Fermentarium.com

Are you ready for plastic kegs?

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:31:33 +0100

The problems

Most of the draft beer you see from other countries will be mass-market beer. In America we see Heineken from Europe, and in Europe they see Budweiser. This is an over-simplification of the market, but for the most part niche beers do not make it across the pond. One reason is smaller companies cannot afford to "float" kegs to other countries. Kegs shipped overseas can take 9 to 12 months to return, if they return at all. This added cost of doing business overseas can add up. Shipping heavy steel kegs great distances can also be very expensive. (I thought it was expensive?)

Even within the borders of the United States, steel kegs have problems. A new keg can cost between $165 and $185. A brewery needs to sell beer in the keg around 10 times just to see a return on the investment. This happens in the ideal case. It's common for kegs to "go missing". Steel kegs can collect as much as $55 as scrap metal. My local pub has had kegs stolen from the bar many times. The loss is usually passed on to the person who last had the keg. Budweiser quarterly charges their distributors $100 for every keg that turns up missing.

The Solution

To solve the problem, several companies are starting to make kegs out of plastic. Plastic is lighter than steel, cheaper than steel, and represents less of a liability for the brewery while the keg is "on the road".

One Way Kegs

EcoKeg Pty Ltd., an Australian company sells the "One Way Keg". This keg is designed to solve the international problem because the keg is disposable. These kegs are meant for a single use. You do not need to return the keg. According to their website, the keg is significantly cheaper than a steel keg. Since the keg is about 80% lighter than a steel keg, it's also cheaper to ship.

The One Way Keg mechanism is similar to that of box wines. Inside the keg is a plastic liner which holds the beer. When you pump air into the keg, you actually pump air outside the bag. This pressure feeds your tap line with beer without ever exposing your beer to air. This means the beer at your kegger will last much longer than a few days.

The company claims the keg is environmentally friendly because all the parts are made from recyclable materials. Of course you need to put the keg in your recycle bin for this to work. I'm not sure how environmentally sound a disposable plastic keg can be, but it does save energy on shipping since the keg never needs to make a return journey. Unfortunately the One Way Kegs are not sold in the United States.

Plastic Kegs America

There are plastic kegs available in the United States. Plastic Kegs America sells plastic kegs which are 1/2 barrel (the kegger kegs), 1/6 barrel (the homebrew corney kegs), and 1/12 barrel kegs (pub carry home kegs). Again the kegs are plastic, so there is no incentive to steal the keg. The best part is the plastic kegs are meant to be reused like a normal keg.

The kegs can be stacked while shipping or in storage. The plastic kegs start at $87. The kegs can be marked permanently to ensure they are identified with your brewery for another $2 per keg, and you can add RFID tags ($1.50/keg) which cannot be removed. You can even customize the color of the kegs if you order enough.

Is this going to get plastic in my beer?

Plastic Kegs America sent me a PIRA report complete with data and findings. The study analyzed the chemical makeup of the kegs, any chemicals absorbed by the beer, and if the keg absorbed any of the beer. The study found no chemicals migrated to the beer, and negligible amounts of beer were absorbed by the keg. They also found no absorption of chemicals from normal keg cleaning. The report included the spectrograph results.

Do plastic keg work for homebrewers?

One problem I can see with plastic kegs is plastic is generally non-conductive. This isn't a problem with normal kegs since steel conducts heat well, but you'll need more time to chill your beer to temperature. This is not a problem for most bars and restaurants because they can keep the beer in a cooler or refrigerator, but it will take longer if you put the keg in an ice bath. This may or may not be a problem for you, but it is a point to consider.

Plastic Kegs America does sell 1/6 barrel kegs and 1/12 barrel kegs, but both use the Sankey connections. The kegs are really meant for commercial use, but they do have prices for orders less than 10. A 1/6 barrel keg will cost $67. New stainless steel 1/6 barrel kegs cost $130, but used usually costs $15-$30. I'm not sure how much economic sense it makes for the homebrewer, but if I ever get around to opening my own brewery (soon?) I think I'm sold on the plastic kegs from Plastic Kegs America.

Slippery when wet!

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:42:03 +0100

Any kid or adult who has experienced Wham-o's Slip N' Slide knows they are FUN! Personally I find them irresistible, so I can sympathize with this beer nut.

Forty-one year-old Margaret Bachop from La Crosse, Wisconsin, saw her five year-old neighbor enjoying his Slip N' Slide. Can you blame her for wanting to join in the fun? She didn't have a swimsuit available, so she did what any drunk with a 0.30 percent blood alcohol content would do. She stripped down to her underware (bra and thong) and attempted to join in the fun. A neighbor ran over to cover her with a bed sheet.

The drunk woman, who was under court order to abstain from alcohol, was arrested on her front porch. She was charged with disorderly conduct, and lewd and lascivious behavior. I can see the disorderly conduct and an additional charge for drinking while under court order to abstain, but the lewd behavior charge is silly. If the woman was wearing a smaller and more revealing bathing suit, would she still be charged for lewd behavior? I'm betting this charge will be dropped quicker than she dropped her pants.

(Source: LaCrosse Tribune)

Brazilian Ice Wine?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:52:20 +0100

For the first time, well the first time in modern history, the temperature dropped low enough in Brazil to create ice wine. Temperatures in Santa Catarina, Brazil reached -7.5 C (18.5 F). Ice wine requires a hard freeze of -7 C to -8 C. The Pericó Winery claims to be the first winery in Brazil to produce ice wine. There are great pictures of their frozen vineyard on their Portuguese website.

Ironically NOAA announced May 2009 was the 4th warmest in 130 years of record. Apparently no one told Brazil May was supposed to be a warm month.

Here's the Google translation of their press release.

Hops gone wild

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:47:57 +0100

Like many other homebrewers, I planted a ton of hops around my house in hopes to ease the hop crisis. The first year, 2007, I planted several hop varieties in planters. These died quicker than fresh yeast poured into boiling wort. The following year I planted several varieties around my house. The plants limped along, and by the end of the summer they looked marginally ok.

Last year my Spalt hops were the only hops which produced cones. They produced quite a bit, so it seemed, and I had somewhere between 1 and 2 pounds of cones. The leaves were thick on the Spalt and came just short of reaching the roof in September. The Mount Hood, Kent Golding, and Willamette never got taller than me.

This year my Mount Hood are now at the same point they were at the end of last year. The Kent Goldings and Willamette are both over 10 feet, and I will need to find a way to extend their climbing rope to 20 or more feet. The Spalt are scaring me.

The Spalt have already reached the roof. They are spidering all over the deck. I've added new twine in an attempt to build a canopy. They are already half way across from the garage to the house.

In all cases, my hops are already doing better than they were at the end of September.

Here are pictures from last year, and some from this year. You can see how they started as small twigs, to the jungle they have grown to. I'll continue to post hops photos on Flickr if you want to follow their progress. If the hops do not choke me in my sleep, I will have tons of hops this fall!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

2009 Great American Beer Festival

Sun, 31 May 2009 19:23:09 +0100

If you've ever wanted to try 1,800 different beers in an evening do we have the beer festival for you!

The Brewer's Association hosts the Great American Beer Festival. Since 1982 the GABF has been serving beer from America's best (and some so-so) breweries. This year they will have over 1,800 beers from over 300 breweries.

The festival will be held this year between September 24-26. If you want to go, you need to act now. The tickets go on sale June 1, 2009, but will sell out before the summer is over. The first year I went, I tried to get a ticket the day of the festival for my sister. The tickets were sold out, and I ended up handing over more than double the ticket price to a scalper. This year the tickets are $55.

If you go be sure to stop me (between beers) and say hi! I hope to see you there.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter!

What do you need to start kegging beer?

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:22:29 +0100

You need a keg to keg beer

Obviously when you want to keg beer, you'll need a keg. The best type of keg for homebrewers is the old Pepsi style 5 gallon kegs. They are also referred to as Cornelius kegs (after one of the manufacturers) or Corny keg. I'm not sure what the options in other countries are, but in the United States this is the best choice.

You can find these kegs brand new for $100-130 USD. It's not a good deal though. You can find these kegs used for anywhere between $15-35 USD. You can get better deals if you shop around and buy a pack of 4 kegs. They are usually in poor condition on the outside, but the inside is spotless. It does not matter what the outside looks like as long as the inside looks good and the keg can hold pressure.

You may need to replace some of the rings on the keg. These are the rubber rings which attach to the posts, the lid, and the liquid and gas tubes on the inside. Some homebrew shops and online outlets sell a set of these rings for $4-5 USD, but you can buy a bag of a hundred from McMaster-Carr. Here's the part numbers and links:

Dip Tube O-Rings
5/16" ID x 1/2"OD x 3/32" width
9452K172 BunaN #109
Pkg 100/$1.89

Post O-Rings
7/16" ID x 5/8" OD x 3/32" width
9452K23 BunaN #111
Pkg 100/$2.15

Lid O-Rings
3 1/2" ID x 4" OD x 1/4" width
9452K218 BunaN #417
Pkg 10/$12.50

(Reference: St. Paul Homebrewers Club)

You might need to replace the posts if your kegs are in really poor condition. So far I've been lucky and all my posts and poppets arrived in good condition. If you are unlucky, you can find new posts online at Northern Brewer or possibly at your local homebrew store.

You also need a CO2 cylinder and the fittings

Once you have a keg and you've filled it, you'll need to carbonate your beer. This requires a regulator, a CO2 tank, tubing and fittings, and a tap to dispense your beer.

The fittings are the gas and liquid disconnects which attach to the keg. The gray disconnect attaches to the gas post, and the black disconnect attaches to the liquid post. To tell the difference between the posts, the gas post usually has notches and has a star like pattern to the edges. The liquid post looks more like a hexagon, and does not have notches in the edges.

Most homebrew shops will sell you all this equipment as a draft system. Some places will omit the CO2 gas tank from the list of items in the draft system. I think omitting the CO2 tank is a much better deal, because many homebrew shops will exchange CO2 tanks but they will not fill it for you. It's similar to the propane tank exchange at your grocery store. The exchange works out cheaper too, because you just need to pay a deposit for the cylinder. You don't need to buy one. I had a hard time finding a place in Denver to fill my CO2 tank, and I wish I had one to exchange (I do travel to Aurora now to fill it).

The regulator in most kits is a dual gauge regulator. This means it displays the dispensing pressure and the pressure remaining in the CO2 cylinder. I'm not sure how useful the "remaining pressure" gauge is, since it will stay at one pressure (based on temperature) and then drop to zero when it is empty.

Another gauge is a double gauge regulator has two dispensing pressure gauges. It's great for if you want to carbonate or dispense at two different pressures. I use mine to carbonate two different styles at two different pressures.

...and a tap to serve the beer

When I'm serving my beer I usually use a picnic tap. It looks similar to the taps you might have seen in college, but it does not require you to pump your beer full of air. You can also hook your beer up to a bar system with beer taps, but it's something you get when you get deeper into kegging. For now, all you really need is the picnic tap.

So that's all the equipment you need to start kegging. Just a keg, a regulator, CO2 cylinder, and all the fittings. After you clean your keg, all you need to do is pour the beer in and carbonate. It is MUCH simpler than bottles, but it does require a bit more investment.

Homebrew Tip: Quick Disconnects

Tue, 05 May 2009 20:26:17 +0100

It seems as my homebrewing hobby grows, there are more hoses connecting my equipment. When I first started brewing I had one pot. Now my system has become much more complex.

I have hoses connecting to my mash tun. I have hoses connecting my brew bot to my march pump, which has hoses connecting to my wort chiller which seems to have hoses spreading out everywhere. Connecting all these hoses used to be a pain-in-the you-know-what.

Then I discovered quick disconnects. These devices allow quick coupling between your different homebrew equipment. There are two types of quick disconnects, normal disconnects and food grade disconnects.

I use the normal disconnects to connect my water hoses for the wort chiller. These are pretty cheap. You can find them in the home and garden section of your favorite home supplies store. I found mine at Home Depot for about $4 for a pair of connects.

The food grade disconnects are more expensive. I use these only in places which touch my wort. This is at the wort half of the wort chiller, my pump, and my brew pot. You could buy the food grade disonnects for everywhere in your brew system, but the normal plastic disconnects from Home Depot work just as well. You can't use the normal ones for sections which touch your hot wort, because they are not food grade (safe to use on food without leeching stuff) and they are not designed to withstand the high temperatures.

You have choices between metal and polysulfone (plastic) for these disconnects. The polysulfone disconnects I use are about $15 for the female connector and $7 for each male connector. I've heard there are cheaper brass disconnects, but usually the brass disconnects are around the same price as the polysulfone disconnects. Since you're using the disconnects only for transferring the wort, the limited contact will not affect your beer flavor.

There are stainless steel disconnects, however these can be very expensive. The stainless steel disconnects are very durable and you can pass them on to your grandkids. They last forever! I'm saving up for the stainless steel disconnects. They run about $25-$35 each.

The disconnects make hooking up your equipment a snap. You just press them together like Legos. The seals on my disconnects are also better than when I connected the garden hoses directly to the wort chiller. Until I got the quick disconnects for my garden hose, my wort chiller always sprayed water everywhere (even with new rubber washers in place). The disonnects worked so well, I installed them on all my garden hoses.

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My Big Brew Day

Sun, 03 May 2009 20:16:36 +0100

Since 1988, the United States has recognized May 7th as National Homebrew Day. Big Brew Day is the day homebrewers get together to make beer and celebrate National Homebrew Day. It is an annual event held on the first Saturday of May. I decided to start making it an annual tradition in my neighborhood to officially mark the start of the brewing season. I make the beer for neighborhood, so this is my way of conning them into helping out.

If you asked someone who isn't a brewer, I'm sure they wouldn't know about it. Don't feel bad if you didn't know about it. There are an estimated 750,000 homebrewers in the United States, but I'll bet you a beer most homebrewers don't know about the day. According to the American Homebrew Association this is a world-wide event. You can read the official word on the event at the beertown.com site. (Humorously they even mention Americans have been homebrewing since the Pilgrims - um... not exactly)

Unfortunately this year the weather was crappy in Denver (six f-ing crappy weekends in a row). It didn't stop me. Despite the poor weather, I and a friend "celebrated" Big Brew Day. Here's a few pictures of us brewing in the rain. Hopefully in the future the weather will be warmer so more people show up. If you're a homebrewer, you should plan a homebrewing event with your friends too!

I usually share my brews on Twitter, follow me if you want to follow along!

Guinness creates new beer for 250th Anniversary

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:58:46 +0100

Guinness is celebrating their 250th anniversary by creating a new beer. The new beer will be fizzier and maltier than previous beers. I assume this means they are just using regular carbonation instead of their iconic nitrogen beer gas mix. The beer will have triple the hops of the regular Guinness and slightly more alcohol.

The beer will be available for six months and then it's gone.

What's weird about this beer is it's good enough for the world to drink, but not Ireland. The new beer will not be available in Ireland. It will be available in the United States April 24th, and in Australia and Singapore at a later date.

I found references to this new beer on MSNBC. MSNBC claims the beer uses two types of malts, "ale and stout". Apparently they do not have anyone who knows beer on staff, but it did give me a good laugh.

(Source: MSNBC)

What do you really need to start making wine?

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:34:30 +0100

Equipment for making wine from a wine kit

Making wine from a wine kit is very easy.

Just like making beer, the no-rinse sanitizer is required. A no-rinse sanitizer makes sanitizing your equipment very easy. Simply mix water with a measured amount of sanitizer according to the directions. Then sanitize everything which will have contact with the must (the grape juice).

The must in the wine kit is already chemically adjusted for pH and sugars. Your only steps are to rehydrate (add water) and inoculate (toss yeast in) the must. The large spoon is for mixing the must when you rehydrate it. You'll need a secondary fermenter when you rack the wine during the racking and clarification step.

You will also need a sanitized spoon later after the fermentation to "degass" your wine. This is a fancy term which means "stir the heck out of it until there is no more CO2/bubbles in the wine". You might want to invest in a Fermtech Whip Degasser, Winexpert Wine Wand, or some mixer which you can attach to a electric drill. This will make your degassing much easier. It's not listed because you can use a large spoon and lots of stirring.

Again like beer, I suggest getting a bottling bucket when you bottle. You can siphon directly into your bottles, but a bottling bucket makes life easier.

Here's the minimum equipment you'll need for a wine kit

Sanitizer
Fermenter
Secondary Fermenter/Carboy
Large spoon
Corks and Corker
Wine bottles
A hose to siphon beer, racking cane or an auto-siphon

Equipment for making wine from grapes

Making wine from grapes takes a bit more equipment. You will need to destem the grapes, crush the grapes, and then eventually press the grapes. When I started making wine from grapes, I used the equipment from my local homebrew store where I purchased the grapes. They had wine making equipment available for rent. The homebrew store even tested the must acids and sugars for me, so all I needed was a trashcan fermenter for the grapes. There are some wine making/homebrew clubs which pool resources together for grape crushes too. Do some research to find out if your grape supplier also can provide use of equipment.

If you don't have access to equipment, you can still make wine. In this case you will need to destem and crush the grapes by hand. This will work for a small amount of grapes, but your patience will be tested if you are planning to make large amounts of wine. You will also need a wine press. If you can't find one to rent, look on craigslist for a used press.

A large fermenter is needed if you are making red wine. I use a large food grade trashcan dedicated to making wine.

The potassium metabisulfite is used to kill wild yeast and bacteria. You can also use campden tablets. The potassium sorbate is used later to stabilize the wine. Pectic enzyme is used to help break down the grapes and extract more juice.

Once you've crushed your grapes, the process is similar to wine kits.

Here's the minimum equipment you'll need for a wine from grapes

Sanitizer
Fermenter
Large foodgrade trashcan (red wine)
Large Spoon
Corks and Corker
Wine bottles
A hose to siphon beer, racking cane or an auto-siphon
Potassium Metabisulfite
Potassium Sorbate
Pectic Enzyme

Possibly

hydrometer
acid testing kit
wine press
destemmer/crusher

Did I miss anything?

There might be something I'm missing. I think these lists represent the minimum equipment you will need to make wine. What do you think? Is there anything I missed or is there anything I added which you do not need?

Beer Wars reviews around the net

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:10:23 +0100

To tell you the truth, I didn't see the movie so I can't say much about it.

The only details I know are from the hype-machine. I react adversely to hype, you can blame George Lucas for that (besides, Thursday night is the night when I wash my hair). I'm also not really interested in anything Ben Stein says that is not strictly economics related. I figured I'd skip the crowds and watch it on my TV with friends and beer.

That didn't stop me from looking at the reviews from other bloggers:

Did you see the movie? Let me know what you thought about the movie in the comments below!

What do you really need to start brewing beer?

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:59:20 +0100

There are several ways to make beer, each with their own list of equipment requirements. You'll need less equipment if you're making an extract beer than you would if you were making an all-grain beer. But what is the minimum you will need?

The goal here isn't to determine the cheapest way to home brew, however, buying only what you need will be inexpensive. In this economy, saving any amount helps. These lists represent the bare minimum equipment you need to make beer.

Bottle Brew

If you get the bottle brew kit, you'll have everything you need. The kit is a two liter bottle of wort with a special cap. You drop the yeast into the bottle, attach the special cap, and you are done. Once the fermentation is complete, you refrigerate the beer and then enjoy. No equipment necessary.

No Boil Beer Kits

If you're using a no boil kit like the Coopers beer kits, you'll need very little equipment. You can mix the wort in your fermenter, so you do not need a "brewing" vessel. Normally I'd suggest getting a hydrometer, but in the no-boil case there is little chance you beer will not ferment out.

The no-rinse sanitizer is a must. You need to make sure your fermenter is sanitized, and nothing is easier than a no-rinse sanitizer. You might be tempted to use bleach, but this is a bad idea. The chlorine can give your beer an off-flavor.

You do have the option of using a bottling bucket when it comes time to bottle, but you can fill buckets using your siphon hose. A bottling bucket is not 100% necessary, but it will make bottling easier. I strongly recommend the auto-siphon over using just a hose or racking cane, because it makes it easier to siphon the beer. No matter if you choose to siphon the beer with a hose, racking cane, or auto-siphon, you will need something to siphon the beer.

This is the minimum list of equipment you'll need to make a no-boil beer kit:

No-rinse Sanitizer
Fermenter
Long Spoon
Bottles
Bottle capper
A hose to siphon beer, racking cane or an auto-siphon

Extract Brew

If you are making an extract kit, you need to boil your wort. This increases the amount of equipment you will need. You don't necessarily need a huge pot for your boil, but you will need a pot able to boil about 3 gallons. Many large pasta pots are capable of holding 3 gallons. This is for a partial wort brew. You will boil about 2 1/2 gallons of wort. When you add it to your fermenter, you will top off the fermenter with 2 1/2 gallons of very cold water.

You need the thermometer to make sure the wort has cooled enough before pitching your yeast. You won't necessarily need a wort chiller, although it will make it easier for you to chill the wort quickly. You can put your pot in an ice bath or add very cold water to the fermenter to chill the beer without a wort chiller. Either way you will need a thermometer to make sure the temperature is safe for your yeast.

This is the minimum list of equipment you'll need to make a extract brew:

No-rinse Sanitizer
Fermenter
Long Spoon
Large Pot
Thermometer
Bottles
Bottle capper
A hose to siphon beer, racking cane or an auto-siphon

All-Grain Brew

The minimum equipment for all-grain is a bit tricky. You need some way to mash your grains. Before a few weeks ago, I would have suggested buying a cooler and converting it into a mash tun. This is the way I do my all-grain mashes, but the Australians have shown us the cooler mash is not quite "the minimum".

They are doing all-grain mashes using a grain bag. After hearing about it on Basic Brewing and Brew Your Own Magazine, I'm convinced this is the minimum amount of equipment required. This adds a grain bag, large enough to hold all of the grain, to our equipment list.

You cannot do a concentrated brew when you brew all-grain batches. This means you need a pot capable of boiling more than 5 gallons. The minimum sized pot required is 30-quarts. If you are making a 5 gallon brew, you can get away without a wort chiller. You will be soaking your pot in an ice bath for quite a while however. I recommend a wort chiller, but it is not absolutely necessary.

This is the minimum list of equipment you'll need to make a all-grain brew:

No-rinse Sanitizer
Fermenter
Long Spoon
Large Pot (large enough for a full wort boil)
Large Grain Bag (large enough to hold all the grain)
Thermometer
Bottles
Bottle capper
A hose to siphon beer, racking cane or an auto-siphon

Did I miss anything?

There might be something I'm missing. I think these lists represent the minimum equipment you will need to make beer. What do you think? Is there anything I missed or is there anything I added which you do not need?

It's a bird... it's a plane... It's a S#!^-Faced Ruskie!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:43:54 +0100

Alexei Roskov slammed three bottles of vodka. I think one bottle would have me praying to the porcelain god for the rest of the night. Three bottles of vodka is just amazing (or stupid). For his next trick the Moscow man opened a window from his fifth story window and, to the horror of his wife, he jumped out. No parachute.

The man somehow survived (Darwin fails) and walked back up to his apartment. You'd think his wife would be ecstatic he survived the fall. She wasn't. He was greeted with a stern lecture about alcohol and gravity, in Russian no less.

The 22 year old man decided he could not take the nagging, so he went with the first idea he could think of. Well actually it was the only idea he could form that night.

His quote says it all. "I have no idea why I jumped the first time but when I came back up and I heard my wife screaming angrily at me I thought it was best if I left the room again - out of the window." Again with no parachute.

Paramedics were called to the scene to attend to the drunk. Amazingly the man had minor scratches (Darwin fails again), and I have a new found respect for Russian drunks.

The man claims he is now sober and no longer drinks.

(Source: The Star)

The Apple DWI defense

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:30:39 +0100

The Apple DWI Defense

Newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported last week Marek Latas, a Polish lawmaker, was pulled over for a DWI. The legal blood alcohol content limit in Poland is 0.2 units. Latas was pulled over with a blood alcohol content of 0.7 units. I have no idea how units translate to the US blood alcohol content percentages, never less, it is clear by just comparing the numbers, he was drunk.

"I have been involved in no accident, I underwent a routine roadside check. I was confident there was no chance I had alcohol in my blood," said Latas, a member of parliament for the conservative opposition Law and Justice Party.

Of course since I'm writing about this, you know he had a pretty interesting excuse for his intoxication.

He ate an apple.

A couple apples in fact. That was his excuse and his defense. The politician denies having any alcohol earlier in the day.

Does an apple a day keep the DWI check away?

Here's the kicker. My first thought was this guy is full of cider. Turns out a diabetic can give a false positive.

The reason is a breathalyzer doesn't really detect alcohol. The breathalyzer detects any molecules in the methyl group. If there is a large amount detected, the assumption is the breathalyzer is detecting alcohol (ethanol).

Another chemical which shows as a positive is acetone. It's not too common to have acetones on your breath, unless you have ketoacidosis. According to wikipedia, "ketoacidosis is a type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of ketone bodies". Ketoacidosis makes your breath smell like fruit or nail polish remover. Why is this important? Ketoacidosis is a known symptom of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. This is the tie to diabetes.

Hypoglycemia is common for people with diabetes. Someone who is hypoglycemic will appear to be shaky, nervous, sweaty, dizzy, confused, anxious, and will have difficulty speaking. Sound familiar? These also happen to be the symptoms of a drunk at a DWI checkpoint. This was demonstrated in Diabetes, Breath Acetone and Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study, 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and Driving (1993).

The only question is, could several apples trigger hypoglycemia in the Polish politician? Apples typically are ok because the carbohydrates in apples are digested more slowly than other fruits. Enough apples could cause a sharp blood sugar crash later in the day however. His story is plausable.

There is one other substance which can trigger hypoglycemia. Alcohol.

The breathalyzer can be inaccurate and give false positives. It also catches many real drunks. Only a blood test will be able to say for sure.

Tough call for the judge.

Will a drink a day kill you?

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:52:52 +0100

Lately there are two reports circling the globe on the Internet. One says an alcoholic drink a day will help you live longer, the other says a drink a day increases your risk to cancer. Not sure who do believe? I'm not sure either. Here's a tale of two drinks.

It was the best of beers...

In the March issue of Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the study Functional Limitations, Socioeconomic Status, and All-Cause Mortality in Moderate Alcohol Drinkers (2009) found that moderate alcohol consumption reduced mortality rates significantly by 28% compared to those who abstain from alcohol.

The study followed more than 12,000 people aged 55 or older over the course of four years. The researchers asked the subjects questions about their lifestyle including their alcohol habits, age, gender, race, smoking, and obesity. They also took into account any comorbidities the individual might have. The researchers then counted the people who died before December 31, 2006, and examined the different lifestyles in detail.

The researchers controlled for the various factors which could influence early death, and found moderate drinkers maintain their survival advantage even after adjustment for these factors. This study suggests those who drink moderately live longer.

The researchers also found one drink or less per week had no advantage. Most studies, including this one, show the "sweet spot" is one to two drinks per day. Before you go out to hit the bars, the study also showed consuming three drinks or more per day increased your risk of death by 11%.

It was the worst of beers...

Now if you can remember way back to January of this year (a long time ago I know) you might remember the story floating around the Internet which said consuming one drink increased your risk for cancer. This came from an expert report published in 2007 called WCRF/AICR Food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: a Global Perspective by the World Cancer Research Fund. The claim was extrapolated from the charts for bowel and liver cancer to estimate the risk associated with 2 units of alcohol.

This report reviewed thousands of leading research studies relating to cancer prevention. For alcohol they looked at many different studies from around the world and compared the results to see how many showed an increase or decrease in specific cancers. You can look at it as an "average" of all selected studies. The report claims none of the studies showed statistically significant contradictory results. Most of the studies did adjust for drinkers who smoked.

The report claims "the evidence is that alcoholic drinks are a cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx; the oesophagus; the colorectum in men, and the breast; and probably of liver cancer and colorectal cancer in women". The report states "there is no significant evidence that alcohol protects against any cancer" and there is no safe amount of alcohol. One drink a day can put you at risk.

Now what?

I'd normally tend to think there was some cherry picking in the expert report, but the report looks very solid. Over 200 scientists around the world were involved in creating the report. The results were assessed by a panel of 21 scientists who were supported by observers from the United Nations and other international organizations. It's hard to find fault when the work is so thorough.

On the other hand the results in the expert study were extremely one-sided. There have been so many studies demonstrating the health benefits of wine it's hard to believe none matched the World Cancer Research Fund's criteria for quality. While the first study came out much later than the expert report, I know this is not the first study touting the benefits from drinking alcohol. Search for "red wine resveratrol" on Google and see how many studies there are!

The differences are most likely in the goals of the studies. The first study looked at how alcohol influenced lifespan, while the second study looked at how alcohol influences cancer rates. I guess you could say a person who drinks alcohol increases their risk to cancer, but they live longer.

What are your thoughts? Will a drink a day kill you?

The unbearable lightness of hop chemistry

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:11:53 +0100

Usually homebrewers know hops are what makes your beer bitter, and provides the beer with antimicrobial properties. Some might know the difference between alpha-acids and beta-acids, but like most, their eye's glaze over if you go into too much more detail. It's important to know the details however, especially when some hops are difficult to find. This article will help you understand the different compounds which make up your hops.

Bittering, Flavoring, and Aroma Hops

Hops are used for three purposes in your beer: flavoring, bittering, and hop aroma. The antimicrobial aspects are great too, but most do not think about it. The length of time you boil your hops determines the effect you are trying to achieve:bittering, flavoring or aroma.

Bittering hops are added near the beginning of the boil. The longer you boil the hops (usually 60-90 minutes), the more alpha-acids are converted to their bitter form throughisomerization (the atoms in the molecule get rearranged). Most of the isomerization happens in the first 45 minutes, but more can convert between 45 and 90 minutes.

Aroma and flavoring hops are usually added later in the boil. The boiling evaporates the hop flavor and aroma. Flavoring hops are a compromise betweenbittering and aroma hops and are usually added halfway through the boil. Aroma hops are added during the final minutes of the boil or after the boil.

The aroma in hops can diminish with processing or time. For example, aroma whole hops are better than similar pellets, because the oil content decreases dramatically in pellets during the processing. The oils oxidize at a rapid rate, even under ideal storage conditions.

Beers are dry hopped to add more aroma (and hop flavor since smell and taste are connected) by running the beer through a hop-back system or adding hops after the fermentation. Dry hopping adds more of a grassy flavor, while adding hops late in the boil gives more of a floral or fragrant flavor. The aroma is much stronger (not necessarily bad) when you dry hop.

If you want to dry hop your beer to add aroma, wait for at least 3 days of fermentation. Hops, especially whole hops, can carry bacteria, molds, or wild yeast. If you add the hops to your primary fermentation, you risk infecting your beer. After three days your yeast will be able tooutcompete most anything, and your beer should be much safer from contamination.

Hop Acids

Hops used in your wort contain three main alpha-acids:humulone, cohumulone, adhumulone, and three beta-acids: lupulone, colupulone, adlupulone. The easy way to distinguish between the two is the alpha-acids contain "humulone" in the name (from the genus name of hops, Humulus), and the beta-acids contain "lupulone" in the name (from the species name of hops, lupulus).

Hop alpha-acids

Alpha-acids are the primary bittering acid for your beer. Usually hops with high alpha-acid content are used as bittering hops. Before boiling, hops are not bitter. The alpha-acids isomerize during the boil to make the bitter flavors. The isomerized versions of the acids (iso-alpha-acids) are what contributes the bitter flavor in your beer. Cohumulone is the most easily extracted acid during brewing, and is considered the most important of the alpha-acids.

There is significant effort to quantitatively determine the bitterness contribution from hops in beer. The current "gold standard" is International Bitterness Units (IBU). One IBU is equal to 1 milligram of iso-alpha-acid per liter (0.0001335 of an ounce per gallon).

Another measurement common for homebrewers is the Alpha Acid Unit (AAU). This unit was created by Dave Line (The Big Book of Brewing) and adopted by the American Homebrew Association (AHA). One AAU/HBU equals one ounce of a one percent alpha-acid hop. Two ounces of a 5 percent alpha-acid hop would give 10 HBUs. Each HBU contributes 85 IBUs per liter (22.472 IBUs per gallon).

AAU / HBU = % alpha acid content X oz. of hops

To guestimate the IBU value for your beer, you can add up the AAUs to determine the total contribution of IBUs, and then divide by the size of your batch. I say guestimate because this formula ignores length of boil and hop utilization. The hop utilization will be different for worts with different gravities. With AAU/HBU you are calculating the amount before you boil, not determining the amount after the brewing process is complete. For a more accurate calculation ofIBUs, see Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers.

Hop beta-acids

Beta-acids also contribute a bitter flavor to your beer, but the bitter flavor is significantly more harsh and sometimes undesirable. The beta-acids do notisomerize, they oxidize to produce bitter flavors. The bitterness from beta-acids can come over time, long after the iso -alpha-acids have broken down. This can give your beer a different bitter flavor after aging, which is sometimes desirable in aged beers. The bitterness contribution from beta-acids is much less in your beer because the beta-acids are much less soluble.

On a side note for hop growers, beta-acids, specifically colupulone, the main component of the beta-acid fraction of hop extracts, was shown to repel the two-spotted spider mite. In Repellent and oviposition-deterring effects of hop beta-acids on the two-spotted spider mite (1996), higher beta-acid amounts were effective in repelling the mites and reducing the number of eggs laid. This suggests hops grown with higher amounts of beta-acids would require less pesticides protecting against spider mites.

Alpha-beta ratio

The alpha-beta ratio of hops is simply the ratio of alpha-acid content over beta-acid content. Some brewers prefer a ratio close to one because most noble hops are close to a ratio of 1. Other brewers prefer higher ratios so thebittering stays consistent as the beer ages. As alpha-acids degrade, beta-acids oxidize keeping the bitterness consistent over time.

Chemical Analysis of hops

Oils

The oils in beer contribute more aroma and flavor. Hops are added late in the boil, or sometimes after the primary fermentation (dry-hopping) to give your beer more hop flavor. Add your hops late in the boil because boiling breaks down or drives off the oils which contribute aroma and flavor. Hops will usually list the total oil content, as well as each type of oil.

Humulene

Humulene is a hydrocarbon (contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms) which gives the beer an elegant taste and aroma. Most noble hops (and other aroma hops) have a high amount ofhumulene. Because humulene degrades quickly, it is very unlikely your beer will contain humulene unless the aroma hops are added very late in the boil or if you are dry hopping. The products from humulene degradation (i.e. - humulene epoxides) usually give the beer a spicy characteristic.

Myrcene

Another common hydrocarbon myrcene, is characterized with a pungent and sometimes offensive aroma. Noble hops have very low amounts of mrycene. Like the humulene, it is very unlikely to remain in your beer. It degrades quickly as well.

Myrcene does contribute to the final beer flavor however. There are several compounds like linalool and geraniol which give the beer floral flavors, and many believe this is from the myrcene since the resulting compounds are closely related.

Caryophyllene

Caryophyllene produces a similar spicy flavor to humulene when boiled or oxidized. It usually accounts for 5 to 15 percent of the total oil, but it is in higher amounts in the aroma and noble hops.

Farnesene

Farnesene is found in very small amounts in most hops. Some hops list only trace amounts. Again this compound is found in higher amounts in noble, sometimes as much as 20%. There is little known about the flavor contribution however, so here's another possible research study for graduate students!

Remain %

Since all hops are an organic substance, they will degrade over time. The acids available when you pick the hop will break down over time. This is why it is important to use fresh hops. Not all hops degrade at the same rate. Some will last a long time in storage, while others will spoil quickly. The remain percentage of a hop is the amount of alpha and beta acids remaining after 6 months of storage at ambient temperature.

This doesn't mean all hops go bad with aging, in fact research has shown some hops actually improve with age. Lambic recipes sometimes use Saaz hops which are aged over 2 years. Usually it is the aroma hops which improve with age.

Choosing alternative hops

With the hop shortages in past years, many homebrewers are forced to choose alternate hops when crafting their beers. There are substitution charts for the most common hops, but not all hops are listed. If you are looking to replace a hop in your recipe not listed in a substitution chart, the best course of action is to look at the chemical properties of your hop and find another hop with similar properties. There might still be slight differences in flavor, but more often than not, the flavors will be similar.

Using hop extracts

There are not too many homebrewers using hop extracts in their beer, which is due more to romanticism rather than reason. Many large commercial brewers use hop extract instead of hops. Hop extracts have significantly less variability than fresh hops. This allows the brewer to predict the hop effect on the beer with much higher precision. This is very important to produce a consistent flavor in your product.

If you are a "green" brewer, you might also want to consider using hop extract. If you use whole hops, you will get about 1/3 of the potential aroma and bitterness while boiling. This means you are wasting about 2/3 of the hop potential. More fresh hops need to be planted, harvested, and transported to flavor your beer. Personally I'm not that green, so I use the real hops.

Review: Coopers homebrew kit

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:04:27 +0100

The Coopers home brew kit

Coopers is a home brew kit company in Australia, but you can find their kits pretty much anywhere. MakeBeer.Net has all the Coopers kits available online too.

This isn't a extract brew kit in the traditional sense. This kit includes a hopped malt extract, extra sugar fermentables, carbonation drops and dry yeast. The carbonation drops are cough drop sized candies which you add to each bottle to bottle condition the beer. This makes sure every bottle gets the correct amount of sugar for carbonation. I've never used these, so I'm very interested to see how well they work.

All you need is water, a fermenter, and beer bottles, bottle caps, and a bottle capper. There are a few other things you can use, but the fermenter and bottles are all you really need. The kit does not need to be boiled. It is more like a wine kit where you just rehydrate the extract and add yeast.

The Coopers home brew kits range from $18 to $29, and if you need everything (you're starting from scratch) they do have a $99 kit which includes the beer kit, bottles, fermenter, instructional DVD and more. It looks like their Microbrewery kit contains everything you need. I have most of the equipment already, so I am just reviewing the Complete European Lager package.

How easy is the Coopers home brew kit?

The kit is pretty easy to put together. If you want to watch the whole process watch the video at the end of the article. You simply mix the ingredients, add it to your fermenter, toss in the yeast and wait 6 days for the fermentation to complete. As I mentioned there is no boiling since the wort is pre-hopped and the starches are already converted. I boiled some of the water to make it easier to mix the ingredients, but the instructions say you can use hot tap water. Their process allows you to focus on the fermentation side of home brewing, without getting bogged down in the boil and cooling. Once everything is mixed up, you add the yeast and move the fermenter to a cool location in your home.

I think the kit took about 30 minutes to make, but the filming of the process definitely slowed me down (not the kit's fault). All in all I thought the kit was very easy to make. If you have a friend who wants to try out home brewing, but doesn't want to get involved with all the equipment, this might be a good place for them to start. Extract brewing is easy, but these kits are even easier since it removes the boiling and hop additions from the home brewing steps.

In a few days I'll continue with the kit and try out the carbonation drops. After that we'll taste the kit and see how good it is. Stay tuned!

Inside Fermentarium - Episode 5 from DJ Spiess on Vimeo.

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Giant Cosmic Space Clouds of Beer

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Every now and then you hear something which grabs your attention. This captured my attention: There is a cloud of alcohol (ethyl alcohol - the happy juice found in beer, wine, and spirits) floating in space. This isn't a small cloud either. There is enough alcohol in this cloud to make 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. That is one hell of a keg party.

That's the good news.

The bad news is it is 10,000 light years away in the constellation of Aquila. It's unlikely we could get to the cloud any time soon. The booze cloud, known as G34.3, is so large (1000 times the size of our solar system) our solar system could drown itself inside many times over.

Space alcohol was discovered back in 1975 by Dr. Ben M. Zuckerman of the University of California at Los Angeles, so it's not a recent discovery. The booze cloud was found in 1995 by Drs. Tom Millar, Geoffrey MacDonald and Rolf Habing. What makes this cloud so interesting is the massive amounts of alcohol in the cloud. There are other compunds in this cloud, 32 in all, but alcohol is the most abundant.

Scientists theorize simplier compounds collect on bits of dust. When these compounds get close enough, they are able to react with each other forming more complex molecules like alcohol. These reactions can take place over 10,000 years, thus beating the longest fermentation you or anyone else has ever experienced.

In the center of the cloud is a young and very drunk star (not Paris Hilton). Scientists believe the grains of dust carrying the alcohol drifted near the young star, and were warmed up enough to cause the alcohol to turn into its gas state creating the massive clouds of booze. That or space aliens are planning for one crazy Oktoberfest!

How to get beat up on St. Patrick's Day

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:52:21 +0100

St. Patrick the Englishman

St. Patrick was born and raised in England. Just mentioning this will raise the dander of at least one drunk Irishman on St. Paddy's day. Patrick wasn't what you'd call British, he was a Celtic Briton. Calling him British is just more fun. Either way, he was not Irish.

If he's English how'd he get to Ireland?

St. Patrick arrived in Ireland via kidnapping. He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by Irish raiders, and forced into slavery for six years. After six years, God told him to get out of ~~Dodge~~ Dublin and return to England (he wasn't actually in Dublin, but you get the point).

Stockholm syndrome

Apparently he had so much fun with forced labor in Ireland, an angel told him God was just kidding and he needed to go back to Ireland as a missionary. When he returned, he studied in England (or France depending on your history source) for 15 years to become a priest. After he was ordained, his first task was to minister to the Christians living in Ireland and to convert the rest of the Irish. Lucky him. Returning to Ireland, he was greeted with beatings from thugs and a hostile Irish monarchy.

St. Patrick had sloppy seconds

Note his first task in Ireland included minister Christianity to the Christians already living there. He did not introduce Christianity to Ireland. Palladius, the first Irish bishop, was sent by Pope Celestine in 431 A.D. to minister to "the Irish who believe in Christ" before Patrick. Any one who has ever played chess knows you send the pawns in before the bishops, so there were missionaries in Ireland before Patrick was ever kidnapped.

St. Patrick is schizophrenic

There is more lore to St. Patrick than reality. The truth is much of the St. Patrick persona is derived from several missionaries at the time. Even the Irish cannot agree who St. Patrick was. If you ask a Catholic Irishman, he'll tell you St Patrick was directed by the Pope to bring Christianity (Catholic-style) to Ireland. If you ask a Protestant Irishman, he'll tell you St. Patrick was an Irish hero who was anti-Catholic and created a Celtic Christian church with their own symbology.

St. Patrick isn't a saint

Ask an Irishman which Pope cannonized St. Patrick, and you'll most likely get a blank stare. The reason is St. Patrick is not a saint. He is not an official saint recognized by the Catholic Church. There have been efforts to make him a saint as recent as John Paul II, but none have recognized the man as a saint. The reason is there is too much myth surrounding the man. It is hard to determine what he did, what others did but attribute to St. Patrick, and the stuff that was made up after too many pints of stout. To be a saint, he needs three verifiable miracles. The only miracle anyone attributes to him is removing the snakes from Ireland.

Ireland never had snakes

When St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland, apparently he drove all snake fossils out of the country too. No scientific evidence has ever been found showing snakes ever existed in Ireland.

If snakes ever did exist on Ireland, the ice age most likely drove the snakes away. Ireland was blanketed with ice 15,000 years ago, and the island hasn't had a land bridge to England since. Snakes cannot travel across icy oceans, and Ireland has 12 miles of icy water seperating them from England. Other islands do not have snakes. New Zealand and Hawaii also do not have snakes, as well as many other smaller islands.

Here are a few bonus items to get you beat up if the above items do not work.

Irish have more babies outside of Ireland

Thirty-six and a half million people in the United States claim they are Irish. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland (population of Ireland is 4,156,119). Most of these people have never set foot in Ireland.

Notre Dame is not in Ireland

It's in France. Every child who has seen the Hunchback of Notre Dame knows this.

Most colleges at the turn of the last century were formed by different religions. There were Methodist schools (Southern Methodist), Mormon schools (Brigham Young), and there were Catholic schools. Notre Dame was founded in 1844 by Catholic missionaries (not Irish). They are known as the Irish because the school was known as a Catholic school, and many Americans associated Catholic with Irish. The "Fighting Irish" name for the football team originated the 1920s by alumnus Francis Wallace in his New York Daily News columns.

If all else fails, wear orange

Orange is the color of Protestant Irish and gets it's roots from William of Orange. The Protestant Irish and the Catholic Irish don't really play well together. They have been bickering (read "blowing up each other with bombs and such") since the 1200s. Wearing orange in an Irish bar is like wearing red at the running of the bulls. It makes you a great big target.

So why celebrate?

The real reason most people celebrate St. Patrick's day is because it's fun to get drunk. Not so much fun the next day, but that is tomorrow's worry. So raise a pint to the myth and enjoy the evening. Best of luck to you, and Erin Go Bra-less!!

How to build strong bones: Drink beer

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:31:25 +0100

A new study to be published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows moderate consumption of beer or wine increases bone density. As you get older your bone density shrinks, so causation or a strong correlation with moderate consumption could help with an aging population.

The researchers found subjects who consumed 1-2 drinks had higher bone density than those who abstained. The study also found the association was stronger with beer and wine than spirits. The researchers believe other compounds such as resveratrol in wine or silicon in beer contributed to the increase in bone density, since the bone density did not increase more with spirits consisting of mostly ethanol.

They also found the benefit dropped off dramatically for men who consumed more than 2 drinks per day. These men had significantly lower (3.0–5.2%) hip and spine bone density than men who had 1-2 drinks per day. The researchers stated they did not know for sure if the same drop in bone density was demonstrated in women. Having never heard of a sorority, the researchers claimed they were unable to find women who regularly over-indulged.

The study looked at bone density of men and women aged 29 to 86. Most of the women in the study drank only wine. This made it difficult for the researchers to make any claims about women beer drinkers and bone density. The average age in the study was 61, so they were also unable to make any strong conclusions about the beer and wine effects on bone density in younger women.

The subjects were slightly heavier with an average BMI between 27 and 29. The researchers did note only 4% of the post-menopausal women were on medication for osteoporosis (medication to increase bone density), while the rest of the men and women were not taking any medication.

(Source: Effects of beer, wine, and liquor intakes on bone mineral density in older men and women)

Fermentarium.com

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