These are the people who will be organising events for you. If you have any suggestions, please contact any of the committee members.

In this issue I have presented a follow on from my article on the counter-pressure bottle filler. It’s the first time that I have received queries about any of my designs – they must therefore all be really great. The queries about the filler were more on how to use it rather than the actual assembly.

I found an editorial in one of the Brewing Techniques rather interesting, which prophesised the down fall of the magazine and then of Home brewing in the USA. We all know that the magazine is no-longer, but what we don’t know is the state of the home brewing industry in the USA. I found it a little concerning that the comments made are all quite applicable to our situation. Although we don’t have a fully fledged beer magazine, we do have a home brew shop which with out our support will not last much longer. Although Selwin focuses more on the kit and extract brewer, with out these guys we can’t grow our hobby and end up with a South African equivalent of the American or British great beer festivals.

The beer under discussion this month is English bitter. The recipe that I have included was gleaned from Mitchell’s when the Worthog Brewers visited their Gauteng Brewery last year. Unfortunately the Mitchell’s yeast strain is no longer available in JHB (unless some one has made a slant), which is a result of the brewery relocating to the Bavaria Brau Brewery in Pretoria. See a little later in the news letter. More bad news for Micro Breweries is that the Oasis brewery in Benoni has closed its doors.

If you haven’t yet heard about our web site yet surf over to http://www.oocities.org/worthog_brewers Jeremy and Ant have done a great job getting the whole thing set-up. There are some great features which includes all the back issues of the newsletters, information about future meetings and links to members web pages. The last time I visited the site Jeremy, Ant, Llewellyn and Denis had all linked their breweries to the site.

That’s all my ramblings for now.

Enjoy your brewing.

Last issue I described how to make a counter-pressure bottle filler. In this issue I shall endeavour to explain how to use it.

The first thing that must be done is to mount the filler in such a manner that bottles can be fitted and held firmly in place. I have achieved this by mounting the filler on a shelf in my brewery and cut blocks of wood to appropriate lengths to push the various size bottles firmly into the stopper. See the attached sketch. Danie has mounted his filler against the wall over the sink in his brewery and locates the bottle with a long piece of angle (+/- 1500mm) iron pivoted at about 200mm from the filler.

The pipe from the beer outlet of the keg which usually connects to your dispensing tap is connected to the uppermost valve on the filler. This is the valve which you will open to allow beer to flow into the bottle.

In the CO2 line between the CO2 bottle and the keg you will need to add a "tee" piece and a pipe to connect to the middle valve on the filler. This allows the CO2 to apply pressure to the top of the beer in the keg, and supply CO2 to the filler to purge the beer bottles and to pressurise them.

1. Place a beer bottle into the filler (or around the filler).

2. Open the CO2 valve to allow CO2 into the bottle.

3. Close the valve.

Open the exhaust valve and allow the CO2 to escape. (Points 2 to 4 are called the purge cycle. There is some debate as to how many times this should be done. My view is that to do it more than once is a waste of CO2.)

(Bearing in mind that CO2 is heavier than air. purging can also be accomplished by leaving the exhaust valve open and allowing CO2 to slowly seep into the bottle and raise the air above it and push it out the exhaust valve. This assumes that the flow is not turbulent, otherwise the air and CO2 will mix.)

Close the exhaust valve.

Open the CO2 valve to pressurise the bottle.

Close the CO2 valve.

Open the beer valve. (Beer will not flow at the pressure in the bottle is equal to the pressure in the keg. i.e. the bottle pressure counter-balances the keg pressure.

Slowly crack open the exhaust valve to allow the CO2 in the bottle to escape and the bottle pressure to drop. The drop in pressure will result in the beer flowing from the keg to the bottle.

When the bottle is full shut off the beer valve and allow the pressure in the bottle to drop to that of the atmosphere.

Remove the bottle from the filler and cap.

You now have a bottle of sediment free beer ready to drink.

The first time I used the filler I battled to get a balance between a quick fill and over foaming, and still each batch of beer that I bottle takes one or two beers to get the flow rates right.

The line of work that I am in takes me to some distant places, one of which is Bulawayo and in Bulawayo yhere are two breweries: The national Brewery which produces Castle; Lion, Zambezie and Bollenges etc. and Nisbets which produces two lagers, a light lager which is crisp and dry and brewed to the average pallet, and a Dark Lager with rich caramel malty overtures, full of delicious body and a lingering floral hop flavour, an absolutely delicious beer.

The brewery is almost a traditional tower brewery, which if it were would not need a pump. However, the mash tun doubles as a boiler and has a dedicated lauter tun. I believe this is a typical German set-up, as opposed to the English set up which uses a combined Mash/Lauter tun and a separate boiler.

When grain is delivered it is hoisted to the top floor of the brewery which serves as a malt store and crush room. The grain is crushed dry and falls to the room below where it is mashed in with hot water before passing down another level into the mash tun.

At the end of mashing the mash is pumped to the lauter tun where it is sparged. The runnings are then pumped back to the lauter tun, which is then used as a boiler. The beer is kept in the primary fermenters for a week and is then transferred to the Bright beer tanks. For a few weeks. It is then bottled or keged and distributed.

*****

Before lagers came to dominated the English pubs Bitter was the choice of most Englishmen, and the style gained wide acceptance around the world. The three sub-styles; Ordinary Bitter; Special bitter and best bitter (or extra special bitter (ESB), are classified according to there original gravity. Ordinary bitter having the lowest OG.

Although the beers are well hoped they are not as bitter as the name implies but have a more aromatic and spicy aroma and flavour provided by noble English hops such as Goldings and Fuggels. The flavour is also characterises by a pronounced fruitiness and a touch of butterscotch. The full rich flavour of these beers will often mask off flavours making this one of the easiest styles of beer to brew.

The beer is often cask conditioned, but bottled varieties are easy to come by. Typical examples are Goblins Bitter, Bosuns Bitter, Fullers ESB, Bass Bitter and Badger Best Bitter.

Pale Malt 3kg

Crystal Malt 0,26kg

Caramel Sugar 0,15kg

Southern Brewer Hops 20g 60min

Southern Brewer Hops 10g 20 min

Southern Brewer Hops 5g 5 min

Use a 90 minute infusion mash at 65(C, Mash out at 72(C and sparge with water at 74(C.

Use an Ale yeast and Ferment at between 18(C an 22(C. If you have some original Mitchell’s ale yeast keep the fermentation temperature at or below 18(C else the yeast will produce some interesting sulphur aromas, which require a time in the secondary fermenter to dissipate.

After 3 to four days in the primary fermenter, rack the beer to the secondary fermenter and condition at around 12(C. Bottle the beer and prime as usual.

If you have a filter and draft system you can be drinking this beer with in a week of brewing.

(Brewing Techniques – various. The Brew Masters Bible, Stephen Snyder, 1997; Brewing Beers Like Those You buy, David Line, 1996)

Kolschbier is one of the few top-fermented beers recognised as a German beer style. It owes its survival in a country monopolised by lagers to a history of persistence.

Cologne’s location in northern Germany established it early on as a hub of commerce and trade. By the middle of the 12th century, the church’s monopoly on brewing was facing serious competition from the city’s merchants; a situation then common to cities throughout Europe. Issues of taxation and control preoccupied the brewing scene well into the 13th century. A brewer’s guild was formed in 1254 to defend the brewers’ interests.

Barley-based top-fermented beers flavoured with gruit were the rule in Cologne right up until the 15th century. But not even tradition could hold out against the forces of trade. The city was unable to halt the importation of wheat ales and hopped beers from other parts of the country. Later, nearly a century after the Rheinheitgebod was issued in Bavaria, Kolners would respond to the tide of lager brewing overtaking the rest of Germany by issuing a mandate forbidding city brewers from using bottom-fermented lager.

The law stuck for many years, and Kölsch still reigns in Cologne. The Rhineland of northern Germany, which includes Cologne’s ale-brewing rival, Dusseldorf, has established itself as the main defender of Germany’s Alt (old) ale-brewing tradition. In 1985, the Germany government established an agreement with Cologne brewers that Kölsch could not be legally brewed outside the city. Today, 17 breweries operate in Cologne – more than any other city in the world.

Kölsch is extremely pale in colour. Most filtered examples in Cologne fall between 8 and 10 EBC (3.5 – 4.2 SRM). Like the copper coloured hoppy Altbiers of Dusseldorf, Kölsch is fermented at cooler than normal temperatures, perhaps 18º – 20ºC) and then allowed to condition in cold storage for one to two months. This fermentation regime, when paired with a highly attenuative strain of yeast, effectively retards ester production and generates a faint fruitiness considered integral to the style. Bitterness levels are moderate; IBU’s are typically in the mid to upper 20s and somewhat pronounced, although less insistent than in classic examples of Alt.

Grist – With an original gravity of somewhere between 1.040 and 1.046, and an attenuation approaching 85%, Kölsch is a light-bodied, crisp and easily balanced by a moderate Hallertauer/Tettnanger hop charge. A typical Kölsch malt bill may call for Pilsner or equally pale two-row malt as a base, comprising at least 75% of the grist. This with a 15 % light malted wheat is an excellent starting point for brewing authentic Kölsch.

Hops – Hop character varies significantly among the brewery taps of Cologne. Given the range of hop character present in modern classic examples of the style, selecting proper varieties and sticking within the IBU guidelines is a suitable reference point for formulating the hop bill. It is important that the hop charge be broken out over two or three additions so that the hopping level is balanced between bitterness, flavour and aroma. The delicate Kölsch style benefits most noticeable from the noble-type aroma of true Hallertauer-Mittelfruh hops.

Yeast – In general, look for a yeast strain that will take off quickly, ferment comfortably at temperatures less associated with vigorous ester production (under 22ºC) and most important, attenuate at a rate close to 80 – 85% - an attenuation rate that leads to the dry crispness and faintly winy character associated with this style.

Water – Water in Cologne is soft, with low levels of calcium, magnesium and bicarbonates.

Wort Production – It is assumed that brewers pursuing authentic Kölsch beers will be using well-modified malt and because the goal is to generate a pale golden wort, any colour pick-up from a decoction programme is unnecessary and unwanted. By resting the mash in the 66 – 67ºC range, enzyme activity will be optimal for the light body and moderate gravity of the style ( and most lower temperatures would dry the beer out even further.) Strike water temperature will vary greatly depending on mash thickness and equipment design. The entire grist must be properly hydrated to ensure conversion efficiency. A "loose" mash for around 45 minutes at around 66 C, followed by a gentle recirculation cycle for pre-runoff wort clarity will produce a desirable Kölsch wort.

Boiling and cast out – A vigorous boil is important in the production of beer for at least a dozen reasons. Boil for 90 minutes, followed by a 10 minute whirlpool and a 15 minute hot break rest. Casting out through a hopback charged with whole flowers of late kettle hop variety ensures effective break removal.

Fermentation – As for any beer style, a thorough aeration and a cast-out temperature of 20º C will ensure minimal lag time and an accelerated respiration phase. For Kölsch fermentation, set cooling to activate at 21º C, which the beer should reach within 48 hours. Keeping the fermenting Kölsch below 21º C will inhibit the levels of ester production considered integral to English ales, while imparting the faint fruitiness desired in the beers of Cologne. When the beer is done working, cool the temperature and harvest any yeast to be saved, then crash the temperature to the 0-4º C range for up to two months. Before the cold-conditioning phase you could rack the Kölsch onto finings in a freshly sanitised fermentor.

Filtration and Serving - Most Kölsch in Cologne is served filtered, crystal clear. A notable exception is Kuppers, the largest Kolsh producer. In addition to its bright Kölsch, Kuppers markets an unfiltered version, labelled Weiss (meaning white, a term used to convey its cloudy quality). You could filter through a 0.2 micron sheet filter en route to the serving tank, where a gentle carbonation, enhanced by the proteinacious wheat malt, is added. The beer is served in small, straight-sided glasses. The beer is always cold (but not ice-cold) and well-carbonated (but not gassy).

(from: The Queen of Köln – A visit to the Court of Germany’s Kölschbier by Forrest Williams - Brewing Techniques Vol. 6 No. 1; The Brew Masters Bible, Stephen Snyder, 1997 )

(The above table is only a guide to assist in formulating a recipe to brew an authentic beer style)

*****

Mitchell’s Gauteng Brewery will be moving to Bavaria Brau at the end of April 2000. The move is aimed at rationalising the brewery and making it a more cost effective. The move also gives the brewery access to a fully equipped brewing laboratory. The production process will be watched over by Andy Mitchell the stalwart brewer of Mitchell’s Gauteng. It is rumoured that the Foresters produced at Bavaria Brau has the same well loved taste that we are used to but will be smoother and crisper tasting than that produced in the Opherton Brewery.

Bavaria Brau will benefit from the increased capacity in the brewhouse, as well as fuller utilisation of the bottling plant. Foresters pints will soon be available at a bottle store near you.