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Technical CommunicationsRepublished from BrewingTechniques' July/Aug 1994.More on Kegging Mead and Predicting Hop ContributionsIn response to the Troubleshooter (BrewingTechniques, March/April 1994), I have had a batch of sparkling ginger mead in a Cornelius keg for nearly a year. I was looking for a way to make sparkling mead and avoid bottle-conditioning sediment. When I need samples to give to friends and enter competitions, I bottle using counterpressure filling. It won Best of Show at the Dixie Cup competition held 15 October 1993. I have detected no problems with the remaining kegged mead. I am curious if you know the pH for the soda extracts that these kegs are originally used for?Predicting hop contributions: I started home brewing using the HBU/AAU system of hop bitterness calculation and had good results. For the past two years, I have been using the IBU calculation formula described by Byron Burch in Brewing Quality Beers and have had even better results. I haven't had my beers analyzed by a laboratory but my tasting results and prize winning beers indicate that the values recommended by Byron are useful and accurate for each beer style. An important factor in following recipes and calculating hop rates is the constantly changing value of the hop alpha ratings. These can vary dramatically from season to season as well as deteriorate due to oxidation, heat, and poor storage conditions. Of course this is part of the great debate between the effectiveness, freshness, and storage ability of pellets versus whole hops. My favorite hop style compromise is to use whole hop compressed plugs marketed by Morris Hanbury. If all home brewers were to include the variety, quantity, alpha rating, and boiling times in their recipes we would be able to have more consistently hopped beers. Many recipes are unrepeatable because they simply list boiling and finishing hops. This is why I prefer to calculate hopping rates using Byron's method. Of course, everybody would still achieve different utilization rates based upon their brewing techniques.
Bob Grossman We checked with a local bottling company, who told us that the pH of their soda extract was 4.26. Although very beerlike, this value is higher than the pH of mead, which like wine ranges from 3 to 4. The jury is out, however, on whether the mead's lower pH poses any problems with stainless steel. As we go to press, all of the experts I've consulted are hedging and deferring judgment. One indicated that higher pH values are more problematic than lower values. Another noted that the total acids content of mead is much lower than that of wine, only 5.5-6 parts per thousand. But if your system has been working, I wouldn't fix it.-Ed. More on Modifying KegsI read with interest the recent article on modifying beer kegs for brewing vessels. Having just converted three Sankey kegs, I can suggest another method of cutting the tops which I have found easier than torching or using bimetal jigsaw blades. Thin (0.035 in.), high-rpm abrasive wheels that are available for use on air or electric driven hand grinders will produce a very clean cut in stainless with little heat buildup or distortion. Cutting off the circumference of a Sankey keg takes less than 5 min, and the cut can be cleaned up easily with a hand file. These Thin/Flex abrasive cutting wheels are available from GARD Specialists Co. (Eagle River, Wisconsin, tel. 800/541-9301). I have used the 5-in. diameter, 7/8-in. arbor-hole, 12,000-rpm wheel, which costs about $7 each. If a smaller opening is to be cut in the top of the keg, as suggested in your article, a smaller diameter wheel would likely be easier. Be sure to match arbor size and rpm to the grinder you are using. Smaller diameter wheels require higher rpm grinders.
I found it easy to cut the existing handles out of the keg top for reuse. Leaving tabs attached to the handles (Figure 1) allows the handles to be rewelded to the barrel.
Two wheels will suffice for cutting off the top of a keg. Three or four are needed if handles are also to be cut out. Be sure to wear a good face shield, protective clothing, and gloves and to apply slow even pressure to avoid binding and kickback.
Bob Falk
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