ISSN 1945-1342 - Strand Brewers Club

ISSN 1945-1342
Foam at the Top
Brian McGovney, SBC President
SBC at the PBC!
Congratulations to all the brewers who placed in the
Pacific Brewers’ Cup! We made a very strong
showing, with 12 placing entries!
Thanks to all who entered their beer; I would have
joined in, but, well …
What Not To Do: Chapter 2
When last we spoke, I had used my all-grain system
for the very first time to brew a Smoked Brown Ale.
I’m happy to say the fermentation went very well,
and at the end of it I had a robust, slightly smoky
brown ale with a strong malt backbone and just
enough hops to cut the sweetness. Truly, this is one
of my favorite recipes.
I know it turned out well
because I put about a liter into
a growler because there was
too much to fit into my keg.
But man, kegging is easy
when you have a pre-sanitized
keg. See, somewhere I’d read
that you can fill your keg
with iodophor solution, put it
aside, and forget about it.
When you need to fill up the
keg, just stand the keg on each
end for 10 minutes, empty it,
then rack the beer in. Done!
I can say at this point that the
keg IS kept sanitized by this
method. I can’t recommend it, however, because
you’ll also learn that “stainless” does not mean
“rustproof.” There was apparently one tiny spot of
rust that had started near the lid of the keg, probably
from being wet for months with the slight acidity of
the iodophor solution. I also wonder if the keg lid I
have is truly the same type of stainless as the keg
body itself. The metals look different, and if they
are the iodophor might have set up an
electrochemical cell and started the rust that way.
Anyway, the rust spot was too small to see when I
filled the keg, but when I tapped it four days later it
was like drinking my beer mixed with blood. Yuck.
Iron is disgusting to drink. Hey, maybe I can get a
co-marketing thing going with the guys that write
that show True Blood.
Lesson learned. I’ll now be storing all my kegs dry
and sanitizing only when needed. I’m actually not
too upset about this, since the beer in the growler
tasted great, so I can claim my first all-grain brew
as a qualified success. The system worked. Now
I’ve got to hurry up and make a Belgian Black Ale
for Christmas.
Elections
It’s time to start thinking about who you’d like on
the council next year. The by-laws that describe
what the officers do are at
http://strandbrewers.org/info/bylaws.htm (it’s a
short, easy read). If you’d like to get more into (and
out of) the club, serving on the council for a year or
two is a great way to do it. Nominations for the
2009 SBC
Council are being accepted
now by any of the officers,
and we’ll be calling for
more at the October
meeting. The election will
be at the November
meeting.
Pumpkins, and a Hobby
makes a Comeback
Two items in the press to
point out. I know some of
you were wondering
about how to brew a
good Pumpkin Ale a few
months back. Brew Your
Own Magazine has an
article on the back page
this month about a
couple of brewers who
made theirs as an English Pale Ale, fermented IN A
PUMPKIN. After due consideration, they don’t
recommend it. You can read the article at
http://byo.com/departments/1806.html.
Several of you probably saw this one, but in the LA
Times this week they have an article about the
increasing popularity of homebrewing, particularly
among women: http://tinyurl.com/3rj233. I know
I’ve been thrilled to see more women joining the
club and brewing. Donna Boyce placed this month
in the PBC, and Mary Garcia makes kick-ass wine
in addition to beer. In fact, I’d say that the SBC
women just may be brewing more beer, per capita,
then the men. Something to aspire to, fellas.
What’s on Tap
Andrew Jang, SBC Director
A Good Read: Home beer brewing calls to a
new generation -- and to women
It’s hard to believe that we’re already near the end
of the year and looking at nominations for 2009’s
officers. The Activities Director position is wide
open since yours truly has termed out. Step up and
nominate yourself for the position! Don’t be shy;
this is without a doubt the most fun position on the
council.
October’s big shindig is our Oktoberfest
celebration. Glenn Deckman and his family are
graciously hosting this year. Come to 1220 2nd St.
in Manhattan Beach on October 11th at 7pm. As
usual, and friends and family are welcome. Bring
some homebrew and a side dish. Brats and fixings
will be provided.
As noted elsewhere, October’s general club meeting
will be held at Oktoberfest. We will NOT be
meeting on the evening of October 8th!
The club will not have a separate event in
November, but we are going to try our best to
confuse you by changing the general meeting time
again. The meeting will be at Naja’s in the pool
table area on November 5th (the FIRST Wednesday
of the month). We’re doing this so that the meeting
coincides with Naja’s barleywine festival. Don’t
miss this meeting because Jim has promised to treat
us to a vertical tasting of Bigfoot!
The final event for the year will be the Holiday
Party, which will be hosted by the Fafard family.
Set aside the evening of December 13th. We’ll
report more details as they develop.
NOT JUST FOR GUYS:
Nathalie Balandran tends
to a brew during a
meeting.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-beer12008oct01,0,4889854.story
Meeting Place for October
At Oktoberfest at
Glenn Deckman’s Residence.
Saturday
October 11, 7:00 PM
See you there!
Meeting Place for November
November 5th, 7PM
(First Wednesday of November)
At Naja’s Place
The Hot Break
I’ll put the Secretarial hat on for a minute.
Do you have some brewing equipment that you no
longer use? Are you looking for that special gizmo
that you just can’t seem to find on the interwebs?
Well there may be a fellow Strand Brewer who can
help you out. Contact me if you would like to
publish a brewing equipment classified ad in next
month’s Dregs. Interweb: [email protected].
Cell: 805 748-2047.
In This Issue
Foam at the Top…………………………...2
What’s on Tap..............................................3
Sanitizing….……………………………….4
Lake Casitas Post-Fest Survey……………6
Pacific Brewer’s Cup 2008………………..7
Pictures from PBC 2008…………………..8
Judge’s Corner…………………………….9
Ancient Yeast Reborn in Modern Beer……..…....13
Competition Calendar................................14
Sanitizing
Rob Proffitt, SBC Clean Freak
Brewing is easy – the hard part is sanitizing
What would you say if someone asked you what's
the most important thing to know about brewing? If
you're a beginning brewer, you might be surprised
when I say the answer is cleaning and sanitizing
your equipment. You can have the best beer recipe
ever created, but if your equipment is not clean and
free of bacteria, wild yeasts, and molds, your
perfect beer will probably be a complete failure. In
this article, I'll touch on cleaning, then discuss three
of the more popular sanitizers available to home
brewers: bleach, iodophor, and Star San.
Cleaning
A clean piece of equipment is one in which the
surface is free of any dirt or organic deposits, and
has been properly rinsed so no detergent remains.
There are four factors that generally affect the
effectiveness of cleaning for home brewers:
z Detergent concentration – follow the
product specifications, and remember that
more is not always better
z Contact time – longer soaks in detergent can
increase the effectiveness of your detergent
z Physical method – any physical agitation of
the surface, such as scrubbing, brushing, or
high pressure spraying increases cleaning
effectiveness
z Temperature – in general the warmer the
detergent solution, the better
If you keep these factors in mind and try to
maximize their effectiveness, you will get the most
out of your sanitizer.
Sanitizing
Sanitizing simply refers to killing any
microorganisms present on the surface of a piece of
equipment. There are 3 levels of sanitization that
are defined by the government:
z sanitized: kills 99.9%
z disinfected: kills 99.99%
z sterilized: kills 100%
You might think that higher would be better, but the
expense and procedures required to disinfect or
sterilize your equipment makes it prohibitive, if not
impossible, and sanitizing is almost always good
enough for brewing purposes.
It's also important to remember that you should
sanitize just before you're ready to use a piece of
equipment. If you sanitize your equipment the
night before your brew day, when you start brewing
in the morning, you will be using contaminated
equipment. Most contamination occurs because
contaminants drift down from the air and land on
your equipment. So if you wait to sanitize until just
before it's needed, you reduce the exposure time to
airborne contaminants.
BLEACH
Bleach is the granddaddy of sanitizers. It's been
around the longest, and the government uses it as a
baseline to measure the effectiveness of other
sanitizers. The killing agent in bleach is something
called hypochlorous acid, and it won't form unless
the solution has a pH under 8. The more expensive
bleach brands you see in stores today add sodium
hydroxide, or lye, to increase the shelf life of their
product. The downside of this practice is that the
pH of your bleach solution will not get below 8, and
you won't get the killing power of the hypochlorous
acid. The cheaper, store brand bleaches use less
lye, so they are better for use as a sanitizer. But
since they will have a shorter shelf life, get the
smallest bottle possible. To make an effective
sanitizer with bleach:
z Add 1 oz of bleach to 5 gallons of water
z Add 1 oz of vinegar to the bleach/water
solution (WARNING! - DO NOT ADD
VINEGAR DIRECTLY TO BLEACH!
You will form chlorine gas, which is toxic!
If this makes you nervous, then don't use
bleach.)
This will get the pH under 8, and form enough
hypochlorous acid to effectively sanitize your
equipment. At this concentration level, rinsing is
not required, and only 30 seconds of contact time is
necessary to reach sanitization levels.
IODOPHOR
Iodophor is a highly concentrated titratable iodine
that can be used to create a sanitizer. It's been
around for over 60 years and has been heavily used
in the dairy industry. Very small quantities are
needed to reach sanitization levels. For example,
one person in an 80,000 seat stadium would equal
the concentration of iodophor required to sanitize.
Unfortunately, iodophor is grossly overused by
home brewers. I've certainly seen brewers open the
iodophor bottle and dump in a big dose to a bucket
of water. At the least, it's a waste of product, and it
can end up affecting your fermentation. Only 1/10th
of an ounce per gallon (½ oz. per 5 gallons) of cool
water is needed to make an effective sanitizer. If
you were to double it, and add 2/10th of an ounce,
you would reach disinfecting levels, but your
equipment would now need to be rinsed with sterile
water. If not rinsed, excess sanitizer will remain on
your equipment. If this is done in your fermenter,
the iodophor could kill of some of your yeast when
you pitch, and affect your fermentation. So follow
the directions, and don't overuse iodophor.
To use an iodophor sanitizer, your equipment needs
only 2 minutes of “wet time”. Note this does not
mean “immersion time”. As long as the surface is
wet, the iodophor is working, and the surface does
not need to be completely dry after 2 minutes for
the equipment to be ready for use. For example, to
sanitize your fermenter, simply pour in ½ gallon of
iodophor solution, swirl it around a few times to
coat the interior, then drain and let dry for 2
minutes. Your fermenter is now sanitized and ready
for use. For items that are too big to swirl, simply
put some solution in a spray bottle, then spray the
entire surface and let it dry for 2 minutes.
Iodophor solutions will lose their effectiveness after
8 to 24 hours, depending on your water quality. If
your water has a high pH, excessive iron, calcium,
or bacteria concentrations, the life of your solution
will be closer to 8 hours. If your water pH is over
9, it will render iodophor ineffective, and you
should look at using a different sanitizer, or use
bottled water. The bottle of concentrated iodophor
will last for up to 20 years, so if you decide to go
this route, be economical and buy in bulk.
The other big complaint concerning iodophor is that
it will stain plastic equipment. The stain has no
effect on the sanitizing effectiveness, and if the
proper concentration levels and contact times are
followed, it will take many uses before significant
staining will be noticeable.
STAR SAN
Star San is a detergent sanitizer produced by Five
Star Chemicals. It cleans and sanitizes, and can kill
bacteria, yeast, molds and spores. It's made up of
three food grade chemicals:
z phosphoric acid (found in soft drinks)
z DDBSA (found in toothpaste)
z propylene glycol (a softener found in candy
and foods)
In fact, once the solution breaks down and is no
longer an effective sanitizer, it can be used as plant
food or in a septic tank. It will even provide
nutrients to your yeast when you pitch.
To create a sanitizing solution, add one ounce of
Star San to 5 gallons of water. The product bottle
even comes with a handy measuring device built
into the bottle. Simply squeeze the bottle to
measure out the proper amount. To sanitize only
requires 30 seconds of contact time. As with
iodophor, this is “wet time”, not “immersion time”.
Spray bottles can be used to coat surfaces or
provide quick sanitization during the brew day.
A solution of Star San will last anywhere from a
couple days to a couple months, depending on the
water quality. If you use deionized water in your
solution, and ensure your equipment is clean and
properly rinsed before put in the solution, it will last
a couple months. But water with high mineral
concentrations will drastically shorten the life of the
solution. If the solution becomes cloudy, it's most
likely no longer effective, and should be replaced.
Don't worry if it becomes cloudy immediately after
mixing, though. It's still effective, it just won't last
more than a few days. Another way to measure it's
effectiveness is with a pH meter or strips. As long
as the pH of the solution is around 3.0, it's still
good. But once the pH rises above 3.5, it's no
longer sanitizing.
One perceived drawback to Star San is that it foams
significantly when agitated. If you swirl it around
in your carboy, then pour it out, you will be left
with a large mass of foam in the carboy. Don't
worry. The actual volume of liquid in the foam is
small, and when diluted by your wort, it will
become food for the yeast. And the foam is actually
beneficial for cleaning. It will stick to areas where
you may not have been able to reach, thus
increasing the contact time and cleaning and
sanitizing the area.
So that's the inside scoop on sanitizers. I would like
to thank Basic Brewing Radio, whose podcast
interviews with Murl Landman of National
Chemicals and Charlie Talley of Five Star
Chemicals provided the source material for this
article. You will find links to those podcasts below.
And thanks to Murl and Charlie for providing
detailed information on the use of their respective
products.
References:
Basic Brewing Radio (www.basicbrewing.com)
March 22, 2007 – Sanitizing with Iodophor
March 29, 2007 – Sanitizing with Bleach and Star San
Lake Casitas Post-Fest Survey
CHA
We all know that the Southern California
Homebrew Festival had a change in venue this year
to Lake Casitas. Of course with changes come
challenges, some big, some small, and this year’s
fest had both. With this in mind, and taking into
account the feedback (complaints) that the CHA
board received, they conducted a post-fest survey.
The survey would help steer the direction of the
event and hopefully would provide valuable
information to make future festivals even better.
The following is the survey received from the CHA:
2008 Post-Fest Survey Results
The board and club reps thank everyone who
participated in the post-fest survey. We received
157 responses and the results are already helping us
plan next year's fest. A very high level summary of
the results is provided below, followed by two links,
one to condensed results and one to complete
results. Both links have graphs of the first six
survey questions.
Some of our friends from the San Diego area felt
Lake Casitas was too far to travel and some survey
comments expressed a desire to return to the
Temecula area. Although moving the fest to Lake
Casitas was a difficult decision, it still appears to be
our best option for next year's fest.
SCHF filled over 400 campsites its last year at Vail
Lake, but Vail has priced itself out of our range.
Vail now charges a Cinco de Mayo holiday
weekend rate of $25,000 for the fest area and sites
are $100 per night. Based on reports of
improvements at Lake Skinner, the board
considered returning there. Although a board-andclub-reps visit confirmed that Skinner now has an
improved fest area, it no longer meets our camping
needs. Only 240 campsites are available at Skinner,
and overflow camping is a dirt parking lot with no
shade or water. The survey indicated that returning
to Skinner is very undesirable for many people and
out of the question for some.
Despite a 4-year search, we have been unable to
identify any venue other than Lake Casitas that has
sufficient campsites for our current needs, or for
future growth. (If you know of another potential
location, please contact your club rep or a board
member ASAP.) Beyond that, members found much
to like about Lake Casitas, and we plan to return
there in 2009.
Based on your input, it is our strong desire is to
address as many of the negatives as possible, and
we hope you will help us grow Fest to a bigger and
even better event.
* Survey results confirmed that most people were
very happy with this year's fest and thought it
compared favorably with past fests. Issues that need
to be addressed include problems with the shuttle
and ice supply, small size of the tasting glasses, and
some communication issues with the rangers.
* People loved the new fest site on the lake. The
only complaints were related to the distance of the
fest site from the campgrounds and a preference by
some attendees for the semicircular arrangement of
the club pop-ups that we've had in the past. More
restrooms are also needed.
* Although not as nice as Vail Lake, most people
thought the campgrounds were pretty good. Tent
camping on non-hookup sites was more primitive,
without electricity and with a short walk to water.
The longer distance to the fest site, limited shower
facilities, and primitive restrooms or poor restroom
maintenance at some campgrounds topped the list
of complaints.
* As expected, travel distance elicited mixed
reactions. Some people really appreciated the
shorter distance, and 75% thought the distance was
at least acceptable. Although some people didn't
like traveling to Lake Casitas, only 6% won't do it
again. On the other hand, 45% indicated they
wouldn't like returning to Lake Skinner, and 13%
won't go there again. Therefore, based on the survey
results and the fact that we've outgrown Lake
Skinner, our current plan is to return to Lake Casitas
in 2009.
Link to condensed results:
http://www.calhomebrewers.org/2008_Post_Fest_S
urvey_Results_condensed.pdf
Link to complete results:
http://www.calhomebrewers.org/2008_Post_Fest_S
urvey_Results_complete.pdf
Pacific Brewers Cup 2008
Jay Ankeney, PBC attendee
The Strand Brewers Club was well represented at
this year’s Pacific Brewers Cup 2008, both as
entrants, judges and stewards. It’s the 12th time this
event has been held since the competition was
founded by us back in 1997, and since then the PBC
has grown into the most respected annual
competition in this area.
It is also one of the best organized, since the Pacific
Brewers Cup rotates between the three local
homebrew clubs. This year, the Pacific Gravity club
out of Culver City was the host, and decided to hold
the judging on September 20th at St. Bede’s church
in Mar Vista.
Last year it was the Long Beach Homebrewers, and
next year we are up again. Sharing the duties keeps
the event fresh by, and each club strives to add its
own touches to make their PBC the best possible.
Pacific Gravity, for example, has instituted an
online registration process that only requires
brewers to put a number on their entries instead of a
complete bottle label. That seem to have eliminated
a couple of steps during the sorting/labeling day that
happened on September 14th, a week before the
judging.
Let’s make sure to give lots of credit to Greg Beron
who not only picked up Strand Brewers entries from
Naja’s Place after our September 10th meeting, but
also served as judge coordinator and sort of filled in
along with Craig Corley and Lee Bakowsky when
the original head of Pacific Gravity’s organizing
committee, Kevin Koenig, had to drop out for
family reasons.
There were 44 judges, 14 stewards, and at least 211
entries.
Remember, we’re up next year for the Pacific
Brewers Cup 2009 so start thinking about being on
the organizing committee. It will probably start to
get to work right after the first of the year. As
veterans of this affair know, The Strand Brewers
always raises the bar for excellence in organizing
the Pacific Brewers Cup. Let’s keep up the
tradition!
PBC Results 2008
Here are the Strand Brewers who kept our club’s
flag waving proudly—listed in order of category.
Let’s hope they all bring samples to our club’s
Oktoberfest on the 11th at Glenn’s house.
English Pale
--2nd Place William Walker for
Standard/Ordinary Bitter
English Brown
--3rd Place Rob Proffitt for
Northern English Brown
Porter
--1st Place Donna Boyce, Jay Ankeney for
Brown Porter
Stout
--1st Place James Hilbing for Russian
Imperial Stout
3rd Place Alexander Schlee for Foreign
Extra Stout
Belgian and French
--Honorary Mention James
Hilbing for Belgian Specialty Ale
Belgian Strong Ale
--2nd James Hilbing for
Belgian Tripel
Strong Ale--
2nd Place James Hilbing for
American Barleywine
3rd Jim Wilson for English
Barleywine
Fruit Beer--
3rd James Hilbing for Fruit Beer
Honorary Mention Jeff Sanders for
Fruit Beer
Mead
--3rd Place Jay Ankeney for Sweet Mead
Best of Show went to Chris Simental and Heather
Richman from Pacific Gravity for their Kölsch
You can find all of the results on the Pacific Gravity
Web site at
http://www.pacificgravity.com/pacificbrewerscup/in
dex.html
Judge’s ballots, winner’s ribbons may be available
at the Oktoberfest.
Judge’s Corner
Jim Wilson, BJCP Master Judge and Lead Exam Grader
This year I've written a page, more or less, each month for the Dregs.This was meant to be a tip
of the cap to everyone else who has shared. Now I encourage other members to step up and
contribute in 2009. Everyone's got something to say about beer that will interest the club and
don't worry, if I can write for the Dregs, anyone can. After this year I'll still offer occasional
ramblings, just not every month.
October's article is a description of my gravity driven, single infusion mash brewery. It's not
the club's biggest, most handsome or impressive; Dave Peterson's is. It's not the most hi-tech, that would be Jim
Hilbing's. It's not the newest, Brian and Jim are nearly tied for that honor. Like most Strand Brewers I have just
enough stuff, some of it high quality and some shade tree, to brew the beers I like. The various parts are
described in the process order and suppliers are named if I remember them. Photos are included that may be
helpful when you consider your brewery.
Every brew starts in ProMash (photo 01). It's the best $25 you can spend on brewing. All the features are
helpful including inventory control, recipe creation, water calculations and batch management including
fermentation support using a refractometer.
For beer up to OG=1.060, I make a yeast starter with one tube of White Lab's yeast, 1 cup of light dry malt
extract and 1 liter of boiled water. PetCo's smallest aquarium air compressor aerates the starter as well as wort
when we get to that stage. During fermentation a Hanna HI 190m magnetic stir plate (photo 02) keeps the
critters moving. The stir plate was a holiday gift from our younger son who found it at AMICO Lab Supply. For
high alcohol beers, brew a normal strength batch with a starter and when it's fermented out, brew the strong one
and pitch the entire yeast cake from the first batch into the big boy.
Photo0 1: ProMash Screen Shot
Photo 02: Magnetic Stir Plate
You remember from judging class that it's liquor if it goes in the beer and water if it's used for cleaning or
process. For most styles, the Redondo tap is fine. Our garage has supply that transfers from the tap via a white
potable water hose from Ace. All the hose connections have plastic quick disconnects from OSH. Chloramines
are removed from the liquor with a whole house activated charcoal filter (photo 03) from OSH. House water
pressure is enough to push the liquor through the filter and up into the hot liquor tank. An RO unit would be
great but is beyond my budget. If the target style would be improved with lower hardness and sulfate levels,
distilled water from Smart&Final is blended in. Occasionally, a dark beer demands calcium carbonate or
sodium bicarbonate to maintain pH control in the mash.
Photo 03: Charcoal Filter
Photo 04: Gorilla Rack Shelving
A purpose built structure to hold brewing vessels would be
great. A cheaper option is Gorilla Rack shelving from OSH that
can be configured for different parts. These racks can hold 200#
on each of 5 shelves so they're plenty stout. 2 of the 1'x2 1/2'x5'
racks (photo 04) costing about $40 each are used in the brewery.
1 rack holds the hot liquor tank and its propane burner at about 5'
and the other holds the mash tun at about 3 1/2'. The kettle sits
on a burner with its own legs at about 1 1/2'. The fermenter sits
on the floor and all transfers from the hot liquor tank through to
it are gravity powered. The only lifting required is picking the
fermenter up so the finished beer can gravity feed into a keg.
Other rack space is used for storage.
Our older son gifted a "Valley" mill (photo 05) that is powered
by an electric drill. It's used for all grains except wheat which
places too much wear and tear on the rollers for my liking.
Damned little organic BB's. Good on the LHBS for milling the
wheat!
"Superb" propane burners were chosen because an ancient
Zymurgy rated them most efficient and their box design is
convenient. Each burner is rated at 35,000 btu/hour which is
roughly 4 times the heat release of a kitchen stove burner. This is
a useful size for 5 or 10 gallon batches. The flip side is they cost
$90 each and could probably be replaced with a more clever
design at 1/4 the price. But, rule 1 is use what you've got if it
works. As an aside, we did deep fry a turkey one year on a
Photo 05: The Valley Mill
brewery burner in a non brewery pot. Yum!
The hot liquor tank is an eight gallon aluminum pot
(photo 06) found at a garage sale for $3. A Zymico
weldless fitting and valve and homemade thermometer
and sight glass fittings from Lowe's are used. This allows
me to remain standing on the floor as the hot liquor tank
sits at head height. After an ordinary plastic sight glass
tube melted from the 170F sparge liquor, it was replaced
with a piece of 1/4" polycarbonate tube from South Bay
Plastics that should last my lifetime if not several more.
The tank's lid is a pizza pan.
The mash tun is a Rubbermaid cooler with home made
3/8" copper tubing fittings and in/out manifolds (photo 07
looks down into the tun and photo 08 is the sparge
distribution ring in the lid). Soldered joints on these
manifolds and the immersion chiller were made with lead
free solder. The brewery has both 5 and 10 gallon tuns
depending on the length of the brew. One is a cylinder
and the other a box. Shape doesn't seem to effect mash
efficiency. All the transfers after the hot liquor tank are
made through 3/8" ID plastic tubing for simplicity. This
Photo 06: Eight Gallon Liquor Tank
collection of parts does infusion mashes that always have
efficiencies greater than 80%. I haven't felt the need to do acid, protein or step rests or decoctions with the fully
modified malts available today and the beer styles that I enjoy. If my taste turns to Bohemian Pils or
Dopplebock, I may need a new brewery.
Photo 07: Straight Down View of Mash Turn
Photo 08: Sparge Distribution of Mash Turn
The brewery also has 2 kettles. 5 gallon batches are brewed in an inexpensive ($35 including a lid) 8 gallon
stainless pot (photo 09) from Ta Fong restaurant supply in East LA. Larger batches are brewed in a 15 1/2 gal
keg that Dave Peterson donated. Both have Zymico valves and fittings.
The immersion chiller is 50' of 3/8" copper tubing (photo 10) that was coiled around a Corney keg. It cools wort
with tap water. This works but is slow (30 minutes for 5 gallons) and doesn't get the wort cool enough except
the dead of what passes for winter around here. Plans are gestating for a cold plate to chill the cooling water and
lower the wort's pitching temperature during the rest of the year.
The fermenter is a 50 liter keg (photo 11) that Anthony from Brew Works gave away. It and the big kettle have
12" openings cut in the top that are covered with aluminum lids from Smart&Final when needed.
Photo 10: Copper Tubing for Immersion
Photo 09: Eight Gallon Kettle
Photo 11: Fermenter
Photo 12: Refractometer
Odds and ends. Refractometers are great. Mine is a 0-32 Plato model that cost about $60 (photo 12) 5 years ago
online . A very fine mesh shallow strainer from Murakai is used to scoop off protein that floats to the surface at
the beginning of the boil. An industrial strength 10" diameter strainer (photo 13) from Steinfiller's holds a fine
weave grain bag that is used to filter wort as it flows to the fermenter. Last, a HEPA filter and 0.5 micron
stainless diffusion stone (photo 14) on the aeration compressor outlet make those clean tiny bubbles that yeast
appreciate.
Photo 13: Industrial Strainer
Photo 14: HEPA Filter
Currently, I ferment at ambient temperature and this is one area I'd like to improve. A chest freezer for storage
and a kegerator, both with external thermostats, are in the garage already. A third refrigerator dedicated to
fermentation would be wonderful but that probably won't happen right away. I'll try pressing the storage box
into fermentation service. Sanitation may be a challenge with this setup but it's worth a try.
Ancient yeast reborn in modern beer
Wednesday, 24 September 2008, Eric Bland, Discovery News
A tiny colony of yeast trapped inside a Lebanese weevil covered in ancient Burmese amber for up to 45 million
years, has been brought back to life in barrels of beer. Emeritus Professor Raul Cano of the California
Polytechnic State University, originally extracted the yeast a decade ago, along with more than 2000 different
kinds of microscopic creatures. Today, Cano uses the reactivated yeast to brew barrels of pale ale and German
wheat beer. "You can always buy brewing yeast, and your product will be based on the brewmaster's recipes,"
says Cano. "Our yeast has a double angle: We have yeast no one else has and our own beer recipes." The beer
received good reviews at the Russian River Beer Festival and from other reviewers. The Oakland Tribune beer
critic, William Brand, said the beer has "a weird spiciness at the finish," and The Washington Post said the beer
was "smooth and spicy." Part of that taste comes from the yeast's unique metabolism. "The ancient yeast is
restricted to a narrow band of carbohydrates, unlike more modern yeasts, which can consume just about any
kind of sugar," says Cano. Eventually the yeast will likely evolve the ability to eat other sugars, which could
change the taste of the beer. Cano plans to keep a batch of the original yeast to keep the beer true to form. If
this has a ring of deja vu, it could be because Cano's amber-drilling technique is the same one popularised in the
movie Jurassic Park, where scientists extracted ancient dinosaur DNA from the bellies of blood-sucking insects
trapped in fossilised tree sap. Cano's original goal was to find ancient microscopic creatures that might have
some kind of medical value, particularly pharmaceutical drugs.
Going to sleep
While that particular avenue of research didn't yield significant results, the larger question of how microscopic
creatures survived for millions of years could help scientists understand certain diseases, says Professor Charles
Greenblatt, a scientist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem who studies ancient bacteria. "We've got cases of
guys who contracted [tuberculosis] during World War II and lived with it for 60, 70 years," says Greenblatt.
"Then suddenly they get another disease, the TB wakes up from its dormancy and kills them." Inducing
dormancy could be a new way to fight disease and infection, says Greenblatt. Instead of outright killing
infectious creatures, doctors could instead put them to sleep. The infection would still be present in the patient's
body, but it wouldn't hurt the patient. Neither Cano nor Greenblatt can say what the upper limit for hibernating
yeast or bacteria is - it could be hundreds of million years. But while other scientists work on that, Cano plans
to spend his time tossing back a few cold ones, and hoping others will too. "We think that people will drink
one beer out of curiosity," says Cano. "But if the beer doesn't taste good, no one will drink a second."
Calendar of Homebrewing Events
Rob Proffitt, SBC Vice-President
Club-Only Competitions
Location: Strand Brewers' Club Meeting
Naja's Place
154 International Boardwalk
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Time: 2nd Wednesday of every month 7:30pm
November/December 2008
Celebration of the Hop (IPA)
Hosted by SODZ club of Deleware OH
Covers BJCP Categories 16
Other Competitions
(In order of entry deadline)
No Local Competitions Scheduled
For a list of BJCP competitions around the
country, go to www.bjcp.org and select the
Scheduled Competitions link
January/February 2009
Belgian & French Ales
Hosted by Silverado Homebrew Club, St. Charles,
IL
Covers BJCP Categories 16
March/April 2009
Beers with OG>1.080
Hosted by Prarie Homebrewing Companions of
Fargo, ND
Covers BJCP categories with OG greater than
1.080
May 2009
Extract Beers
All BJCP categories, extract must make up 50% of
fermentables
Club Selection at April Meeting
For more information on these club-only
competitions, go to
www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html
You don’t like these articles? Do something about it! Write your own beer
experience, review, adventure, spills, and anything else to [email protected]
Meeting every 2nd Wednesday of every month
www.strandbrewers.org
Dedicated to the art and science of home beer making,
beer education and beer drinking
Brewing the best damn beer
The objectives of the Strand Brewers' Club are to Brew Beer; to disseminate among the members information pertaining
to the brewing, consuming, presentation, judging and history of beer; to promote and encourage homebrewing
competition; and to foster general goodwill throughout this great nation of ours through the making and consuming of
this noble and most excellent beverage.
It is the policy of the Strand Brewers' Club (SBC) to brew and consume beer strictly for fun. Under no circumstances
does the SBC support or condone in any manner the sale or barter of homebrewed beer, the operation of a motor vehicle
under the influence of alcohol by a member or participant in any club event, or the provision of alcohol to minors.
Strand Brewers’ Mentor Pool
In time of need...who ya gonna call? These Brew Buddies have volunteered to answer any brewing questions
you might have, and to be available to teach beginning homebrewers our hombrew craft.
Name
Dave Peterson
Dan Hakes
Bill Krouss
Jim Hilbing
Jim Wilson
Steve Fafard
Jay Ankeney
Phone
(310) 530-3168
(323) 730-1003
(310) 831-6352
(310) 798-0911
(310) 316-2374
(310) 373-1724
(310) 545-3983
Email
diablo390 (at) aol.com
danhakes (at) mac.com
bkrouss (at) cox.net
james (at) hilbing.net
jim7258 (at) gmail.com
sfafard (at) cox.net
jayankeney (at) mac.com
Location
Torrance
Downtown Los Angeles
Rancho Palos Verdes
Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach
Rolling Hills Estates
Manhattan Beach
...and your 2008 Club Officers:
2008 Club Officers
President:
Vice-President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Activities Director:
Webmaster:
Brian McGovney
Rob Proffitt
Kathryn Rowe
Ron Cooper
Andrew Jang
John Meisell
(310) 376-8246
(310) 787-9511
(805) 748-2682
(310) 546-1524
(805) 748-2057
(310) 798-7127
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]