Home Brew Digest: August 2008

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5407 (August 31, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5407 Sun 31 August 2008

FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
A.J.'s Beer color (Scott/Linda Bruslind)" <analabor@peak.org>
Re: Pansy water and what do to about it ("Craig S. Cottingham")
Pansy Water ("A.J deLange")
Custom glassware ("Doug Moyer")
Pansy water... (slaycock)

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

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:44:06 -0700
From: "Analysis_Lab (Scott/Linda Bruslind)" <analabor at peak.org>
Subject: A.J.'s Beer color

Don't go slumming on the MBAA website that Fred linked, go to the
source. You can get the Abstract free.
http://www.asbcnet.org/journal/toc/2008/jno308tc.htm
So, what happens next, you hbd'ers are asking yourselves, breathless
with anticipation and/or poor pulmonary fitness?
A new/alternative method subcommittee will be drawn up (volunteers?) and
an interlaboratory, designed experiment (inevitably, a Youden Unit
Block) will be conducted.
Results will be reported to the Technical Committee and then published
in the ASBCJ.
A decision to accept the new method and then amend Beer-10A in the
Methods of Analysis (MOA) will follow.
The European Brewing Convention
http://www.europeanbreweryconvention.org/ and
Brewing Convention of Japan http://www.brewers.or.jp/bcoj/bcoj-en.html
may adopt as suits their members.
As an outside chance, it's quite possible Jeff Cornell will review and
add A.J.'s transformations to an embedded calculator available in the CD
version of the MOA.
This is the age of miracles and wonderment. Congratulations, indeed, to
Herr DeLange. I've got to get a scanning spectrophotometer.
Scott Bruslind
Lacomb, OR

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

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:41:34 -0500
From: "Craig S. Cottingham" <craig.cottingham at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Pansy water and what do to about it

On Aug 29, 2008, at 10:13, "Samuel Bosco" <samuel.bosco at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My house water is softened by a Culligan water softener. I know
> that by
> itself this water is generally useless for brewing.

[ ... ]

> Are there any salt amendments that give the full suite of important
> brewing
> salts? Would the proper addition just Burton
> salts be enough to support yeast health and brew a good ale or would a
> cocktail of salts be required?

The first thing to do would be to get your water analyzed. Rule #1 is
"you can't control what you don't measure." I've seen various
mentions here of labs that do water analysis; hopefully someone will
pipe up with a recommendation.

You say that the sodium is below your taste threshold, but it still
may be high enough to affect the flavor of your beer. (That's just me
speculating; I don't have any water chemistry literature close at
hand.) If it *does* end up being higher than you want, you can always
cut some of your tap water with reverse-osmosis drinking water.

> When does one add the salts? Mash? Pre Mash? Boil? Sparge?

Since the calcium has been stripped from your water, you'll need to
add at least some of the minerals to your mash water, or you won't
get good conversion of starch to sugars.

> What are some good texts that can explain this subject (be they
> zymurgy/byo
> articles or internet articles or book chapters)

If I remember correctly, John Palmer's book _How to Brew_ has a good
chapter on water chemistry.

- --
Craig S. Cottingham
BJCP Certified judge from Olathe, KS ([621, 251.1deg] Apparent
Rennerian)
craig.cottingham at gmail.com

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

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:45:15 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Pansy Water

Sam:

You are asking a bunch of questions the answers to which could fill the
digest for weeks. If you look back in the archives you will indeed finds
months' worth of posts on this subject. The problem is they aren't
sorted in any particularly useful way and perspectives have changed
somewhat over the years so it's probably worthwhile to review where we
are now and this might get you pointed in the right direction.

To start with water softeners: what they do is remove beneficial (from
the brewers perspective) calcium and magnesium from the water replacing
them with sodium (which may be detrimental from the cardiologist's point
of view but not particularly so from the brewer's unless the level of
sodium is high enough that the water and resulting beer taste salty).
They do not touch detrimental bicarbonate. The job of calcium and
magnesium in brewing water is to offset the effects of bicarbonate in
raising mash pH. Sodium can't do this. That is the problem. Rather than
removing the water softener perhaps you can tap into the system in front
of it. In well installations there is usually a drain valve for the
pressure tank which can be accessed. In any case a saddle valve (used
for connecting ice makers humidifiers, etc.) can be installed upstream.
Another alternative, usually available in modern softeners, is a built
in bypass valve which you could operate while drawing brewing water and
restore to its normal position when finished. SWMBO wouldn't even have
to know this has been done.

The only thing different between softened and unsoftened water (by the
usual home water softener) is the replacement of Ca and Mg by Na.
Bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate will all be the same. For
example, my water with Ca hardness of about 80, Mg hardness of about 40,
alkalinity at about 80, chloride at 7, sulfate at 28 and sodium at about
10 mg/L would, after passing through a softener, look like approximately
Ca and Mg harndesses of 1 each, alkalinity at 80, chloride at 7, sufate
at 28 and sodium at about 65 mg/L - hardly a blank canvas unless the
incoming water is low in minerals to begin with in which case a softener
would not be installed (unless the salesman was very clever). Even so
it is possible to approximate the water of any region you choose
provided that 1) you know what the ion profile of that water is 2) you
know the profile of the water you are starting with 3) you are willing
to accept that the laws of chemistry will only allow an approximation in
many cases. Point 1 is important because there are many reports of what,
for example, the ion profile of Munich is that are chemically
impossible. This is because averages are reported, inconsistencies in
units, errors in recording, measurement and reporting and changes in
values over time as the reports are passed from brewer to brewer. One
also needs to keep in mind that there is little point in duplicating the
hardness and alkalinity of Munich water in preparation for making a
Helles as the first step is going to be softening/decarbonation of that
water.

In any case the first step is in understanding what you have to work
with. If on a well send a sample (pre softener ) off to a lab. If on a
municipal supply get the annual water quality report from the
municipality. It is a simple matter to calculate post softener results
from pre-softener data. Based on your supply you can then decide how to
go about getting the water you need. If your water should be high in
hardness and alkalinity but low in everything else (like Munich's) then
you can decarbonate (by treating with lime or boiling) and perhaps
dilute with some purchased DI or RO water. Another option is to install
an RO device (in front of the softener) to obtain RO water for blending
or for use with salt additions to approximate a desired ion progile.
Salt additions to low mineral content water can be obtained from the
recipes posted on my website (www.wetnewf.org).

If the water is more or less normal it is still possible to supplement
with salts to approximate desired properties. With the exception of
hardness and alkalinity it is difficult to remove ions (RO, anion/cation
exhangers will serve but tend to be expensive and slow). Thus you can't
expect to acheive a profile with less of something than your source
water unless you dilute that something to below the desired level (or
remove it somehow). Working with diluted tap water is very doable.
Dilute enough to get the largest item you want down to where you want it
(e.g. I have 28 mg/L sulfate and would like a quarter of that for
Bohemian Pils so dilute 3:1 with RO water) and then supplement back up
anything that got diluted too much in attacking the main offender.

For synthesis from low mineral content (or DI) water I've got a
spreadsheet which I'm working on for an upcoming brewing water class
which I suppose is far enough along that I can post it and I've done so.
It's also at www.wetnewf.org. Bear in mind that it needs a little polish.

Finally, the perspective seems to have shifted from slavish attempts to
duplicate the water of, for example, Dortmund to the more practical
assessment of Residual Alkalinity (hardness and alkality dependent) and
adjustment to get proper mash pH with tweaking of "stylistic" ions
(sodium, sulfate, chloride) to get the desired flavor effects.

A.J.

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

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:20:23 -0400
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: Custom glassware

For those of you that have ordered custom glassware, can you share your
experiences?

I'd like to order a dozen or two "tasting" glasses - something in the 4 oz.
range, printed with a personal logo.

Ideas? Comments?

I might also order a few dozen for my homebrew club - be nice to have at the
meetings...

Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Troutville, VA

Star City Brewers Guild: http://www.starcitybrewers.org
Beers wot I drunk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shyzaboy/sets/72157603460612903/

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

Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:44:41 -0500 (CDT)
From: slaycock at discoverynet.com
Subject: Pansy water...

"Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:13:14 -0400
From: "Samuel Bosco" <samuel.bosco at gmail.com>
Subject: Pansy water and what do to about it

My house water is softened by a Culligan water softener. I know that by
itself this water is generally useless for brewing.
At the outset of this question I would like to request that no one replies
in the vein of "remove the water softener" because
that is not going to happen (I do not control the utilities of the house)
and I am not ready to move out."

I'm far from a water chemist, but Ive got a thought.

It's likely that the only water that goes through the water softener are
the water for inside usage. Do you have an outdoor spigot (faucet) for
gardening or general watering purposes that isnt hooked up to the
softener?
If so, you could use that water with a good filter and have a better
starting point for your brewing water.

Steve
High Water Brewhaus

- --
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------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5407, 08/31/08
*************************************
-------

Friday, August 29, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5406 (August 29, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5406 Fri 29 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
Beer color (Fred M. Scheer)
RA ("A.J deLange")
Pansy water and what do to about it ("Samuel Bosco")
MALT Turkey Shoot 2008 (Jack Mowbray)

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and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:38:31 +0000
From: fredscheer07 at comcast.net (Fred M. Scheer)
Subject: Beer color

HI All:

Just wanted you to know that A.J. deLange has an extremely good
article in the Journal of the ASBC (American Society of Brewing
Chemists, pp 143 - 150). He discusses Beer color in very detail, based on
measurement of 99 beers.
Great Job A.J.

Fred M. Scheer
Nashville, TN
http://www.mbaa.com/emergingIssues/default.htm

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

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:08:39 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: RA

In the example in the article (Ca = 225, Mg = 40, Alk = 220) If these
are all in ppm as CaCO3 the proper calculation is RA = 220 - (225/3.5 +
40/7) = 150 ppm as CaCO3. Now as 1 milliequivalent per liter corresponds
to 50 ppm as CaCO3 one could also express this RA as 150/50 = +3 mEq/L
(not -3) but the fact that the digit 3 is involved is suspicious. If
the Ca and Mg numbers are "as the ion" (which is doubtless the case as
the given numbers as the ion are about right for Dortmund) you would use
the formula you quote from me to convert the mg/L as the ion to mEq/L in
which case the calculation is RA = 220 - 50(11.25/3.5 + 3.292/7) = 35.8,
about what you got. In general the RA formula is RA = Alk - ({Ca}/3.5 +
{Mg}/7) where {Ca} and {Mg} can be in units of ppm as CaCO3, mg/L as
the ion, grains per gallon or whatever you like but Alk must be in the
same units and RA is then in those units as well. So I think you aren't
doing anything wrong. I don't have the article to look at but I'm
guessing it's a typo.

A.J.

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

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:13:14 -0400
From: "Samuel Bosco" <samuel.bosco at gmail.com>
Subject: Pansy water and what do to about it

As of now, I have been using store bought spring water, which has worked
fine but I feel like it is wasteful of both money
and my time. Tap water is much cheaper and much more convenient.

So as I said before I realize that soft water is essential useless when it
comes to brewing, Culligan water systems not only
soften the water in the traditional sense of the term but the essential
remove all non water components and the way mine
is set up it is exchanged with sodium. I do not know the ppm of sodium in
the water but I can tell you that it is below
perception by taste.

Soft water such as mine also has potential to be a "blank canvas" and I can
tailor my brewing liquor to whatever style I wish
to brew. However I am not yet familiar with brewing water chemistry and I do
not know about the intricacies of amending water
with salts. As I make the switch to all grain I would like to utilize the
water from my tap and really understand my home
brewery.

My questions are:

Are there any salt amendments that give the full suite of important brewing
salts? Would the proper addition just Burton
salts be enough to support yeast health and brew a good ale or would a
cocktail of salts be required?

When does one add the salts? Mash? Pre Mash? Boil? Sparge?

What are some good texts that can explain this subject (be they zymurgy/byo
articles or internet articles or book chapters)

As experienced brewers what have you all found that works well?

Thnank you,
Sam Bosco

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

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:20:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jack Mowbray <jmowbray at verizon.net>
Subject: MALT Turkey Shoot 2008

Maryland Ale and Lager Technicians (MALT) are pleased to
announce their 4th Annual Turkey Shoot* Homebrew Competition.
This is a BJCP-sanctioned event.

In addition to quality feedback on all entries, cash prizes will be
awarded for Best of Show as well as for 2nd and 3rd place overall.
Ribbons and sponsored prizes will be awarded to individual category
winners.

The competition will be held Sunday, November 9th at Clipper
City Brewing Company in Baltimore, MD. All BJCP beer categories
will be accepted. The deadline for entries is November 1st.

Additional information, rules, entry forms, and bottle labels may
be found at the MALT website: http://www.maltclub.org

As in the past, we welcome the participation of BJCP-accredited
judges. Anyone who is interested in helping with the judging should
contact:

Mike McMahon
fishandbrew at comcast.net

*no live birds will be harmed during this event

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5406, 08/29/08
*************************************
-------

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5405 (August 28, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5405 Thu 28 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
Disturbance in the Froth, you say? ("Pat Babcock")
I can't follow John Palmer's RA numbers in a recent Zymurgy article? ("stevesveil-hbd@yahoo.com")

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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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:44:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Pat Babcock" <pbabcock at hbd.org>
Subject: Disturbance in the Froth, you say?

Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...

Well, many have noticed that the HBD seems to have
"blinked out" of existence. To wit the HBD might
respond: the rumor of my demise is highly
exaggerated...

The HBD networks have moved to a new provider, and
you are experiencing the transition issues.

Here's why it seems to be taking so long:

Since our old provider was so slow, the TTL (time
to live) records in our DNS were set to 48 hours -
this meant that other DNS servers would touch ours
every 48 hours to ensure they were up to date.
Unfortunately, it also means that your
local DNS server likely is still dealing with the
old DNS record, which now point off into the ether.
The "48 hours" I'm talking about here *should* be
expired sometime Friday, 29 August; however
(there're always "howevers", aren't there?)...

Since we host our own DNS servers, I also had to
update the IP addresses associated with those
servers with our registrar. That means that when
many reach out to touch our DNS servers, they may
get only air if the change in IP address for our
DNS servers has not propagated through yet. This
appears to not be much of an issue as I had remote
utilities reporting the proper address within hours
of the change. Some ISPs will take longer to update,
some already have it.

Finally, and as usual, the persnickety HBD server is
coughing up some of its own problems, which I am
working steadily to resolve. These problems may
cause "within site" referencing errors when visiting
the HBD, including access to Brews and Views, The
Recipator, The Fleamarket, and the admin controls of
any mailing list hosted here.

The GOOD news is that sendmail seems to be humming
along just fine.

I am redeploying the machines in our network and,
once completed, our new ISP will create reverse DNS
records for our IP space - something our last ISP
claimed to have done, but something that apparently
never functioned while we were on board. This
*should* fix all of the domains which were bouncing
the HBD traffic out of hand because (a) we're finally
off of the Covad network, whose IPs many ISPs
automatically reject (they have/had a lot of
"unsecured" dial-ups, and a lot of
rogue domains on their DSL, from what I
understand...) and (b) reverse DNS
resolution is used by many mail servers today to
authenticate the incoming mail.

If you have a domain hosted by the HBD network, you
should be OK in a short period of time, if not
already. If you are such a person (domain hosted; not
just a website), please be sure to email me next week,
as I'll have some changes you'll need to make with your
registrar once I finish redeploying machines on the
etwork - I'm planning to separate DNS from any other
processes, so the you nameservers will need to be
changed with your registrar.

Plus, in terms of those Brews and Views fans, this line
should prove to be about 16 times faster than the old
connection, and a much lower monthly cost.

With that all said, please have a safe and enjoyable
weekend - holiday weekend, here in the states!
Hopefully, when we come up on the other side of it, all
will be well once again with the HBD network!

All the best!

Pat Babcock
Chief of Janitorial Services
Home Brew Digest, Inc.

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

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:22:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: "stevesveil-hbd at yahoo.com" <stevesveil-hbd@yahoo.com>
Subject: I can't follow John Palmer's RA numbers in a recent Zymurgy article?

Hi all,

In Zymurgy magazine (volume 31 No 4 July/August 2008) John Palmer has a
nice article titled "The Role of Residual Alkalinity". However in table 6
"Water: Classic Cities and Their Beer Styles" there is a
"RA (ppm as CaCO3)" column that I can't calculate the results for. Well I
do calculate the RA for Pilsen Ok but none of the other cities.

I'm just learning about water chemistry for brewing and this is
confusing me. Maybe I'm not fully understanding something?

I'm using the last ra equation from A.J. deLange post #4976 Sunday 19
March 2006.

ra = alk - 50*([Ca]/20/3.5 + [Mg]/12.15/7) ppm as CaCO3
where:
ra is in ppm as CaCO3
alk is in ppm as CaCO3
Ca is in ppm
Mg is in ppm

For example in table 6 John list Dortmund as
Ca (ppm) = 225
Mg (ppm) = 40
Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 (ppm) = 220
RA (ppm as CaCO3) = -3

When I calculate using these values I get ra = 36. That not even
close to John's RA (ppm as CaCO3) = -3!
Can someone please help me understand where I've gone wrong?,
Thanks,
Steve Seeley
Shingle Springs, CA (between Sacramento and Tahoe off highway 50)

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5405, 08/28/08
*************************************
-------

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5404 (August 27, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5404 Wed 27 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
WTF: Water Analysis (IT)" <stjones@eastman.com>
RE: Best yeast for saison ("Josh Knarr")
Water Hardness ("A.J deLange")
Re: Saison yeasts ("Blake Mikesell")
Chico strain and diacetyl (Matt)
Dark wheat (Thomas Rohner)
Locust Bean Beer! (slaycock)

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

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
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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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:35:21 -0400
From: "Jones, Steve (IT)" <stjones at eastman.com>
Subject: WTF: Water Analysis

Wow . what a brain cramp.

I was mixing up chlorine removal and hardness removal (lime treatment).

I guess my brain stayed on vacation an extra day. That's what I get for
not
observing the break-in period after a 2 week vacation ending with a 3
day
homebrew campout!

- ------------------------------------
Steve Jones, Johnson City, TN
[421.7, 168.5deg] AR

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

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:14:04 -0400
From: "Josh Knarr" <josh.knarr at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Best yeast for saison

Reculture it from a bottle of Saison Dupont if you're looking for
something that's immediately "classic".

I'm told from other mailing list conversations that WLP566 is exactly
this yeast (White Labs Saison II). For a recent batch of Pumpkin Ale
which I thought would do well with the flavor profile, I used a
cultured yeast from a bottle of Saison Dupont along with WLP565 (no
WLP566 available here).

Then I forgot that the conversion from AG to DME is .6, so there's
probably twice as much malt in there as is reasonable for the yeast
and style. This is going to make a very interesting beer.

- --

Fred Allen - "California is a fine place to live - if you happen to
be an orange."

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

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:54:38 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Water Hardness

I've been asked how I got total hardness of 200 ppm as CaCO3 in my
response in #5403 to Steve Jones question in #5402. Steve reported his
water as having 63.8 Ca++, 10.1 Mg++, 5.8 Na+, 6.7 SO4--, 13 Cl- and 230
HCO3- with no units specified. Given the usual way of doing things we
assume all numbers to be mg/L "as the metal" in the case of calcium,
magnesium and sodium, and "as the ion" in the case of the other species.
To test this hypothesis I assume a pH of about 7 and see if the water's
cation/anion balance is good which it is. Thus we look at 63.8 mg/L
calcium ion with an equivalent weight of 20 which gives 3.19
milliequivalents/L calcium and 10.1 mg/L magnesium with an equivalent
weight of 12.15 for 0.83 mEq/L magnesium and thus a total hardness of
4.02 mEq/L. Because 100 mg/L calcium carbonate dissolved by carbonic
acid (the usual mechanism in natural waters) results in 2 mEq/L calcium
hardness and 2 mEq/L alkalinity water chemists commonly multiply mEq/L
by 50 to get 100 "ppm as CaCO3" harness and 100 ppm as CaCO3 alkalinity
from 100 mg CaCO3. These are the usual units for specifying hardness
and alkalinity. Doing this gives 201 ppm as CaCO3 for Steve's water
which I rounded to 200. That's it!

A.J.

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

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:12:54 -0400
From: "Blake Mikesell" <blake.mikesell at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Saison yeasts

Doug,

This is a newer strain, and not even labelled a Saison yeast strain,
but I'll be using it a lot in the future.

>From Wyeast's site:

Wyeast 3726 PC Farmhouse Ale
This strain produces complex esters balanced with earthy/spicy notes.
Slightly tart and dry with a peppery finish. A perfect strain for
farmhouse ales and saisons.
Attenuation 74-79%
Alc. Tolerance 12%
Flocculation variable
Temperature Range 70-95F (21-35C)

I like this one because it gives more of the Fantome style saison
traits, more of the funky qualities that one doesn't always find in
other yeast strains. I have used it to make a standard saison, and a
fruited wild ale, and both came out with great success.

Unfortunately/fortunately, this is a seasonal strain by Wyeast and if
you wish to keep using it, you'll have to harvest the yeast yourself.
The advantage is that you can save money not buying packets all the
time, and the one extra step isn't all that difficult.

I'm sure there will be others with much more information than I have
on this subject.

Blake

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

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:30:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matt <baumssl27 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Chico strain and diacetyl

I'd love to hear any experiences or wisdom people have
about what would cause the Chico (WY1056/WLP001/US-05)
ale strain to leave noticable diacetyl. I've had some
experiences in which the dry version US-05 leaves
residual diacetyl when using two packs (rehydrated in
85F water) for 5 gallons of 13P all-grain beer. (BTW
I do not crash cool my beer before the 2 week point.)

I know "standard wisdom" is that the Chico strain is
very clean (which is why I use it, for certain pseudo-
lager-ish beers). However, "Brew Like a Monk" quotes
Vinnie Cilurzo as stating that it can spit out diacetyl
above 68F (I assume he means enough diacetyl that it may
not get entirely mopped up later on--obviously at least
some diacetyl would be produced at any temperature).

My experience is somewhat consistent with this statement,
in that I generally don't get noticable residual diacetyl
when the initial (pre-slowdown) portion of the ferment
takes place at 66F or lower. But I'd like to hear about
what other people have experienced with this strain.

Any thoughts?

Matt

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

Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:36:53 +0200
From: Thomas Rohner <t.rohner at bluewin.ch>
Subject: Dark wheat

Hi Aaron

i'm a fan of simple receipes as well.
The last dark wheat i made was with a 50/50 grist (pils/dark wheat).
It doesn't get very dark, certainly not "porterish". If i want it that way,
i'd go for 50% dark wheat, 35% pils , 15% munich and some
1-2% high-SRM stuff like Carafa or choc. I don't like to use more
than 50% wheat malt(light or dark), because of the sparge problems.
I also don't like to use too much of the high-SRM malts, because
they tend to impart a burnt flavour imho.
While a "helles weizen" rather looses it's typical signature with aging,
a "dunkelweizen" mellows over time and gets better for quite a while.
(Most of the time, that's as long as it lasts...)
Your recipe suggestion makes sense to me, maybe a bit more munich
and bit less choc for my taste. But if you like it really dark, your recipe
looks good. (munich at 8 SRM and choc at 500)

This year, we made 3 batches of "helles weizen", a raspberry wheat
and instead of a regular dark, we made a dark wheat bock Aventinus-clone.

as my post was rejected originally due to the 80 char limit, i have read the
posts already answering your question. I see it the same way they do.

Cheers Thomas

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

Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:09:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: slaycock at discoverynet.com
Subject: Locust Bean Beer!

Here's one for your strange request file..
A friend of a friend has heard of a "Locust Bean Beer" and was asking if I
heard or know how to make such a concoction.

Anybody have any ideas? Or sources I might check out for such.

Thanks for any help!
Steve Laycock
High Water Brewhaus
Pleasant Hill Mo.

- --
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5404, 08/27/08
*************************************
-------

Monday, August 25, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5403 (August 25, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5403 Mon 25 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
RE: Dunkelweizen questions ("David Houseman")
Water ("A.J deLange")
Best yeast for saison ("Doug Moyer")
Re: Dunkelweizen (Kai Troester)
Siebel Sensory Analysis Seminar at GABF ("Lemcke Keith")
Error in Aeration Methods Experiments (Fred L Johnson)

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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:20:18 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: RE: Dunkelweizen questions

Aaron,

I would not describe a Dunkelweizen as "porterish" and roasted malts
wouldn't be a great choice. Of course there are a number of opinions, but
I've made, and had from others, the best Dunkelweizens which were
essentially 50/50 Wheat/Munich malts. A bit (couple ounces) of de-husked
Carafa if you want this to be darker. I'm not in favor of using others'
recipes since there are so many variables that you won't get the same beer
anyway. It is good to look at what others do (Ray's book, Designing Great
Beers is an excellent read). But then create your own recipe to match your
system and your ingredients. Yes, I believe all beers, ales and lagers
alike benefit from a period of cold conditioning.

David Houseman

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:17:05 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Water

Your water isn't that hard (total hardness = 200 ppm as CaCO3) but it is
too hard for Pilsners and other beers that require soft water though the
sulfate level is low enough for beers that use quantities of noble hops.
So all you have to is decarbonate somewhat and that will remove much of
the hardness at the same time. There are dozens of articles on
decarbonation methods in the HBD archives. Use of Campden tablets is not
one of them - those are used to combat chloramine if your municipal
supplier uses that for disinfection. The time honored method of
decarbonation is simple boiling - chalk precipitates and the remaining
water has hardness of about 50 - 100 ppm as CaCO3 which, given the low
sulfate, is probably OK for Pils etc. though you can get it softer by
dilution 1:1 or 2:1 distilled:treated water.

A.J.

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:30:54 -0400
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: Best yeast for saison

I've been thinking about brewing a saison in the next week or two. From
those who brew this style fairly often, what's your favorite saison yeast
(and why)?

Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Troutville, VA

Star City Brewers Guild: http://www.starcitybrewers.org
Beers wot I drunk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shyzaboy/sets/72157603460612903/

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:37:50 -0400
From: Kai Troester <kai at braukaiser.com>
Subject: Re: Dunkelweizen

> I want there to be a clear contrast between the two, with the
> dunkelweizen being almost "porterish," if that makes sense. I mean I
> want a roasted character to it to add some depth to the flavor. I'm
> planning on a pretty straight-ahead wheat/pils/munich/choc wheat
> grist. Is that close? It seems most of the online recipes I find for
> the style have about 7 different malts/grains in them, and I'm a big
> believer in keeping recipes simple. Would 50/40/5/5
> (wheat/pils/munich/choc) be Ok? Anyone have a recipe they want to
> share?

Aaron,

On my recent trip to Germany, I found only a few dark Weissbier
examples that showed a hint of roast in the taste and finish(Erdinger
and Franziskaner). Although roast is not typical, in small amounts it
can still be stylistic accurate. In order to make a Dunkles Weissbier
that is more than just a colored Helles Weissbier, like Erdinger seems
to be, I suggest using 50-60% wheat, 47-37% dark Munich and only 3% or
less specialty malts like chocolate and/or Carafa. Maybe even the
dehusked Carafa Special, which will still give you a hint of roast
when 3% are used in the grist. The large amount of Munich malt will
give it the full character of a dark German beer.

> Also - in the German Wheat Beer "Classic Beer Styles" book, Eric
> Warner gives an indication that a dunkelweizen should be cold
> conditioned for several weeks before serving.

That may have something to do with the fact that the Dunkel Weissbier
generally has less yeast derived characteristics. They should be there
but not as prominent as you want them in the lighter version as to
much might clash with the dark malt character. In addition to that,
the dark malt character may need some time to develop.

> but is it an important step?

Just keep some bottles for longer and see for yourself.

Kai

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:01:02 -0400
From: "Lemcke Keith" <klemcke at siebelinstitute.com>
Subject: Siebel Sensory Analysis Seminar at GABF

Siebel Institute & Brewers Association
Sensory Analysis Seminar

When:
During the Great American Beer Festival
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Where:
Maddie Silks Room
Denver Marriott City Center
1701 California Street
Denver, CO

It is once again time to get your taste buds working in preparation for
America's greatest beer experience! The Siebel Institute of Technology
and Brewers Association are proud to present professional-level brewing
education at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

The 4-hour Siebel Institute Sensory Analysis Seminar is designed to
train professional brewers in the process of sensory evaluation of beer.
During this informative, practical presentation, students will learn to
employ techniques used in professional breweries worldwide to assess the
quality of their ales and lagers. The seminar will follow the brewing
process from brewhouse to packaged product focusing on positive and
negative flavor compounds produced during the various stages of the
brewing process, including fermentation, maturation, packaging and
storage. The origin and control of the various flavors will be discussed
and students will have the opportunity to smell & taste beers that have
been spiked with a variety of food-grade flavor compounds.

The $125 fee includes the 4-hour presentation, seminar notebook, and all
tasting samples. To find out more about this excellent presentation, or
to register (space is limited), please contact the Siebel Institute of
Technology in Chicago by phone at 312-255-0705, ext. 118 or by e-mail at
info at siebelinstitute.com <BLOCKED::mailto:info@siebelinstitute.com> .

You can book space in the Sensory program by contacting Lupe Zepeda via
email, lzepeda at siebelinstitute.com <mailto:lzepeda@siebelinstitute.com>
. To reserve a space you must provide a credit card number (Visa or
MasterCard) or mail a check (the space is held from the time the check
arrives in Chicago). If you require a receipt, one will be forwarded
after the transaction is completed, which may take several days as
transactions are batched for processing. Please note that payment is
non-refundable in the case of cancellation or non-appearance by the
attendee. For further information contact the Siebel Institute by e-mail
at info at siebelinstitute.com <mailto:info@siebelinstitute.com> or by
phone at 312-255-0705.

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

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:07:08 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Error in Aeration Methods Experiments

Fellow brewers:

You will recall that I reported some results of the rates of
dissolving oxygen in water by various aeration methods. These results
were put into a manuscript which posted on the web and I reported the
results in an interview with James Spencer, published as a podcast.
I and others have been surprised at the relatively high oxygen
content that I measured on the water after I delivered it to the
carboy or bucket. Unfortunately, I have discovered that my meter is
probably giving me falsely high values a the low end of the dissolved
oxygen content of water and the actual values of the oxygen content
of water delivered to the carboy and bucket were probably
considerably lower than I reported.

This past weekend, I attempted to measure the oxygen content of
boiled water collected in a one quart Mason jar submerged in the
boiling water and sealed immediately with no air. I sampled at
several time points: just before boil, at the beginning of the boil,
and at 5, 10, 15, and 25 minutes after the start of boil. The samples
were allowed to cool to nearly room temperature and the oxygen
content of the water was measured immediately after opening each
container. The minimum value was reached shortly after boiling at
about 2.5 mg/L. This value surprised me also, so I just tested the
meter by progressively adding sodium metabisulfite to a quart of
water. As I added bisulfite, the oxygen content went from 8.46 mg/L
down to a minimum of 3.2 mg/L. Now I am convinced that my DO meter is
in error at the low end and that the minimum value of oxygen in the
earlier experiments was lower than I reported.

I am very sorry for the confusion this may have caused, but I hasten
to say that I don't think this will change the major conclusions of
the reported experiment. I believe the relative rates of oxygen
dissolution using the methods reported will not change, that is
shaking was fastest, followed by 1 liter/min air pumped through an
aeration stone, followed by 1 liter/min air pumped without an
aeration stone. Pumping air at only about 100 mL/min, with our
without an aeration stone was a relatively poor method of dissolving
air.

I will repeat the experiments if and when I figure out why my meter
is failing me or if I get a more accurate meter/probe.

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5403, 08/25/08
*************************************
-------

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5402 (August 24, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5402 Sun 24 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
Dunkelweizen questions ("Aaron Hermes")
Re:StarSan and California (Brian Miller)
Water analysis ("Steve Jones")

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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:13:49 -0400
From: "Aaron Hermes" <aaron.hermes at gmail.com>
Subject: Dunkelweizen questions

I'm getting ready to brew a dunkelweizen and a traditional hefeweizen.
I want there to be a clear contrast between the two, with the
dunkelweizen being almost "porterish," if that makes sense. I mean I
want a roasted character to it to add some depth to the flavor. I'm
planning on a pretty straight-ahead wheat/pils/munich/choc wheat
grist. Is that close? It seems most of the online recipes I find for
the style have about 7 different malts/grains in them, and I'm a big
believer in keeping recipes simple. Would 50/40/5/5
(wheat/pils/munich/choc) be Ok? Anyone have a recipe they want to
share?

Also - in the German Wheat Beer "Classic Beer Styles" book, Eric
Warner gives an indication that a dunkelweizen should be cold
conditioned for several weeks before serving. This seems odd to me,
but is it an important step? I'm hoping to have this beer to drink in
just under a month, so I'd really need to get on it if I want to cold
condition it. I know that I got some feedback that Horst Dornbusch
was off-target on something in the series, is Eric Warner making stuff
up, too?

Thanks!

aaron

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

Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:34:32 -0700
From: Brian Miller <bj_mill at pacbell.net>
Subject: Re:StarSan and California

Calvin wrote:

> I just noticed a little blurb on Northern Brewer's site:
> "Due to recent restrictions by the state of California,
> we are unable to ship Star San to California until further notice."
My LHBS owner in northern CA was inspected by someone from
some state agency and was dinged for having the word "sanitizer"
on his metabisulfite labels. My understanding was that anything
labelled "sanitizer" is equivalent to a pesticide and must be
registered with said state agency. Perhaps the state is cracking
down on unlicensed mild pesticide manufacturers as one way to
address the $15,000,000,000 budget deficit for 2009?

Brian Miller

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

Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:36:53 -0400
From: "Steve Jones" <stjones1 at gmail.com>
Subject: Water analysis

I'm about to send a sample of my water off to Ward Labs for an analysis.
The last report I got from my water supplier wasn't geared toward
homebrewers, but it works out to this:

Ca 63.8
Mg 10.1
Na 5.8
SO4 6.7
Cl 13
HCO3 230

This is ovbiously rather hard, and not suitable for brewing pilsners or
other light beers. I've read about using campden tablets to remove much of
the temporary hardness (1 crushed tablet per 20 gal) but I don't know what
the resulting profile would be.

So my question is twofold:
1. Is there a way to calculate the resulting profile when I do use campden
tabs?
2. If not, would it be worthwhile to send two samples ... 1 as normal, and 1
from the same water treated with campden?

Thanks,

Steve Jones
State of Franklin Homebrewers
http://www.franklinbrew.org
Johnson City, TN

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5402, 08/24/08
*************************************
-------

Friday, August 22, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5401 (August 22, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5401 Fri 22 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
Valves, Starsan ("A.J deLange")
RE: Source for valves and other fittings ("Mike Sharp")

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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:22:13 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Valves, Starsan

An excellent source for many brewery needs, including valves of all
sorts (sanitary 3A, check valves etc.) and other fittings is McMaster
Carr. Their web site (www. mcmaster.com) makes it relatively easy to
find even the most obscure piece, they sell to anybody and because I (in
Virginia) live relatively close to them (N.J.) anything I order today
arrives tomorrow without having to pay for overnight delivery.

If you wish to pay more (sometimes lots more) for the same functionality
there is always Cole Parmer.

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

I'm sure that careful investigation would reveal that Starsan, like so
many things in this world, "...is known to the state of California to
produce birth defects..." by which I believe they mean rational thinking.

A.J.

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

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:01:09 -0700
From: "Mike Sharp" <rdcpro at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Source for valves and other fittings

Paul is looking for a Source for valves and other fittings...

I've bought a lot of that sort of stuff from one particular seller on eBay:
Sintrol. He's in Gurnee Il. At the moment he has a 3-way Teflon diaphragm
valve with 3/4 sanitary fittings for sale, which is a nice valve design if
you want to throttle, but probably not so much for switching flow. On the
other hand, it's pretty cheap, and it should work. AFAIK, since it has a
Teflon diaphragm, it should handle the temperature.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ITT-Pur-Flo-3-4-Stainless-Teflon-Diaphragm-Vlv-3-Way_W0Q
QitemZ170252882068QQihZ007QQcategoryZ11809QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewI
tem

If you contact him and tell him what you want, there's a good chance he'll
have it and then he'll put it on an auction for you.

I recommend installing valves and pumps and things like that with the 1/2 or
3/4 inch sanitary fittings. They're nice.

Regards,
Mike Sharp

Kent, WA
[1891.3, 294deg] AR

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5401, 08/22/08
*************************************
-------

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5400 (August 21, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5400 Thu 21 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
Source for valves and other fittings (Paul)
StarSan and California (Calvin Perilloux)
Identifying Fresh Hops (Jeff Bell)

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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:32:26 -0700
From: Paul <dj.n3rd at gmail.com>
Subject: Source for valves and other fittings

Hi,
I'm on the hunt for a supplier of food grade high-temp (boiling wort) fittings.
I'm looking for quick disconnects and a 3 and 2 way valve. It would be
nice to find a check valve.
I'm using 1/2" tubing.

Any help would be great,
Paul

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

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:06:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: StarSan and California

I just noticed a little blurb on Northern Brewer's site:

"Due to recent restrictions by the state of California,
we are unable to ship Star San to California until
further notice."

No further explanation was given, and a cursory (perhaps
too cursory) look at their forums and various Googling
revealed no information.

So what's up with that?

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA

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

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:59:02 -0500
From: Jeff Bell <jeff at bellmedialabs.com>
Subject: Identifying Fresh Hops

Quick question, I have just picked a bunch of fresh hops from my
neighbor's garden and he could not remeber the strian. I am currently
drying them out and when rubbed have a nice aroma, I'm trying to find
out a way to tell what kinda strain it is. I have heard of brewers
making tea to find the bitterness level, but I have not done this yet.
So my obvious question is, How can I tell what type of hop it is (alpha
acid test?) and to make a tea, how much should I steep? I have been
reading this HBD for years now and figure I should write to the experts.

Drink the beer I love, make the beer I need.

-Jb

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5400, 08/21/08
*************************************
-------

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5399 (August 19, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5399 Tue 19 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
HCCP Update (Alan Folsom)

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

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Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:21:03 -0400
From: Alan Folsom <alan at folsoms.net>
Subject: HCCP Update

I've just uploaded a minor fix to HCCP, now version 1.3.1. This is a
pretty stupid little bug - on start I get the current date from the
system, and if you try to enter competition info for the first time, I
preset the date to the current value. Unfortunately, the date for
months through september comes back with a leading 0, and when I use
this as an index into month names, August and September are represented
as 08 and 09, which are interpreted by the program as illegal octal
numbers. Any other months work perfectly well. Jeeshhh.....

Also included is a requested option to print all labels for judges at
one table on a single sheet of labels.

There are no other changes since 1.3, and no changes to the documentation.

HCCP is software to simplify and automate running a homebrew
competition. For more information, see http://www.folsoms.net/hccp/

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5399, 08/19/08
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Monday, August 18, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5398 (August 18, 2008)

HOMEBREW Digest #5398 Mon 18 August 2008

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

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

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Visit them at http://aabg.org

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

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

Contents:
pH Meters vs. Strips ("A.J deLange")
Re: Pumpkin Ale (Scott Alfter)
Re: Beer Lacking Crispness (le Man)
Beer lacking crispness (Calvin Perilloux)
Re: Beer lacking crispness ("Martin Brungard")
13th Annual Music City Brew-Off - Nashville, TN ("Stephen Johnson")

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,
and Spencer Thomas

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:15:51 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: pH Meters vs. Strips

Strips require you to subjectively judge color. The color you see
depends on things like the color of the wort you are measuring, the
quality of the illuminating light and whether you are color blind or
not. Strips are, thus, of limited utility as in brewing you are
concerned with changes in pH of well less than a tenth of a point. You
would like to be able to read to about .01 or .02 and that is goint to
require a meter and a reasonably good one. Fortunately technology has
advanced and decent pH meters are within reach though they are still not
inexpensive. Meters under $100, any one that only reads to 0.1 pH or
cannot be calibrated or does not have automatic temperature compensation
(ATC) are pretty useless in brewing (IMO).

A meter should be calibrated each time it is used (once per day). Many
of the newer meters store the last calibration and report offset and
slope at each calibration so you can see how your probe is ageing. If
the ageing rate is really slow you may decide you don't need a new cal
every but it is good practice to do one whenever the meter hasn't been
used for more than a few hours.

Probes now last a lot longer than they used to especially if treated
right. I had a simple gel filled one that lasted about 2.5 years which
is quite a contrast to when I started measuring pH and got maybe 1.5
years from elaborate, expensive, double junction free flow electrodes.
Probably the most important part of "treating right" is cooling the
sample to room temperature before taking a reading. Protecting the
delicate sensor glass from the stresses of plunging into and taking out
of hot mash and wort seems to do wonders for longevity (and I think the
probes are better made these days). All the professional literature
assumes that pH is measured at lab temperature and there is a shift in
true pH (this is not what the ATC is for - that compensates for the
probe's response to temperature change) as the wort cools. As long as
everyone does it the same way there is no problem but in the HB lit. if
you see pH 5.3 you often don't know if that was at wort or room temperature.

For the ultimate in durability and long life ISFET probes are now
readily available (but I note that the only one of those I ever tried
failed quicker than most gel-filled electrodes).

A.J.

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:20:39 -0700
From: Scott Alfter <scott at alfter.us>
Subject: Re: Pumpkin Ale

Josh Knarr wrote:
> 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.

6 lbs. seems like a huge amount of pumpkin for a 5-gallon batch, and I'd think
that adding it to the boil would introduce lots of starch without any chance of
converting it to something fermentable.

I cobbled together this recipe last year:

http://www.nevadabrew.com/twiki/bin/view/Recipes/PumpkinAle

It worked well for me...ended up having to brew a second batch in May to send
some to the NHC 2nd round. I'm waiting for pumpkins to show up in the stores
before I make it again...canned worked OK for batch #2, but it's easier to get
a good roast on fresh pumpkin than canned. I put it in the mash so that some
of it might convert, and the spices only get added at kegging time.

Scott Alfter
scott at beerandloafing.org

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:47:18 +0100
From: le Man <hbd at thebarnsleys.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Beer Lacking Crispness

> From: Jim D

> the beer
> tastes soft, as in the flavors can't easily be singled out. What I
> am looking for is crispness, where the malt and the hops can
> easily be separated when tasting.

I think these figures give us a clue as to what can be happening here

> Water: Total Hardness as CaCO3: 120 ppm,
> Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 77
> Na = 13 ppm, Ca = 33 ppm, SO4 = 9 ppm, Cl = 50 ppm.

Nice water, best described as soft, I think the issue is that you need
to increase your Sulphate, which should give you that crispness you
desire, but to be careful with it as it is all too easy. Your calcium
levels are also a bit low (But mine is 16 and I get away with it ;) ),
so could do with boosting . . . . I would suggest adding some Gypsum to
the mash and boil to raise the levels of Sulphate up to around 150ppm,
and leave the calcium where it falls. Try 1 tsp to start with and see if
that results in your beer flavour going in the direction you want

- --
Aleman
Mashing In Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
www.ukhomebrew.info - Yet Another Brewing Forum

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:23:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: Beer lacking crispness

This looks like a gimme:

Jim D reports that his beers taste "soft", and he very
helpfully proved the exact details we need regarding his
brewing water:

> Total Hardness as CaCO3: 120 ppm,
> Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 77
> Na = 13 ppm, SO4 = 9 ppm, Cl = 50 ppm

That's a VERY low sulfate level for styles like English Bitter,
and the chloride seems a little bit high considering the dearth
of other minerals.

Sulfate accentuates the hop bitterness; chloride is said to
moderate it and lend just a bit a sweet, round fullness.
The former (dryness) seems to be what you're looking for.

I'd recommend adding gypsum (CaSO4) to your water,
anywhere from 1 to 3 grams per gallon of water, and
that will take care of the sulfate shortage as well as
increase the calcium level.

Also, I didn't notice mash temperatures in there. You
didn't mention sweetness, only "soft", but make sure
you're not too high on mash temperature (and make sure
your thermometer is accurate). A high mash temp along
with crystal malt can result in a dull, cloying beer.

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:40 -0400
From: "Martin Brungard" <mabrungard at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Beer lacking crispness

I see from Jim's water report that the Residual Alkalinity (RA) is about 50
which is pretty much the upper limit for brewing pale beers. This water will
be fine for amber and brown beers and would probably require even more
alkalinity for dark brown and black beers. Since Jim is having problems with
his pale ales, I'll work from there.

With the supplied information, I found that the magnesium concentration is 9
ppm, which is just about as high as you would want to go for most brewing
applications. Adding Epsom Salt would not be desirable for this water. The
overall ion balance that Jim provided did work out for the water report,
which was confidence inspiring.

The alkalinity data indicates that the bicarbonate concentration is about 93
ppm. To brew good pale beersc my calculations suggest that Jim could either
harden his water with gypsum or calcium chloride to decrease the RA, or he
could acidify his water slightly to decrease the alkalinity (again reducing
the RA). But, I'm betting that the lack of crispness that Jim complains
about is due to two factors. The first is the excessive alkalinity of his
water and the second is probably due to the low sulfate concentration.

In the case of pale ales, increasing the sulfate concentration via gypsum
addition could provide the results he seeks. It appears that he could add up
to about 2 grams of gypsum per gallon to bring the RA down into the negative
range. For most brewing waters, the lower desirable RA limit is around -50.
The 2 gm/gal gypsum addition will keep Jim's brewing water within the
desired ranges for Ca, SO4, and RA.

If Jim is brewing another pale style that doesn't depend on hop character,
he could go with up to 1.5 gm/gal of calcium chloride to harden the water
and bring the RA down. This is going to add almost 200 ppm of chloride, so
that would need to be considered to see if its desirable for the style. 200
ppm is pretty high, so I would not really recommend this rate of 1.5 gm/gal
CaCl. I would suggest that a maximum of about 0.8 gm/gal would be better to
limit the chloride concentration. Slight acidification might still be
required to help the mash fall into the desired range.

As I mentioned above, acidification is always an option for reducing
alkalinity and lowering the RA. For the alkalinity level that Jim's water
report provides, the amount of 88% Lactic that would need to be added to his
water would be on the order of 0.4 ml per gallon of water to bring the pH of
his sparge water to around 5.7. That is a minuscule amount and won't have
any taste impacts. This amount of acid is good for your sparge water, but
you would use less if he wanted to just 'take the edge off' of his mash
water and improve the RA. Since every grist is different, the amount will
vary. I suggest that roughly half (0.2 ml/gal) might be a good starting
point for a mash where the water wasn't hardened as suggested above.
Avoiding the hardening might be a good idea if Jim was going to brew a Cz
Pils.

Overall, it looks like Jim's water is pretty good and could form the
starting point for a number of beers. Well, these recommendations will help
Jim to improve his brewing results. Hopefully, you will find some use in
this message too!

Martin Brungard
Tallahassee, FL

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

Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:50:18 -0500
From: "Stephen Johnson" <sjohnson3 at comcast.net>
Subject: 13th Annual Music City Brew-Off - Nashville, TN

Hello from Nashville, TN - Music City USA

1st call for all judges and homebrewers to participate in the 13th annual
Music City Brew Off(MCBO) homebrew competition sponsored by The Music City
Brewers, from Friday September 26th through Sunday September 28th, 2008.
AHA/BJCP sanctioned for all styles of beer, mead and cider per the 2008
style guidelines, entries will be received from September 1st through the
13th.

Friday night beer dinner will be held at Blackstone with presentation from
special honored guest Jamil Zainasheff, author and past AHA Homebrewer of
the year. Final round judging, Best of Show judging and awards ceremony on
September 27th, 2008 at Boscos Nashville, lunches for all judges and stewards
courtesy of Boscos. Music City Pub Crawl to follow awards ceremony.
Brew-n-Brunch on Sunday, if you are still able, this year we will be brewing
the beyond famous 228 HopGod Beer. Once again the MCBO is the final
competition in the MidSouth Homebrewer and Club of the Year Series.
For rules, online registration and other contest details go to our
competition website http://www.musiccitybrewers.com/brewoff.php
For possible entry pick up arrangements please contact me at
hoptyrant at gmail.com we will try to make some beer runs to help mitigate
shipping costs.

Until then,
MTHBWY
Tom Vista
Competition Organizer

------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #5398, 08/18/08
*************************************
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Home Brew Digest

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5407 (August 31, 2008)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5406 (August 29, 2008)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5405 (August 28, 2008)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5404 (August 27, 2008)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5403 (August 25, 2008)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5402 (August 24, 2008)

Friday, August 22, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5401 (August 22, 2008)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5400 (August 21, 2008)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5399 (August 19, 2008)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Homebrew Digest #5398 (August 18, 2008)

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