostly pils. This leads me to suspect that the default values are low for
the pale and high for the pils compared to my actual grains on hand. If
your grain source changed between recipes that could account for your
differences.

Changes in your crush will also change your efficiency. If you used the
mill at your LHBS it may have been changed between batches.

Cheers,
Ryan Thomas
Broomfield, CO

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5934, 04/06/12
*************************************
-------

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5933 (April 05, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5933 Thu 05 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Fining on a large scale? (Aaron Hermes)
"Decoction" by Ron Pattinson (Aaron Hermes)
No Chilling/ Sealing (Pete Calinski)
Question about mash yield ("Mike Sherretz")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 22:52:28 -0400
From: Aaron Hermes <aaron.hermes at gmail.com>
Subject: Fining on a large scale?

I have recently had the opportunity to brew a commercial batch at a local
brewery, and although the beer tastes and smells great, the yeast is not
dropping out like I would have hoped. The batch was brewed on the de facto
pilot brew system (single run through the brewhouse, with the "small"
fermenter), and as such, is too small for them to mess with their normal
filter setup (losses would be too great, etc). I've used gelatin on a few
homebrew batches in the past, once the beer is kegged in 5 gal corny kegs,
but don't know if the math is the same on a larger batch. Should I
literally multiple the amount of gelatin I've used in a homebrew keg
scenario by 160 (roughly 780 gallons in the batch) and be OK? Or does it
not scale linearly?

Is there anywhere else I should look for references on using gelatin (or
other fining agents) on a commercial scale?

Thanks!

aaron

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 23:31:36 -0400
From: Aaron Hermes <aaron.hermes at gmail.com>
Subject: "Decoction" by Ron Pattinson

I didn't expect I'd submit two questions to the collective on the same
night, but they're different enough that I don't want them to be lumped
together...

Has anyone downloaded/read Ron Pattinson's e-book "Decoction"? I'm
curious, but disinclined to read an e-book (I'd rather get good ol' hard
copy). If it's really good, I'll suck it up and and deal with reading it
on my computer, but if it's not worth it, I'll gladly save the eight
dollars.

Does anyone have opinions either way?

aaron

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

Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 08:30:44 -0400
From: Pete Calinski <pete.calinski at gmail.com>
Subject: No Chilling/ Sealing

Humm... "Air tight sealing".

That brings to mind the science demonstration where they boil some water in
a can then seal the can. Everybody waits and watches the can collapse under
room pressure as the gas inside cools.

I think that would mean a typical attempt to keep the bad stuff out would be
tough because room air is going to be drawn in.

My $0.02.

Pete

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

Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 23:55:39 +0800
From: "Mike Sherretz" <m.sherretz at yahoo.com>
Subject: Question about mash yield

I have been brewing since the early 90's but mostly partial mash or extract
recipes. I recently took the plunge into all grain and have been surprised
by the "apparent efficiency" of the mash. My latest Schwartz bier had an
efficiency of 91%. I expected an OG of 1.052 and was surprised to see
1.062. This was followed with a Nevada Pale Ale also in the 91% range and
then an American Lager with Corn mash also in the 91% range.

Today, I made an Irish Red Ale and it came out as expected at 72%
efficiency. This is the same as my first couple all-grain batches and in
the range most people seem to get. Can anybody tell me where to look for
what's going on? Why can't I get a predictable efficiency from my mash?

I mash in a 6 gallon ss pot placed inside a 10 gallon ss pot with water and
a ring to hold the bottom of the inner pot up so it is completely surrounded
by water and no scorching possible. After mashing ( sometimes overshot by a
couple degrees but never over 162), I pour the mash into my preheated cooler
with a false bottom and recirculate until clear, then drain and batch sparge
until I get my boil volume of 6.25 gallons (for a 5 gallon batch).

Am I somehow extracting more starch and not sugar that raises the OG and FG?

Mike Sherretz

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5933, 04/05/12
*************************************
-------

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5932 (April 04, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5932 Wed 04 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
Re: removing hot break/cold break material (Randy Ricchi)
No Chilling (rickdude)
RE hot break (David Root)
No chill brewing comment (Joshua Pack)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:26:37 -0400
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us>
Subject: Re: removing hot break/cold break material

I use pellet hops, and an immersion chiller. I usually brew 8 gallon
batches, boiling in a stainless half barrel. After chilling, I put the boiler
up on a table and stir like crazy (sanitized spoon) until I get a really good
vortex. I cover the boiler and let it sit for an hour and a half. I then
siphon clear wort out to the fermentor (a 10 gallon SS pot), pitch the yeast,
Oxygenate (pure O2), put the lid on, and ferment. The break material and
pellet spooge and wort left behind is usually 2 to 3 quarts so out of an 8
gallon batch I'm getting 7.25 to 7.5 gallons of clear wort in the fermentor.

Not sure how many years I have been doing it this way, but it's been a long
time. Works for me.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:43:30 -0400
From: rickdude at tds.net
Subject: No Chilling

I am really looking forward to the results of David's chill/no-chill test.
But more than that, I'm thinking I might try it out for a Pre-Prohibition
Pilsner.

Rick

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 06:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Root <david_root2000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE hot break

Mike asked about transferring hot break.

I use whole hops. I have a 6" long 1/4" copper line going IN from

the drain cock (ball valve) on the bottom of my 1/2 keg with the top cut
out.

I drilled a small hole across the end of the tube. I then insert a small
wire about the size of an unfolded paper clip into the hole. Then I put

on a copper pot scrubber or Curly Cate. The hops and copper scrubber make
for a filter.

Gravity drains my kettle.

David

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 17:29:53 +0000
From: Joshua Pack <Joshua.Pack at kbz.com>
Subject: No chill brewing comment

>From what I understand about No Chill Brewing, this does not mean you just
let it sit around for a few days.

They use the practice a lot in Australia. The idea is to get a heat
resistant container that you can seal airtight. You take your brew directly
from the boil to the sanitized container and seal it. The heat of the wort
should kill anything in the container that he sanitizer missed. Seal the
container and store it somewhere at a stable room temp. This should give you
a culture free wort just waiting for a yeast to pitch in. When you are ready
to pitch and ferment, just take the wort from you container, toss it in a
primary, top up with water if you were partial or extract brewing, pitch
yeast and oxygenate. There are some folks that have waited up to one year to
start fermenting with no issues, but the consensus seems to be 3-6 months max
before throwing away the air-sealed, non-fermenting wort.

They actually have food grade plastic cubes for just this thing. Makes it
easy if you're brewing at a buddies house and don't want to transport a
primary and all that it entails.

All that being said, my grandfather used to brew beer back in the day and
his primary was a large crock pot with no lid and a cheese cloth over the
fermenting beer. He got good beer. He also had issues with strange flavors
and exploding bottles. Basically he had a bet that his yeast could outcompete
with anything else that might have gotten into his wort. Sometimes he won and
he had great beer. Sometimes he lost and cleaned up exploded bottles. But he
almost never got the same beer twice.

Joshua Pack

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5932, 04/04/12
*************************************
-------

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5931 (April 03, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5931 Tue 03 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
My podcast (Or, I'm an idiot) (Joseph M Labeck Jr)
removing hot break/cold break material ("Mike Patient")
Thank you (David Root)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:37:01 -0400
From: Joseph M Labeck Jr <jmlabeck at joesjokearchive.ws>
Subject: My podcast (Or, I'm an idiot)

Sorry everybody!

I just discovered I mistyped the URL for my podcast.
Try this:
http://blogtalkradio.com/youmakewhat

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

Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 11:20:04 -0400
From: "Mike Patient" <mpatient at rta.biz>
Subject: removing hot break/cold break material

In a recent post David mentioning not carrying over hot break material (he
also mention Cold is OK). I've heard this from a few places. What is
everyone else doing? Some people I know throw hops and all into the
fermenter, I personally use a funnel wit ha filter on it, albeit not a very
fine one. What are some techniques used out there to separate these
materials?

Mike

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

Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 17:16:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Root <david_root2000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Thank you

Thank all for the answer to my no chill question. I have been doing it for
about 10 or so batches. Life changes, I am using extract and specialty
grains for now, but again brewing 10 gallons at a time.

I used to open ferment in a 1/2 sanky. My problem now is I can not move
the beer. Too heavy for one person, so I went to the 7 gallon conical. Some
times I would put 1/2 the batch in the fermenter and 5 gallons in a plastic
jug (hot) to be fermented when the first half was done.

It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling putting almost boiling liquid in the
fermenter. It HAD to be sanitary. That part has proven out true, but I had
no problems open fermenting either.

Before I used only a 2 litre starter of 1007 yeast and drew the beer out
from under the yeast cake after 6 days at 68*f. I did this from the early
90s until a couple years ago. All beer goes in to corny kegs and is force
carbonated.

Now I use dry fermentes S04 and S05. One package per fermenter. I draw
stuff off the bottom every few days and the beer stays in the fermenter for 2
or 3 weeks.

Now that I have 2 fermenters, I can split a batch using S05 and 1056 from a
1 liter starter. I use 02 when using liquid yeast. I do not use it for the
dry yeast, although I could.

Next time I make a pale ale, I will split chill and no chill with the same
yeast.

Thanks for the quick professional answers. Good to see the digest active.

David

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5931, 04/03/12
*************************************
-------

Monday, April 2, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5930 (April 02, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5930 Mon 02 April 2012

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

***************************************************************
TODAY'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

No "sponsor-level" donation yet this year

Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********

HBD Server Fund
PO Box 871309
Canton, MI 48187-6309

Contents:
talk radio ("Richard Gleason, Jr")
Re: No chill brewing (Mike Schwartz)
no chill brewing! ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
Fwd: No chill brewing (David Houseman)
Dry Hopping ("Gary Peyton")
No chill brewing ("Dave Burley")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As always, donors and donations are publicly acknowledged
and accounted for on the HBD web page. Thank you

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
Spencer Thomas, and Bill Pierce

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

Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2012 20:36:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Richard Gleason, Jr" <rgleasonjr at att.net>
Subject: talk radio

Hey Joseph - I tried to visit the link you provided, but my computer will not
let me go there. Now what?

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

Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:29:15 -0500
From: Mike Schwartz <mjs at seadogboats.com>
Subject: Re: No chill brewing

David Root asks "I guess my question is why is quick chilling so important"?

SSM, the precursor to DMS, is converted to DMS quickly at temperatures
above 140F. DMS is volatile so it will come out of the beer during
boiling. If you cover a hot vat of wort you will generate and trap the
DMS. That's why Rolling Rock always had that cooked corn smell and
taste. If you like corn in your beer, no problem, if not, chill fast
after the boil. Some people really like that flavor, others don't. All
depends on your taste.

As for not pitching for three days after the boil, you got lucky and had
great sanitation. The sooner the yeast are in the less chance the
spoilage organisms have to take hold. As for the sanitation effects of
hot wort in your fermenter, you could always chill after you transfer
the beer to the fermenter. Just avoid aeration.

Mike Schwartz
Beer Barons of Milwaukee
beerbarons.org
worldofbeerfestival.com

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

Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 10:03:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: no chill brewing!

Wow! David that is a hoot!

One of the things that I have read about from numerous brewing books is
the claim that the time that it takes to chill the wort is critical in
that this is the time when one could get a contamination. The quicker one
chills, they say, the less the chance of contamination.

Are you not comfortable with bleach, or some of the newer sanitizers?

This is really interesting in that it goes against one of the "cardinal
rules". I need a therapist! Or perhaps a beer!

Let's see what others have to say.

Darrell

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

Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:42:03 -0500 (CDT)
From: David Houseman <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Fwd: No chill brewing

There are two reasons for not doing this no chill brewing. The first is that
you do not produce sterile wort. No matter what you do you will introduce
some amount of wild yeast, bacteria or mold spores into the wort. As the
wort cools slowly you have a great reproduction broth for these organisms.
You really want to chill and pitch a quantity of yeast that will
take off and overwhelm any other organism, not leaving them with food for
their own growth.

The second is DMS. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is often perceived as canned corn
or other vegetables. The DMS precursor is in malt, much more in lightly
kilned malts (pilsner, lager) and less so in pale ale malt and even less so
in the darker roasted malts. When you boil for an hour or so you drive off
the DMS that forms. But DMS will re-form as the wort cools. That's why you
boil uncovered as well; the DMS will condense and roll back into the kettle.
Wort that cools below about 170-180oF (forget the exact temps) will reform
DMS until the wort reacheds about 100-105oF (again I may have exact temps
wrong). You want to transition this range as fast as possible. Then
AERATE (O2) the wort VERY well and then pitch the right amount of healthy
viable yeast.

Oh, a third: You really don't want to carry hot break aterial over to the
fermenter; this reduces shelf life and beer quality. Cold break is OK; you
can leave that. You will produce beer with no-chill brewing but it will not
be as good as it can be. With all the water and energy used in chilling,
breweries world-wide would do that if it were a viable option. They don't
for very good reasons. Worth an experiment. Make 10 gallons (or whatever)
and take 1/2 to a fermenter (no chill) and chill the other 1/2. Do
everything else the same with them. Then taste the results. To be a good
experiment you may have to repeat several times. Document your experiment
and come speak at the AHA conference.

David Houseman
------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 13:13:49 -0500
From: "Gary Peyton" <gpeyton2 at comcast.net>
Subject: Dry Hopping

As an alternative to dry hopping, it seems as though soaking the hops in
vodka would extract more of the volatile hop oils from hops than would water
or wort, since the solubility of hydrocarbons like myrcene should be higher
in ethanol than in water*. One could even use everclear (95%) or some
dilution of it. There may be some more polar compounds left in the hops that
would be less efficiently extracted by alcohol. I would have thought that
these would be expected to be less important contributors to aroma, but
apparently not so. Lots of good information here:
http://beersensoryscience.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/glycosides/ . In
addition, late-boil hops could also be added to generate the oxidation
products like linalool and geraniol if wanted. Even better might be
decanting the extract and using the remaining hops for the late-boil addition
(read down to the part on "spent hop powder" in the above reference). So,
the main thing this might accomplish would be decreasing the loss of the
volatile aroma compounds. The extract could be added to the primary,
secondary, or bottling bucket/keg.

Comments? Results?

*I don't have any numbers, but the Merck Index says beta-myrcene is
"practically insoluble in water" but is "soluble in alcohol" (probably means
100% alcohol).

Gary

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

Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 16:29:14 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave Burley at charter.net>
Subject: No chill brewing

David Root,

There is a lot to be said for skipping a step in brewing if it does not
affect the outcome.

However, you will find tons of printed testimonials about not exposing hot
beer to the air before the yeast are active and able to absorb it. In my
experience this hot oxidation is what ruins most amateur beers and is a
charateristic which defines homebrewing in too many instances. " Cellar
palate" is a common problem ( and why we have local contests) and can lead
one to say "well my beer is OK" when in fact it has a major fault, to which
you have become accustomed..

Your method of filling your fermenter from the bottom will minimize the
oxidation, but you will still have it to some degree. Try a comparison of
chilling vs not chilling of the same beer recipe and see if you can tell the
diference by direct comparison..

Filling the fermenter from the bottom will likely minimize hot oxidation.

Keep on Brewin',

Dave Burley"

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5930, 04/02/12
*************************************
-------

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5929 (April 01, 2012)

HOMEBREW Digest #5929 Sun 01 April 2012

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

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Contents:
Re: Dry hopping (jeff)
No chill brewing (David Root)
Home brewing podcast (Joseph M Labeck Jr)
Rehydrating yeast; Recirculating wort (Nathaniel Letcher)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! *
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:57:38 -0400
From: jeff <climbzen at pa.net>
Subject: Re: Dry hopping

On 3/31/2012 1:09 AM, i wrote wrote:
> hop extract won't work, it is for bittering and will not
> give you nice hop aroma and taste, just make a very bitter beer.
*******************
as luck would have it after i posted this yesterday, i was reading an
article in a back issue of byo about hop torpedoes. in the article they
mention when sierra nevada was looking for ways of adding hop flavor
aroma one option was hop extracts post boil. so my comment was wrong.
sorry about the false information. i had always read that they were just
used for bittering and that they are supper bitter since the hop oils
are already isomerized. i would still stick with just dumping hops in
the fermenter though.
peace
jeff

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

Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 04:03:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Root <david_root2000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: No chill brewing

I have read on other websites about no chill brewing. I have done it quite
a few times with good luck. I would like some feed back from here.

What I have been doing is after my hops steep for 5 minutes , I hook a hose
to the outlet of the brew kettle and run the hot wort into the conical
stainless fermenter from the bottom. When its full, I cap, add air lock and
leave it alone. The next morning or evening I can then draw the trub off
hte bottom and add the yeast. I have had Zero problems so far in about 10
batches.

I guess my question is why is quick chilling so important?

I am blessed, my girlfriends children got together and bought me a second
stainless fermenter so I have twins! The last 10 gallon batch I brewed, I
put the chiller in the brew to sanitize it, then put it in each fermenter to
cool it to pitching temp.

My biggest like about the no chill brewing is the fermenter is guaranteed
sanitized with 190 f degree wort.

I did a batch this winter. When I was done brewing, I left it out side to
cool over night. Then next morning the wort was in the 40s, so I left it
inside. Then too warm the next morning. I did not get the brew to
pitching temp until the end of the 3rd day with what I could see as no ill
effects. No fermentation action in the airlock, no foam on top and it tasted
like wort. The beer was good and is now gone.

Long time HBD reader. I used to print the digest on an impact printer, all
twenty some pages and read it at work. Now I read it on my phone.

David Root

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

Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:41:27 -0400
From: Joseph M Labeck Jr <jmlabeck at joesjokearchive.ws>
Subject: Home brewing podcast

Hi, everybody;
I've avoided posting this for a LONG time. This just feels too close to
advertising. Since March of 2011, I've done a little half-hour internet
show on home brewing. I do the show live, talking, taking calls,
occasional guest; then, the show is available as a downloadable podcast.
I'm on live every Sunday at 6:30 PM Eastern Time.

I decided to name the show "You Make What?", because that was often the
answer I got when I mentioned I made beer.
Am I an "expert"? Heck, no! But, after 23 years, I'd like to think I've
learned a couple of things. And the odd thing is that I've learned as
much in doing the show as I've taught.

The bottom line is I love to talk about beer. I hope you'll consider
listening, and calling.
http://blogtalkradio,com/youmakewhat

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

Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2012 10:45:24 -0500
From: Nathaniel Letcher <nathaniel.letcher at gmail.com>
Subject: Rehydrating yeast; Recirculating wort

I recently came across a blog post (http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/
2010/03/2-things-literature-says-i-should-do-that-i-dont/) in which the
author
cautions against a) rehydrating dried yeast, and b) performing a Vorlauf
step
prior to lautering. He claims that rehydrating will "strip your yeast of
essential
(FAN)" and that recirculating wort will "strip out fatty acids that are
essential
for yeast nutrition." Of course, like much of homebrewing lore, he provides
no
scientific evidence for either of these assertions. So I was curious what
other
members of the forum are doing and how they believe this affects their beer.

Nathan Letcher
St Louis, MO

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5929, 04/01/12
*************************************
-------

Home Brew Digest

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5940 (April 22, 2012)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5939 (April 15, 2012)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5938 (April 13, 2012)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5937 (April 10, 2012)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5936 (April 09, 2012)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5935 (April 08, 2012)

Friday, April 6, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5934 (April 06, 2012)

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5933 (April 05, 2012)

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5932 (April 04, 2012)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5931 (April 03, 2012)

Monday, April 2, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5930 (April 02, 2012)

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Homebrew Digest #5929 (April 01, 2012)

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