I'm planning on brewing this weekend. I have a yeast starter going right now and will probably brew tomorrow. I also have a pilsner that I need to bottle. That will probably happen on Sunday.
Brewed up the pumpkin wine. Cant say it smells that well. :D
I stuck it down in my brew buddies cellar last night and it was going to town nice. Got a good look at the meads down there that we are going to bottle real soon along with the watermelon wine that looks GREAT!
Have you ever made punpkin wine before?Sorry been gone quite a bit of late.
I was considering making some mead with pumpkins in the future.
I have dreams of making a pumpkin pie mead. doesn't that sound lovely?
(I had some pumpkin ale a year ago and it was pretty nice.)
I have my cave man brewing up and running.
I have a jug of apple juice with a cup of sugar added and I have a jug of cranberry juice with sugar added. Yeast, plastic bag and rubberband, the traditional cave man brew.
Hopefully I don't die of botulism.
;D
Not only does this thread encourage me to break out my brewing gear, it makes me mighty thirsty! Time to head downstairs for some cold refreshment. Quick question: Is there a good home brewable beer that will keep well at unrefrigerated temperatures? I know there are some who drink beer this way, especially in Europe, so there must be a method for keeping it fresh.The saying goes. The darker the beer the warmer it should be served. But I have found that any beer down on a basement floor or cellar floor will have a chill to it that I can drink. Unless it is that bud, miller, coors crap.
Yeast: Lalvin K1-V1116 Yeast Starter: no Batch Size (Gallons): 5 Original Gravity: 1.098 Final Gravity: 0.998
5 gallon batch
First, freeze 8 pounds blackberries (fresh preferrable). More is okay too I would think.
12 lbs Clover honey
water to 5 gallons
I pasteurized at near-boil temps while skimming foam off the top, about 15 minutes.
9/7/08: Added 4.5 teaspoon yeast nutrient, pitched yeast (Lalvin K1-V1116). OG=1.098
week 1: 1.064, added 1 tspn nutrient
week 2: 1.026
week 3: 1.008. Racked to secondary onto 7 pounds of thawed & crushed blackberries, plus 1.5 tspn nutrient. Topped off to 5 gallons with water.
week 4: 0.998, racked off blackberries to secondary.
week 8: racked to tertiary for clearing.
Bottled on 12/6/2008. I added another pound of crushed blackberries at bottling (soaked in the bottling bucket for .5 hours in a bag).
For still: Add stabilizer, wait one week, add 1 cup honey, bottle.
For sparkling: Add 2/3 cup honey, bottle immediately (beer or champagne bottles).
I just tried the sparkling mead (melomel) after 1 month in the bottle, and it's very, very good. Light carbonation, good blackberry and honey aroma. Color is light pink. Highly recommended. This went over really, really well at a NYE party!
kegged up a vanilla stout over the weekend and my bourbon stout will be ready next weekend.
Blackberry mead sounds really good. I came across the following recipe that sounds good, but I've never made one so can't really say.Here is the base of what I use and how I do it.
I have a local bee keeper and I'd like to get started keeping bees, but I need to get approval from the wife. So should get started with mead.
Bottled the chocolate stout about 10 days ago, tried one today and very little carbonation so far. More time is needed for that. Today I racked the dunkelweizen to a secondary. I've named it El Hefe. I also got ingredients to make a Sierra Nevada pale ale clone partial mash.
While at the depot for some plumbing stuff I decided to get a 50 foot 3/8" copper tubing, fittings, and some hose and fasioned a wort chiller. Tested it in 5 gallons of boiling water and it chilled to 80 degrees in 10 minutes so it was a success. Saved about $35 versus buying a comparable model at the home brew supply store.
would love to see pictures of that wort chiller...
I've not done any beer brewing and thought I might, but what is the wort chiller for exactly?
As LvsChant said and to also help with the cold break.
I may try a beer some time, but I don't drink much beer in any case, so don't know much about it. Maybe if I brewed my own, I'd have more use for it. I still need the rest of my stuff for my mead. >.< Christmas took my money.
We started a batch of beer yesterday... Noble Trappist Ale (from Midwest Supplies). I did not open the box and immediately put the yeast in the refrigerator when it arrived and am wondering if we perhaps could have yeast that is not viable... any guesses from the more experienced? We cooled the boil down very well using about 10 lbs of ice (quite effective, btw) and then poured the yeast in. (This was a Wyeast, which we short-cutted the recommended method on -- we mixed the inner packet with the main packet only about 3 hours before tossing it in to the cooled boil). No bubbling activity yet as of this morning. The folks at Midwest said it would likely take longer to get going without the recommended yeast prep.
The lid domed is a good sign, I've had it take 2-3 days for some to really get rockin'. I've found the cooler winter temps really do tend to slow things down. Is there a place where you can move it to where it will see a warmer room temp? Whatever you do, don't give up, as there are always remedies to try if it doesn't take off.
I racked my cider to secondary today. OG was 1.080 and today was 1.000. I think they Wyeast cider yeast really like the brown sugar!! ;D Still pretty cloudy, but I'm thinkin another month or two with a few more rackings. Anyone else done cider? This is my first try and a 5 gallon batch to boot.
Brown sugar sounds interesting in there. I've just started making cider this summer and have, since then, finished 25 gallons (drank probably 19 of them). I have nine gallons fermenting now.
My first batch turned out way too sweet for me, and I think I killed the yeast when bottling by not letting the priming sugar/water solution cool down enough, so it's mostly flat. My later batches have turned out very drinkable. Crisp, dry and super gassy like sparkling wine.
What kind of apple cider did you start with?
Brewed a chocolate coffee stout over the weekend. It's been 5 years since I last made it.That sounds good!
We need more empty beer bottles :)
I'm drinking one of my Coopers Blond kits right now. Dang good stuff.
Brewed a Stella "clone" lager on Tuesday and a Coopers Canadian Blonde yesterday. Gotta keep the brewing in rotation, so I don't run out. ;)
After a too long hiatus...
I'm making dirt cheap plum wine. I've got the proper equipment but I'm making this one with less than 5 dollars in material and less than 5 dollars worth of equipment, just to prove it can be done.
J
very cool vid and site, KYdoomer.
I have literally buckets and buckets of hard white and hard red wheat... and, I already have a grain mill. Can I assume that I could use this grain (purchased for bread-making) and my mill (set on the coarsest grind) to make beer? [in the kits, we have purchased grains already crushed since we planned to use them right away]
Well... we opened up another bottle of the beaujolais we brewed last fall... I must say age is improving the taste... it'll probably be great by the time we get to the last bottle.
Just brewed a batch of American Cream Ale. It is a straight extract brew, but this style is pretty good for the summer. I think that I'll put some vanilla into the bottling bucket at that time. I'm thinking that vanilla in a cream ale will be really good.Sounds awfully tasty to me!!
My 3rd batch of stinging nettle beer is bubbling away in the background. My husband has his second batch of gluten free beer providing the harmony.
My husband started his third batch of beer this weekend... another kit from Midwest. This one is a Belgian Tripel. It is bubbling away and smelling very "beer"y. On the last two batches, he has not been thrilled with the amount of fizz obtained by using the 5 oz. packet of priming sugar that comes with the kits. Both batches, while having very good taste, were just a bit flat. Any input from experienced brewers? Both times we had slightly more than the 5 gallons, so we are guessing that is the cause, but it wasn't very much over, so we were wondering why it had such an impact.The amount over 5 gallons won't be the cause. Mine are always over.
That Chardonnay sounds good. :D A wine swap would be good...
Kegged my Hefeweizen and bottled Jack's recipe for Conversion Pollinator Tripel today. Now the wait begins, should be ready to drink around Thanksgiving. Mine turned out around 12.9% ABV, but I didn't take a reading prior to and after adding the honey to the primary, so it may well be above that number. This weekend I think it's time to step up to my Pumpkin Ale all grain kit for Halloween.
Fresh Blackberry Wine. I just picked another three pounds of blackberries during my lunch break from a black berrypatch by a nearby marsh. Mother Nature does not give up her fruit easily with blackberries.good job! I have that book also. so far i've done a few recipes and they turned out good.
Also I have a "flowering plum" tree in front yard that was gracious enough to produce over 6lbs of little plums. Their delicious juice is currently fermenting in the carboys.
The recipes I use come from this handy little book, Making Wild Wines & Meads: 125 Unusual Recipes Using Herbs, Fruits, Flowers & More.
Monetary amount spent on alcohol purchased from a commercial producer: $0.00 ;D
Just a thought, I see that you have all of your caps layed out on a towel. I put all of mine into a bowl with some StarSan and let them soak while I rack into my bottling bucket. This way I know for sure that there will not be any contamination from the caps.
Oh, and iPhone pics are great!
Today i made my annual batch of pumpkin ale. I normally make a 5 gallon batch. This year i made 14! Theres a huge demand for it this year.
Friday night I started my second batch ever. It's a partial mash ale with 3 kinds of hops (1.5oz williamette .5oz cascade .5oz santium). I can't recall the grain mix, as I was following a brew supply recipe card. The end result should be like the old RedHook ale (back when they were in Fremont, like 15 years ago).
Using Columbus hops... a noticeable lemon aroma is on the beer, compaired to the grapefruit of Cascade or pungent/herbal/floral flavor of Centennial
We used some Columbus hops in the IPA we've got in secondary now (should be able to drink it the first weekend of March).
We thought it was more an orange/tangerine smell.
I am really excited about this one. My last IPA was stellar and this one should be a little lower in alcohol so it shouldn't smack ya in the face quite so heavily.
Bottled the IPA last night.
Pondering what to brew next...
Actually, StarSan (I am not sure about the other version you had) acts as a yeast nutrient... it will help fermentation, it will not impart any flavor (at least I have not noticed any pff flavors) StarSan is also an mild acid, lower the pH will help the yeast as well. Though the amount you will have on the cap will be close to 0 compared to the volume of beer you have in the bottle.Grey - thanks - that's a little bit of info that is VERY valuable - had no idea and often spent a whole lot of time working to dry without contaminating the caps. Thanks!
I have an American Amber Ale that I'm bottling today. I have some Mead that is bottle fermenting. I also have some blackberry wine that is ready to enjoy! :)blackberry wine sounds good. can you post a recipe?
My favorite beers from the past have been Wit, Porter, and Stout.
blackberry wine sounds good. can you post a recipe?
re: blackberry wine
Would it work to sub out some of the cane sugar for priming (corn) sugar and skip the yeast nutrient?
Or is there a wine equivalent to creating a "yeast starter" as is popular with home beer brewing?
In order to have a complete, and timely fermentation, the yeast nutrient is fairly vital. Sugar does not provide the nutrients required... B vitamins, zinc, phosphates, etc.
You could survive on sugar alone, but you do need some additional nutrients in order for proper health. Same with yeast.
As for the sugar, yeast really don't care if it's corn sugar, cane sugar, molasses, or honey. If you are looking for a specific gravity increase, getting the correct conversion will be necessary, but I usually wing it and let the yeast do their thing.
The first 1 gal batch I did with storebought filtered juice. After a week, airlock activity had stopped. I sampled it and it had an astringent flavor with almost no hint of apple or sweetness. Not sure if it was ruined or just too early, I primed/bottled it. It's got three weeks on it now...was going to wait another week to open one up, but I'm not expecting anything drinkable.what type of yeast did you use? aging it in the bottle will mellow the flavors, but it might take years if it is this dry.
Next time I'll figure on 20 lbs fruit per gallon. I brought this mixture to a boil, and added mulling spices and a sack of chamomile. The juice this made was very, very tasty and could easily stand on it's own for all the effort.i let my ciders sit in the primary fermentation for a month (or longer if i forget about it), then i rack it to a 2nd carboy, and let it sit for a month. Then I bottle it and let it sit for at least 6 months..
Similar to the first batch, it appeared to be done fermenting after a week. The aroma coming out of the airlock is very pleasant as opposed to the first batch, so I have high hopes. I may prime just half of this as it is a test batch. How long should this cure? Couple months? I bought the fruit at the supermarket at $2 lb, so it's an expensive bottle of juice that I don't want to rush.
I'll second Archer's process. Your... hooch... needs time for the flavors to blend and mellow, because you do not have the balancing factors that come with hops, the "spicy" alcohol needs time to mellow to give you a "pleasing, balanced" taste.
Malted barley does have most, if not all, of the trace nutrients that yeast require for a healthy fermentation. Adding extra nutrients will not cause harm. It is a fairly cheap way to ensure that the yeast will be happy and complete their job. Having said that, most juices do not have these nutrients; magnesium, phosphates, and most importantly, zinc. Note, these are all "trace" amounts, but are required for healthy yeast growth, cell wall production and "budding", zinc being the most important of these nutrients for cell wall production and health. The others are required at the bio chem level to catalyze and support the enzymatic action inside the yeast cells.
Many mead makers will stagger the nutrients additions during the first week of fermentation to absolutely make sure that the yeast kick @$$ and take names.
some quick answers. I'll work on the first part shortly.
what type of yeast did you use? aging it in the bottle will mellow the flavors, but it might take years if it is this dry.
i let my ciders sit in the primary fermentation for a month (or longer if i forget about it), then i rack it to a 2nd carboy, and let it sit for a month. Then I bottle it and let it sit for at least 6 months..
Thank you Archer. Maybe a bit longer than I anticipated, huh? Not sure on the yeast strain off the top of my head. It's the first yeast I bought from a brew supply shop, and they recommended it for cider. I know it's written on the bag...I shall check when I get home.
What is the purpose of the second carboy? Does the dead yeast scum change the flavor over time? Why not go straight to bottling?
If you bottle it while you still have yeast working away, you might get exploding bottles.
some quick answers. i'll work on the first part shortly.
what type of yeast did you use? aging it in the bottle will mellow the flavors, but it might take years if it is this dry.
i let my ciders sit in the primary fermentation for a month (or longer if i forget about it), then i rack it to a 2nd carboy, and let it sit for a month. Then I bottle it and let it sit for at least 6 months..
Ok, looks like it says the 71b on the yeast packet. Does that sound right?who is the manufacturer?
who is the manufacturer?
So my first real DME brew is intended to be a crowd pleaser. It's an American Pale Ale...Coops DME, 1lb crystal (crisp 15L) malt, .9 oz cascade for bittering, 2 oz citra for aroma, with white labs Calfornia Ale yeast.
Bottled my first all grain batch last weekend. I'd describe it as between an ESB and an IPA.
It had a big grain bill of 15lbs, and I used my DIY cooler mashtun which worked fairly well.
To do items:
* calculate my mash efficiency
* cool my wort faster (consider immersion chiller)
* use my yeast starter I washed from this last batch.
* do a SMaSH brew using 10lbs. maris otter, left over hops and above yeast salvage
Finally got around to brewing again this weekend! (I had meant to brew the previous three weekends).
I tried my amber this weekend, and I think it's not done conditioning yet.
I brewed a Northwest Pale Ale this weekend with some Zeus hops that a friend harvested for me. It was a Deschutes Red Chair clone.
I really enjoy RedChair. Is there a material difference between Zeus and Columbus hops? I'm suspicious that they are almost identical, separated by marketing hype.
On the topic of hops, I planted a couple rhizomes this spring. Each is over a foot tall. Last weekend I rigged up some paracord horizontally with 1/4" thick twine running down for the hops to vine up. I considered a more elaborate rig, but 2 eye bolts was all the hardware I used.
Next summer will be when this all comes to fruition (literally I hope).
This excursion into cider has inspired me to start wine making (a bit of a leap). I started two grape vines at my relatives property and look forward to setting the world record for smallest batch of wine made (joking...but really).
Ben
Hi Folks
I finished a hard cider a few weeks ago and have been enjoying the results. I had a gallon of frozen cider from last year. I Let it thaw out, added some honey and champagne yeast. Four weeks of open brewing then one week in bottles.
This excursion into cider has inspired me to start wine making (a bit of a leap). I started two grape vines at my relatives property and look forward to setting the world record for smallest batch of wine made (joking...but really).
Ben
To ferment to dryness, you will need to let it do it's thing. Just recently I heard about using staggered nutrient additions. You add a little yeast nutrient every other day for the first week or so, to really supercharge the little suckers. They say that you will be able to have complete, ready to go mead in 3 months. I haven't tried this yet, but will on my next batch.
I just did this with my first mead batch. I am on the 2month and just bottled (it was really done on 1.5 months in, but i waited just to be sure). It tastes a little off... but i am going to taste a bottle every week to see how the flavor will change.
Hydrometer.
and for clarification, "in there" meant the third ferment, its been fermenting for at least 8 weeks, but has been dormant for about the last four.
in secondary for 2 months? Not sure I could wait that long, unless I had multiple brew pipelines staggered.
Are there suggestions for a reliable trippel recipe for a newish brewer like myself? I've got a few all-grain batches under my belt so far.
I got some blackberries from my boss. I just threw 'em in a bucket with 3 lbs of honey and a gallon of water. Now I just need to twiddle my thumbs for a year and I'll have a delicious blackberry mead!and you added yeast i hope? ;) or are you going completely wild? in the wild case, you'll need a year..
Whoa - took my first hyrdo reading and it's just past 1.010 !!!
Started at 1.075, and it's only been 10 days. I tasted the beer I hydro'd and while it's not "done", I can see where it's headed.
I think the difference was a new strain of Belgian Wyeast the brew shop suggested:
http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=136
Given that the beer is nearly 9% now, and it clearly still bubbling, it might reach the 12% threshold of the yeast.
and you added yeast i hope? ;) or are you going completely wild? in the wild case, you'll need a year..
The experience was definitely more complicated and engaging than the Mr. Beer refills! There's a lot of involvement - this recipe had 5 separate hop additions, and steeping specialty grains. There are also consequences for not paying attention - I had a brief boilover. :o I'll wait to taste the beer before I get too excited, but I did enjoy the process of brewing. If this recipe is good, I'll probably make it one more time in the Mr. Beer, as I still have half of the hops I purchased, and then step up to bigger batches.
"Just a Pale Ale" recipe, Mr. Beer style
Grains (Steeped at 150 for 30 mins)
-.5 lb Crystal 60L
-.25 lb Munich
-.25 lb Wheat
Malt Extract (60 min boil)
3.3 lbs Light LME
Hops (Added to boil)
.5 oz Columbus (60 min)
.25 oz Cascade (45 min)
.25 oz Centennial (30 min)
.25 oz Cascade (15 min)
.25 oz Centennial (end of boil)
Wyeast 1056 American (full packet)
This morning, it looks like the yeast is going to town, so I guess I'm on the right track. I bought a hydrometer as well, and if I read it right (big IF), I got 1.054 prior to putting the yeast in. That's within the range suggested by the recipe (1.051 to 1.054), so I think this could actually work. I'll send updates as it goes along.
I will be celebrating Thanksgiving by making a cranberry wine!woohoo!!!
My long weekend includes this:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/24867/name-this-recipe
BTW: looking for a clever name
hmm, lots of sweet stuff there.. How about 'Sweet lovins'?
I really doubt it'll finish sweet. That's all fuel for the monster yeast that will result in 9%+ ABVbetter add some sucrose then...
It's cool enough up here now that I can probably do lagers in my garage until early spring.
BTW: I just racked my 2nd iteration of your Trippel recipe. This time around I used a darker syrup, and bumped up the hops about 20%.
For whatever reason there was a ridiculous amount of trubb in the bottom of my bucket. I salvaged most and will harvest the yeast.
My long weekend includes this:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/24867/name-this-recipe
BTW: looking for a clever name
A thin brown ale? I think you may have inadvertently invented a new style Grewywolf ;D
is it wrong to have four 5 gal batches getting ready for bottling?
Is it wrong to have four 5 gal batches getting ready for bottling?
wow.... I just bottled 10 gallons. I feel your pain.
In full disclosure, one 5 gal batch is a barleywine that will be aged for at least 6 months before I bottle
Brewed a Spotted Cow replica, 4 weeks and we'll see what it tastes like.
I just kegged an ESB, I'm brewing a Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA clone today and then in a week or so I will be brewing a Black IPA, yum!
Just started a 'light summery ale' with some honey, dried orange peel, and coriander.
Sounds delicious!
Brown ale has a few more days in secondary before going in the bottle.
Just started a 'light summery ale' with some honey, dried orange peel, and coriander.
Sure thing...Keep in mind it's still in primary. I have not tasted it. It's actually a kit I got from Midwest. They called it Grand Cru. Recipe:
6# extra light dry malt extract
2# clover honey
8oz carapils
2oz Hallertau (1oz for bittering and 1oz for aroma)
1/2 oz dried sweet orange peel
1oz coriander
5oz priming sugar
Wyeast Belgian wit #3944
Steep grains 30 mins at 155 degrees; remove from heat and steep for another 10 mins before removing. Add DME, return to the burner and bring to a boil before adding 1oz of hops. Boil 60 mins. With 15 mins left in the boil, add honey. Add orange peel, coriander, and remaining 1oz hops for the last 5 mins. All standard from there...cool to below 80, pitch yeast, and you're off to the races.
Thanks - I'll have to do some conversions, as I've recently become an all-grain snob 8)
That's on my 13 in 13 list. :)
Did my first brew since about 1998 two weeks ago.
I keep talking myself out of kegging. I can get a "picnic" setup for around $225 locally, but that doesn't include the kegerator portion.
With being resourceful and lots of DIY work a nice setup can be had for $400, but difficult to justify financially for me.
Welcome back! ;D
Been thinking about getting an electric water still.....
For the purposes of making fuel... of course...
Brewed up my first SMaSH beer yesterday (single malt and single hop). A nice hoppy American Pale Ale with 2 row and Centennial hops.
6 gallon batch
9 # domestic 2 row
6 hop additions:
mash hop w/ .25 oz
first wort hop with .5 oz
30 minutes .25 oz
20 minutes .25 oz
10 minutes 1 oz
flame out 1.75 oz
(The larger additions of late hops is a technique called "hop bursting", which gives really big hop flavor and aroma)
I will dry hop with 2 oz of Centennial once primary is complete.
For the mash, I used the batch sparge technique. I pulled the first sparge, boiled it for 30 minutes (to try and get a little kettle caramelization character out of the plain 2 row malt), then added the second sparge to the reduced wort and finished with an hour boil with the above additions.
I will ferment with WLP099, White Labs' San Diego super yeast, at 64-66 degrees. I will bottle to 2.4 volumes of CO2. Should be ready to drink in about 3 weeks.
The greatest thing about this brew... materials cost will be: ~ $19.00
I have two Centennial hop plants that should produce some hops this fall, I will brew this beer again with the homegrown hops, which will reduce the cost of making the beer to about $10.00
Yesterday I experimented with toasting malt. I had half a sack of pilsner (20+ lbs), and toasted about 3 pounds to medium-dark. Given the batch will cost less than $20, I'm not pressured for things to turn out perfect.
5g of IPA, changed it up just a little with 1/2 lb chocolate malt to see if I could it slightly darker
My LBS has basic keg systems for $249. 2x korny kegs, double regulator, CO2 tank, connectors, hoses and picnic taps. If I have $250 to sink into my hobby budget, that seems more compelling at the moment.
.....That's a good deal - around here new corny's are $100 each and a used CO2 tank is over $100 - I'd jump on that in a minute
My LBS has basic keg systems for $249. 2x korny kegs, double regulator, CO2 tank, connectors, hoses and picnic taps. If I have $250 to sink into my hobby budget, that seems more compelling at the moment.
American amber in primary, Brown ale in secondaryEnglish Bitter in primary #2 - added a pound of my own honey with 10 mins to go to push the alcohol a little. Pitched aroma hops slightly earlier than scheduled.
That's a good deal - around here new corny's are $100 each and a used CO2 tank is over $100 - I'd jump on that in a minute
English Bitter in primary #2 - added a pound of my own honey with 10 mins to go to push the alcohol a little. Pitched aroma hops slightly earlier than scheduled.
Anyone make hard apple cider? I MIGHT try my hand at that this year.
Cedar
Fill your fermenter with cider
I suggest you add campden (or similar) tablets if you plan to add commercial yeast, and let sit for 24hours
Pitch white wine yeast of choice
Fit airlock and wait a few weeks :)
I was going to go about it pretty much this way. Thanks for the 2nd opinon. I have enough carboys to make 15-20 gallons. I know I have 3, I might have a 4th. What do you bottle it into ? I have EZ-Cap bottles, which I usually save for soda, but I can also cap/cork recycled beer/wine bottles.
Cedar
I've been thinking about doing a cider lately - I did one at Xmas and refrigerated it after a short fermentation. Kept it really sweet and probably only 3% ABV. Have to keep it cold and drink it fast so it doesn't over carb.
I have almost a half gallon from a year ago where I let it way over ferment. It's not pleasant to drink
I'm brewing my very first batch right now. I suspect I'm gonna have too much alcohol in it when I'm done. I added way too much brown sugar to the store bought apple juice, and started with a specific gravity of 1.090.
If I think it's too strong when it's done, can I just cut it with more apple juice?
How long has it been fermenting? I'd take a hydro reading now and see where you are at and even taste your sample afterwards. If it's starting to get past where you want, I'd drop the temperature if possible. I'm not a cider expert, but adding more apple juice would just "wake up" any residual yeast - similar to how priming sugar works to carbonate bottles.
It's been fermenting about a week and a half, and just now starting to slow down a little.
I read an article where the author was making a sweet sparkling cider by back sweeting his cider after fermentation. Then, he'd bottle most of it normally, saving a little bit to bottle in plastic soda bottles. When the soda bottles got firm, he would taste one to assure his carbonation was where he wanted it, and pasteurize his bottles.
It may be a little more advanced than what I'm ready for, but that was the goal for this batch. I'm just worried that my brew is gonna be much stronger than it should be, and wasn't sure if I could stop the process early without causing problems.
Be careful using glass bottles. I actually had some cide grenades a few years back. Thank goodness they exploded while no people or vehicles were parked nearby. I actually pulled out glass shards from the dry wall. Like an IED for home brewers...
Why heat the bottles? Sure that's one method to sanitize, but you also have products like StarSan and similar. In any case, you may wait for the glass to cool before bottling. I did beer like that for years.
Why heat the bottles? Sure that's one method to sanitize, but you also have products like StarSan and similar. In any case, you may wait for the glass to cool before bottling. I did beer like that for years.
If you heat a sealed bottle... that is already carbed... I'm pretty sure it will explode.
If you are talking about pasteurizing before you seal your bottles, you will be fine. I don't have the equation at my finger tips... but I believe that if the temp reaches 160 degrees, it only needs to stay there for ~ 15 seconds to end all microbial life. Don't quote me on that... you should check with a Ball canning book, or on the interwebs
Cider vinegar is not going to be much good for hard cider.
Persimmons could certainly be fermented - how much total do you think you have?
I would probably ferment the cider then rack it onto the fruit and let it age in secondary for a month or two, then package and age for a few more months.
Have you tried the wine yet Archer?
How did you get the juice? Do you have vines or did you buy a kit?
Maybe I'm not exactly hitting the high gravity designed, but it's a nicer drinking beer that still has that aroma in that style.
I drove up to the local apple orchards (yes it is the off season, but they still have fresh cider for sale) and picked up a gallon. I plan on fermenting half straight out with Lalvin 71B and the other will be a cyser with ~ 3 lbs of honey. I've never actually fermented cider before. Been making beer for over three years and wine for almost 5.
I brewed up a monster coffee stout last weekend, OG was 1.100. Tomorrow I plan on racking into secondary. It was a 10 gallon batch, so I'll split it. trying to decide if I want to oak and whiskey both portions or just one... I figure maybe start with one of the 5 gallon carboys will get the whiskey soaked oak cubes to start, to see how it tastes.
Bottled the white wine the other day, do not know what to call this style, it tastes good. It was white Muscat grapes grown in my yard fermented with EC1118 yeast. 14 1/2 bottles, not pretty bottles like Archer, just a mish-mash of used wine bottles I sterilized
I have a 6 gallon bucket of saison in the garage.
Realize it's slightly out of the style, but I wanted a dark/dry finish this time.
I've gotten VERY relaxed about style in Belgian brewing after reading books Like Farmhouse Ales and Brew Like a Monk. When you realize how many beers of this region are based on "what we grow" and "whatever's cheapest" there's plenty of wiggle room. For Pete's sake a "Trappist" could mean Orval or Chimay (which have almost nothing in common). I think if you are using the correct ingredients (base malt, hops, yeast) and following a Belgian process you're fine. We often forget that Duvel was just a goofy experiment.
I also used Maris Otter for my base grain. Total franken-brew...
my wife has been doing elderflower wine. quick and dirty and she drinks it like soda. the alcohol content is not too highInteresting. How's this made? Like dandelion wine?
Interesting. How's this made? Like dandelion wine?
Well my tripel was a flame-o disaster. Way too dark, way too malty, a little sweet, rummy notes, etc. Basically it drinks more like a quad, which was not my intent. I obviously went too high on special grains and gravity while not adding enough sugar to lean out the body. But I don't mind calling it a quad while I plan the next attempt. Led to funny conversation with my wife where she asked about the alcohol content and I told her it was just short of 11%. She asked why I insist on making every batch as potent as possible, especially when my favorite tripels are usually ~8-9abv. Good point. Back to the drawing board.
In other words, you made a loaf of bread in a pint glass :)
I have three projects going right now...
Apfelwein (1 gallon) using EdWort's recipe: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/ (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/) (in secondary)
Beaujolais (5 gallon) from concentrate. Just racked it into a 5 gallon glass carboy today.
Concord wine (1 gallon) from the recipe here: http://www.alabrew.com/ (http://www.alabrew.com/) (in primary)
I did not order the pectic enzymes recommended for the concord wine, so proceeded without that particular recipe item. Any idea how much this will affect my success?
Also ordered a kit for Noble Trappist Ale for my husband to try out beer brewing. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/noble-trappist-ale.html (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/noble-trappist-ale.html)