Jim’s Homebrew Forum Newsletter

Summer 2007

Here it is at last!

Summer is (allegedly) here, and most home brewers will have scaled down production and be concentrating on enjoying the fruits of their labour at various parties and barbecues. The English way is to stand by your barbecue in your wellies in the pouring rain, holding an umbrella in one hand and a pair of salad tongs in the other.

Meanwhile, here at Jim’s, we have a thriving forum to keep you out of mischief, which now includes quite a few famous names among it’s membership of over 700 enthusiasts. As ever the admin team are striving to improve the facilities, and currently in the pipeline we have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section and an Events section where members will be able to announce get-togethers, beer festivals etc). I might even get round to updating the website one day!

In this summer edition of the newsletter we have not only the usual features such as the Recipe of the Month (well, of the season anyway) and DaaB’s Forum Gossip, but also an interview with Charlie Talley of Star San fame in 'Over a Swift Half'. Also this month, DaaB stoically takes on the task of visiting the Ringwood Brewery - and as we know how much you love pictures, he's taken a few for you.  I’m sure you’ll find this edition a great read.

Cheers,

Jim

Recipe of the Month - 'Not Quite London Pride'

If you have spent much time driving around the New Forest, at some point you are bound to have noticed the Ringwood Brewery lorry delivering beer to the many excellent pubs that are in the area, their beers are popular all over the New Forest and beyond.

The Ringwood Brewery, established in 1978 was one of the worlds first modern microbreweries and led the way in breaking the stranglehold of the major breweries. They proved it was possible to run a small modern microbrewery successfully.

Recently, while passing through Ringwood I stopped at the famous brewery there and managed to blag a whistle stop tour, here are the photos (click for a bigger picture).




Ringwood uses traditional brewing techniques, fermenting some of their beers in giant open fermenters. Their malts are sourced locally from Dorset and Devon and their hops come from the best growers in Kent and Worcestershire. The rest (they proudly boast) is down to their famous, very flocculent yeast strain, reputed to be over 150 years old, and the skill and dedication of their brewers.

The Ringwood Brewery is situated in the market town of Ringwood on the western edge of the New Forest, at a crossing point of the River Avon. Brewing in Ringwood dates back to the times when Bog Myrtle (common in the New Forest) was used to flavour beer instead of hops, and excellent quality water was drawn from a nearby horse pond. In the 1800s, four breweries and their maltings were listed in Ringwood and although they no longer exist, one of these breweries, owned by a local banker Stephen Tunks is now the site of the present day Ringwood brewery.

They currently produce seven real ales in total, 3 regular and 4 seasonal and many of their ales have won awards including XXXX Porter which won Silver in its class at Camra's annual Winter Beer Competition in January 2002 and Ringwood Best which won a Bronze Medal at the Munich Beer Festival in September 2005.

In addition to the seven local pubs that they own, in 1997 the Ringwood Brewery acquired the Château de Fayolle vineyard which is located south of Bergerac looking across the Dordogne valley. More information about the Château de Fayolle vineyard is available here; http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/vineyard.htm

For further information on the Ringwood Brewery and their beers, go to their website at http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/index.htm

If you'd like to have a go at reproducing a pint of Ringwood Best, why not try Moorsd's recipe. http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2849

Ringwood yeast is available as "Wyeast 1187,Ringwood Ale™"
Details:
Flocculation: High
Attenuation: 68-72%
Temperature Range: 64-74F, 18-23C
Alcohol Tolerance: 10% ABV

Since this article was written, Marstons announced that it has acquired Ringwood Brewery Limited for £19.2 million causing fears that the brewery will be closed down and that its 700 (approx) existing customers will be sold Marstons brands in place of Ringwood ales. There are also fears that the seven pubs owned by Ringwood will loose their identities.

Marston's insists closure of the Ringwood brewery is not on its agenda. Two years ago the company bought Lake District family brewery Jennings and kept its promise to not only keep the brewery in Cockermouth open but also invest heavily in the Jennings brands.

Forum Gossip

Daab reviews the Hot Topics from Jim’s Homebrew Forum!

Ever wondered about brewing software..

..but not sure which of the PC options you should go for, may be this topic will help you decide?

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6065

Of course if you have a Mac, there’s only one option, Beer Alchemy (written by our own Steve Flack). It has been getting some great reviews on the homebrew forums and has also featured on Basic Brewing Radio

Conicals are Cool

Conical fermenters aren’t essential when it comes to making great beer, in fact David Edge rightly pointed on the forum,

“The CBA's champion beer brewers for the last six years were all at the trade session at GBBF this year which makes them sound serious - but most of them use all-plastic kit”.,

Conicals do make brewing a lot easier though allowing you to drop any trub that settles out early on and harvest clean yeast in preparation for subsequent batches, let’s not forget too, they are VERY shiny!

(Of course the only trouble is once you’ve bought your conical it doesn’t end there as Steve Flack demonstrates over the following 3 threads.)

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6547

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6602

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6603

The fully modified Conical fermenter is put through its paces here

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6657

(I promise I wont mention Steve again in the next issue of our newsletter)

Need a Way to Carbonate your Kegs on a desert island?

I couldn’t let this one slip down the list without a second mention, it seems that a sparklet bulb used in conjunction with a keg charger truly is the Swiss Army knife of the carbonation world. (Nice tip Dartgod)

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=83697#83697

Bottling, a very useful how to!

This one is in the kit section but provides great bottling advice in words and pictures, for any homebrewer.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6647

Improving Beer Kits

You don’t have to stick rigidly to the instructions or the ingredients supplied with a beer kit, there are some simple things you can do to improve the finished beer without too much extra effort.

 This post covers the use of liquid yeast in a kit as well as dry hopping. It also contains a lot of useful information on stuck fermentations, yeast harvesting, force carbonation and serving beer from a Cornelius keg.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5285

Name Dropping

And now we find that some famous names of the British home brew scene are actually among us!

David Edge of the Craft Brewing Association has been an active member for some time now, but imagine our collective surprise when Mark Ollosson,  author of  ‘Real Ales for the Home Brewer’ turned up on our doorstep.

Surprise was replaced by astonishment when none other than Graham Wheeler (he of ‘The CAMRA Guide to Home Brewing’ fame) announced his presence in a thread which grew and grew, and included fascinating contributions by all three!  

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5970

Over a Swift Half

Following increased UK interest in Five Star Chemical's 'Star San' no rinse sanitiser, Jims Beer Kit decided to question Charley Talley about the product, how best to use it and why it is so popular in the US:

Jim's Beer Kit: Charlie, could you tell us a little bit about Star San and how to get the best from it?

Charlie Talley: When I developed Star in the late 60's (yes I am that old) it was tested against S. aurous, E. coli, L. bacillus, A. Niger and a few other nasty bacteria. All were at 10 to 30,000,000 colonies per cc. The contact time was at 30, 60, and 120 seconds. The end result was 10 to 30 colonies per cc after 30-second contact time and 0 after 60 seconds of contact time. Since our EPA will only recognize the 120-second contact time that is why it is on our label. So as you can see it is very effective with just a 20 second contact time.

The ingredients that are in Star San are based on food grade or G.R.A.S. materials (Generally Recognized as Safe). They are phosphoric acid, dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DDBSA), propylene glycol, and a coupling agent. When it is diluted to 300 ppms one ounce per 5 (US) gallons of water or 1.5-1.6 mls/liter the actives are 300 ppms of DDBSA and 930 ppms of phosphoric acid. This will produce an end pH of 2.5 to 3.5 (depending on the alkalinity of the water used for make up. Where the confusion comes in is the length of time the solution can be kept and how can you tell if it is still good. The answer lies with the acid concentration and the types of minerals in the water. When there is a high calcium or carbonate content in the water the pH of the end solution will approach 3.5 if it is above this then the solution will not kill micro-organisms. Because phosphoric acid is a poor chelator* for manganese this element if present in the water will react with the DDBSA and make a type of hard mineral soap. This soap is the cloud that will some times appear in a Star San Solution. The amount of this mineral and in some cases even iron can be chelated by using citric acid in the make up water. Most of the time I tell brewers to use a mixture of DI water or distilled what that is common in super markets. As long as the solution is clear and the pH is below 3.5 it will kill, how long this is will depend on the amount of times used and how clean the equipment was when sanitized.

When using the Star San the foam will penetrate and reach places that normal sanitizers cannot so yes just embrace the foam it is your friend. Most of the home brew clubs I speak at I just tell them to allow the foam to drain and pitch the yeast right on top of the wort. The wort will raise the pH of the Star San left in the container and turn it into food. The phosphoric acid will produce phosphates and the DDBSA will produce organic materials that normally kick off vigorous fermentation.

JBK: It’s said that due to the acidic nature of Star San it isn’t suitable for use on soft metals. What effect would a short 30 second contact have on a plate chiller for example?

CT: As to Star San vs. soft metal Star San will always win. The trick is the contact time and when it is used. I have everyone run the Star San through the chillers just prior to use, this will not damage the units even with all of the different metals found in some of them. The problems occur when Star San is over used or if the units are soaked it in for long periods of time. Keep in mind that it only needs 30 seconds to kill. Also keep in mind that Star San is a concentrated acid sanitizer and as such it will destroy things like carpets, counter tops and the like so be neat and keep the cap on when not using this product.

JBK: At this point I ask Charlie about ‘my not particularly scientific Star San experiment’

CT: The use of the acid product (CRS) will not have any real effect on the Star San and the solution will naturally be more acetic but that is OK. In general you have determined that the solution will stay clear if the conditions are correct. The HCl in the acidifier will take care of just about any trace mineral that will affect the clarity of the Star San.

JBK: As Star San is becoming popular in the UK I asked if it would be possible to add a dilution rate per litre on the bottle?

CT: At the present time the label that is on the bottle is an EPA approved label and cannot be changed, however when we come up for revue on the next go around we can put metric measurements on the label.

JBK: Can Star San be used for spraying on aluminium foil before using it to cover an Erlenmeyer flask when making yeast starters?

CT: As far as sanitizing the aluminum foil that is not a very good idea. I normally tell brewers to follow so simple rules.
1. If you are heat sterilizing anything, foil them first, place in an oven and heat to 140 to 160C for 2 to 3 hours (this was my standard practice in the micro lab.).
2. When crowning a bottle have all of the crowns in a container of Star San solution, place on the bottle wet and keep your hands wet as well.
3. When transferring or chilling your beer sanitize the tubing just prior to transfer keep them wet with sanitizer and then transfer.

CT: These are the three main reasons for secondary infections and as long as the Star San is present in a wet form there will be a very good protective barrier against infections.

*A chelator is an organic chemical that bonds with and removes free metal ions from solutions.

Note: if anyone wants to try Star San but isn’t able to get hold of DI (De-Ionised) or RO (Reverse Osmosis) water, Harry Clelland has found that Tesco Ashbeck Mountain Spring is suitably low enough in calcium and bicarbonate to use with Star San (and I noticed it was only 44p for 2L in Tesco Express).

You can read more here

Jim