Messages

2506

The Pub / Re: Exams

« on: December 10, 2009, 07:32:07 pm »

Corporate finance in class final exam next weekend and we'll also get to pick up the take home final (well, download it from the web) for Operations Management.  Since the corp fin exam is on Saturday I will probably start studying on Thursday night in accordance with my just-in-time homework/studying methodology.

2507

All Things Food / Re: Club soda: doing it at home?

« on: December 09, 2009, 06:59:54 pm »

this won't get you there, but may be of interest....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pellegrino

You could let some of that flatten out and then get a water report on it if you can't find another source.

2508

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: New section coming!

« on: December 07, 2009, 10:11:26 pm »

Can I throw out a four letter advise on a category?....HOPS....of course you knew I was going to say that one.
Just a thought.

I think that falls under the Ingredients forum.

2509

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Kettle Caramelization for a Wee Heavy

« on: December 07, 2009, 07:55:46 pm »

Caramelization happens within a temperature range. Has anybody checked their temperatures when boiling down the first runnings?

My money's on 212°F. 

Haha, good bet.

2510

The Pub / CNN iReport - Seven Brides

« on: December 07, 2009, 01:53:04 pm »

CNN iReport on Seven Brides Brewing Company in Oregon.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-365452

2511

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Stuck Fermentation

« on: December 06, 2009, 08:40:04 am »

Also the activity in the airlock is probably CO2 coming out of solution from the transfer rather than increased fermentation activity.

2512

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Another Water Report

« on: December 04, 2009, 08:36:58 pm »

Congradualtions on reproducing London water.

When I toured Fullers, they had a pallet stacked with of bags of gypsum.   Not to make plaster...

The brewers adjust their water, you need to think about what they are trying to achieve.

As I was just going through my final (probably) brewing salt calculations for this recipe this comment popped back into my head.  Per advice above I decided to just dial back my additions to add a little gypsum to bump up the Ca a little.  However your comment made me wonder why Fullers would do that.  And my conclusion is that in addition to Ca they're bumping up their SO4.

According to Palmer:

The sulfate ion also combines with Ca and Mg to contribute to permanent hardness. It accentuates hop bitterness, making the bitterness seem drier, more crisp.

And per the BJCP style guidelines:

...Medium-dry to dry finish (particularly if sulfate water is used)...

Is this what you were referring to?  It seems to make sense if brewing to style.  I'm sticking to just gypsum for this brew so as to not overdo things but what level of Ca and SO4 would you recommend for the style?  I realize I'm going a little overboard here, and I'm not shooting for perfection by any means, just a good beer.  But I'm just curious as to the effects of the SO4 on hop bitterness.

2513

All Grain Brewing / Re: Lambics

« on: December 04, 2009, 08:09:43 pm »

I'm no expert on either Champagne or Lambic but I think it's just a matter of semantics.  Authentic champagne is only produced in the Champagne region of France, hence the name.  The term has become somewhat synonymous with sparkling white wine however sparkling white wine is not Champagne.  That doesn't mean there aren't as good or better sparkling white wines out there produced using the champagne process from a wide range of geographic locations.  I personally haven't had true champagne at any new years eve party I've ever held, for example.

I would think the same logic would apply to Lambics.  A "true" lambic is produced only in the Pajottenland region of Belgium.  That doesn't mean that good or better lambic-style beers aren't produced elsewhere, like your kitchen.

2514

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottle Type?

« on: December 01, 2009, 10:44:54 pm »

Eh, it's decent enough (and a little cheaper here) that I get the occasional four pack to add to my collection of swig tops.  I haven't seen anything at all other than Grolsch with the swig tops.  If I could find a good beer in brown swig tops I'd be all over that but I wasn't planning on sunning my brews anyway.

2515

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Another Water Report

« on: December 01, 2009, 10:34:56 pm »

From the advice given above I think that using the tap water and staying away from the Brita is the way to go.

My county water authority's website if fairly weak which is the reason I went with the Ward Lab report in the first place.  A search of the entire website for "chloramines" yielded one notice about how consumers might notice a slight increase in chlorine due to a temporary switch from chloramines to chlorine during a routine water flushing exercise.

So from that I take it that they routinely use chloramines and I should use the campden.

2516

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Another Water Report

« on: December 01, 2009, 09:25:00 pm »

What about adding Campden tablets?  Should I still hit this water with a crushed up tablet before I use it?

2517

Equipment and Software / Re: Draining the boil kettle....

« on: December 01, 2009, 08:51:24 pm »

I've got a kettle screen and I'm thinking of just using one grain bag to progressively dump all of the hop additions in and at the end of the boil and just hold it up or secure it to the side with clothes pins while the kettle drains.  Might have to do a little squeezing to get the wort out but it should keep the screen from getting clogged.

2518

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottle Type?

« on: December 01, 2009, 08:45:21 pm »

I prefer drinking drinking some grolsch and getting the added benefit of having the bottles   

As long as they're not screw tops they'll work fine.

2519

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Another Water Report

« on: December 01, 2009, 11:47:02 am »

That's nice and reasonably priced.  I was thinking of picking up something like that.  The scale I have only measures in 1 gram increments.

2520

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Another Water Report

« on: December 01, 2009, 09:56:57 am »

Thanks for the advice.  I am planning on using a very light hand on the brewing salts until I get a better feel for what I'm doing. 

One thing that occurred to me though is the calculations that I did to figure out ppm where based on the final recipe volume, in my case 5 gallons.  If, say 1g of gypsum was added to the mash this would cause the ppm to be higher in the mash than in the final product since the mash water is only 3 gallons or so.  Is that something that needs to be factored into the calculation of how much of a particular salt to use?

I'm thinking of the gypsum specifically because I think I need to at least bump up by Ca a bit for the mash, correct?