Topics

1

Events / NHC competition site change.

« on: January 26, 2013, 01:46:09 PM »

*There will no longer be a separate Canadian qualifying competition as part of the National Homebrew Competition. Canadian residents wishing to enter the NHC should send entries directly to one of the U.S. judging centers. This change is being made in part due to requests from Canadian entrants who would prefer to enter at U.S. judging centers that in many cases are closer than the Canadian qualifying competition. The change also reflects the fact that currently there are vastly more AHA members in the U.S. than in Canada.


I wonder if anyone on the committee who made this change ever thought how hard it is to send home brew INTO
the USA? I doubt there were many requests from Canadians to make this change.
This change effectively means that I will not be able to enter this years NHC competition. Too bad. 

2

All Grain Brewing / Alpha Amylase

« on: November 28, 2009, 06:05:41 AM »

Background... I'm having trouble getting the true crisp taste in my pilsners.
My general recipie is as follows.

100% pilsner malt
Hopping to 25 IBUs  (light pils style)
WY2042, S-189, or W34/70 ( take your pick ) I do use enough yeast, and pitch yeast at 45f aprox.
into wort at 48f with as much trub removed prior to pitching.

Mash at 149f for 90 minutes, boil for 90 minutes
I use my soft tap water treated with campton.
My mash ph is between 5.2 and 5.5 using 1 tsp of gypsum in the mash
I batch sparge and single infuse
Aerate using pure O2 and a stone for 1 minute.

I ferment at 50f until done, anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 weeks usually, and then rack
into a corny for lagering at 34f for a minimum of a month, but usually 2 months.
I usually go from an OG of 1045 - 1050 to a Fg of 1010 to 1012

I have read that using alpha amylase will dry out a brew more leaving it more " crisp ".
What will using alpha amylase really do to my brew if I use it?

And would dropping my mash temp down to 147f do the same as the alpha amylase?

I haven't bothered to check my mash for conversion lately as in all the batches I did, I only once
had a positive reaction to the iodine, and that may have been husk reacting to the iodine.

Thanks.

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Could we have moon beer?

« on: November 14, 2009, 07:07:25 AM »

I want to be first in line to get enough water from the moon to brew with.

With NASA's recent discovery of water on the moon, can Moon Beer be far behind?

I'm after brewing with melted Iceberg water, and that makes for interesting conversation, so now
the big challenge would be to get moon water. Hmmmm.... I wonder how much that would cost?