Alcohol

[FrankRizzo]

I force-carbonated mine with one of those carbonator caps you can buy from Midwest or Northern Brewer. I have a kegging system though, so that might make a difference. Bubbly is definitely the way to go though.

[crazyboy25]

Well I will bottle my Hobgoblin Friday and my RIS June 4th. (I will bottle some of the RIS in cleaned Red Stripe bottles). Also i got my hops in the ground (really late I know...)

[asilentbob]

Started 1 gallon of normal hard cider today (dry pasteur champagne yeast) along with 1 gallon of capsicumel - chile mead. I used like 12g dried and crushed zimbabwe birds eye pepper pods and 20g super cayanne dried pods. Boiled the crushed pods in water separately to sanitize, then added to the fermentor first. Then added the honey water that had 11.5oz of welch's white grape juice concentrate in it along with malic acid, citric acid, Wyeast nutrient, etc. Total sugar is 2lbs of honey plus however much sugar the grape concentrate had in it. I used Lalvin RC 212 dry yeast.

 

The tips of my fingers sting every once and a while now, even though I crushed the pods like 5 hours ago now...

 

I'm thinking that the chile mead will come out way too firey to drink straight. Might be ok for sipping. Probably end up using it for cooking. Don't know how sweet it will end up.

 

I would have started another 1 gallon batch of something, but I didn't have the right size stopper for the other gallon jug and I didn't want to half-ass it with a balloon or anything as I tend to let my fermentors sit for months past when they finish.

[Mumbles]

I think I might be getting close to finding broken halo. I found 3 of the 4 year round brews. I picked up the Drifter Pale Ale, which is pretty tasty, but will keep looking for the broken halo.

[asilentbob]

Reminds me, I need to start a bunch more wines and meads brewing before college away from home starting this fall.

 

And I need to bottle what I have.

[asilentbob]

UPDATE:

 

Bottled 2 gallons of hard cider... the last batch I reported starting plus another batch that I had forgot about... Added carbonation tabs to all bottles going for "normal" carbonation. Been about 2 days since then. Once it has been about a week or 2 I'll move a few to the fridge and see how they turned out. We shall see.

 

The chile pepper mead is clear and not doing anything. I'm holding off on bottling it for now. I think I'm going to try out corking some of it with my uncle and sealing with wax for long storage... And put a bit of it in a flip top for cooking use.

 

Started a gallon of a grape-cider mix... used 2 of those welches concord? grape juice concentrate cans and heat pasteurized apple cider to make a gallon. Used lalvin K1V-1116. I didn't really even think about total sugar content until I had already affixed the airlock. So no idea how it will turn out.

 

Started about 3.8 to 4.2 gallons of some ale. The original recipe was supposed to be 3.6 gal. I decided to add 1lb of honey and 6oz of molasses in addition to a slight bit more water. This will be my first real "beer."

 

I need to buy some more honey. Thinking a gallon.

http://www.millershoney.com/category/one-gallon

Are these good prices?

[Megladon]

Something I ran across about a month ago that I havnt seen mentioned yet, is a very easy way to make liquor from home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoECuFZOrgw I hope linking to other sites is ok, its my first post and all, and I didnt see anything against it. From what I saw in the video it looks like a quick way to turn mash into something drinkable. Hope this helps someone that wants an easy start.

[Ventsi]

Long story short me and a buddy decided to make wine. I've read up as much as possible on the topic but I'd still like as much help as possible.

 

I'm going with apple juice, I managed to find absolutely pure apple juice with no additives. I'm using Red Star Monachret Yest, and all the additive/nutrients needed.

 

Question: Is there anything wrong with making small amounts? I want to start with one gallon to just get my feet wet.

 

Anything against apple juice?

 

How much sugar should I use? I'm going for more of a dessert wine, yet strong. I'm a teenager you see. Not an old man with a top hat and a monocle [no offence to you out there ].

 

I managed to get Potassium Metabislufite but not the sorbate, I understand that I do not NEED the sorbate, yes?

 

Any tips would be much appreciated, as well as cautions.

[Mumbles]

I've been making wine on a 1 gallon scale for test batches. Well, the test batches are VERY old, but I'm letting them "age". Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

I followed the "apfelwein" recipe pretty closely. I used around 6.5oz of dextrose per gallon. A 4L jug of shitty wine makes a good carboy. I don't use any additives, other that occasionally some yeast nutrient. I plan to carbonate it, so that would not be advantageous to add fermentation stopping additives. The 6.5oz of dextrose with roughly a pound of sugar in the juice itself, gives an OG of around 1.064, and it will finish pretty dry giving 7.5-8% alcohol. If you want something sweeter, you may have to use said additives, or back sweeten after stabilizing.

 

I've been experimenting with using honey instead of dextrose to keep it a little less try, but I haven't sampled yet. I've also been playing with adding different fruit juices.

[bikemaster]

You can try a small scale test, but it is even harder to it free from other bacteria. One of the bigest problem of beer and wine making is the proliferation of other bacteria (only the yeast should be there). Over the risk of contamination, you will notice that it is really hard to get the same taste two time. Even if you make a small bacth of the same repeice, you will just have and idea of the next bacth.

The amount of sugar will depend on the amount of alcohol that you want in you beer. Cablibrate the amount of sugar with an hygrometer because you don't know the sugar content of you juice and put sugar up to the desire amount of alcohol (see convertion table).

And yes you can make an high quality product if you take all the care!

[Mumbles]

The labels on the juice are usually pretty accurate as far as how much sugar is in them. When I did my apple juice with sugar, the hydrometer was within about 2 OG points of the calculated amount, which is within the uncertainty of my balance.

[Ventsi]

Alright, I'll go with the apfelwein recipe. Something in the lines of:

 

1gal Treetop Apple Juice

.5lbs Cane Sugar

1gr Montrachet Yeast

 

So, how much and how do I add the yeast nutrient?

What the hell is the purpose of the meta-sulfite and should I add it? Sterilizer maybe?

Can I use distilled water in the airlock or should I go with some alcohol, say spirits?

How can I further sweeten the wine/cider once its done? Can I just add some sugar and a preservative such as K/Na benz to stop the yeast from re-activating?

 

Edit: Also, bentonite clay used to clear the wine up?? I have some PURE Bentonite that should be fine for this, but is it true?

Edited April 28, 2010 by Ventsi

[Ventsi]

Is it a bad sign when I opened up the bag of K-metabisulfite to be greeted by a deadly cloud of SO2? I was coughing up my lungs for the next twenty minutes.

 

Other than that all is good and I'll let everyone know how bad it turned out in a month or two.

[gordohigh]

I somehow missed this thread, but anyway I have a reflux still. My head uses copper scrubbers and my boiler is made from 2 stainless steel milk buckets turned widest part to each other and tig welded. The still head is all SS but I do have a 10ft length of copper tube that I have connected to the collection port. The connection from still to boiler is witth a hinged clamp style wiith a type of o-ring/gasket and seals tight and comes apart fast.

 

I use a cooler full of water for the condenser with a small sump pump and add a couple of frozen gallon water jugs as I need them during the distilling process. It works perfectly and I usually get about 185~190 proof out of it. This way I dont waste a lot of water. In the colder months I just suck water from the pool and return it back. I use a propane cooker and 1 small tank will last for about 3~4 runs.

 

The first few ounces of distilling will pproduce a lot of nasty stuff like acetone, rubbing alcohol and other stuff with a lower boiling pointe that will only be good for non-drinking tasks as was mentioned and also makes a good cleaning solution. The last jar always goes back in the next time I do a run as the tails can have a bad flavor.

 

I make my wash from a recipe I got off homedistiller dot org and it's called birdwatchers sugar tomatoe wash. It is simple, cheap and works great and ferments quickly. In a reflux you basically distill out anything anyway and you are getting something comparable to the pure grain alcohol they sell, (or used to sell?) at the licquer store. That turbo wash I think was designed for making fuel and I was advised to not use it because they say it imparts a flavour in the finished product. I still have my original package of it but the tomatoe paste wash calls for regular bread yeast like you get in bulk at sams.

 

I don't distill very often but it is a lot of fun and I have some good recipes for flavoring it, like adding dried apricots and sugar, or apple pie spice with cinnimon and brown sugar. I have also used fresh mulberries, banannas and strawberries, all with some added sugar, then you filter it after a few weeks. The apricot is my personal favorite but they are all good. It is a great hobby and if Sh*t ever hits the fan you could always make your own fuel which was actually my original reason for looking into it.

[FrankRizzo]

Is it a bad sign when I opened up the bag of K-metabisulfite to be greeted by a deadly cloud of SO2? I was coughing up my lungs for the next twenty minutes.

 

Other than that all is good and I'll let everyone know how bad it turned out in a month or two.

 

Ventsi,

 

The metabisulfite is used before the yeast is added to both sterilize the juice and remove chloramine from any tap water additions. It's not commonly used when making apfelwein from juice.

 

You do want to throw a few bucks into buying a hydrometer. They're cheap, and will let you know how the fermentation is progressing. Also, invest in a small bottle of Star-San or Iodophor (my personal choice), and a cheap spray bottle. The Iodophor or Star San is mixed a few drops per spray bottle volume and is used as a no-rinse sanitizer to clean anything that touches your apfelwein during fermentation.

 

If you let the juice ferment all the way, you will end-up with a very "wine-y" beverage. It will be quite dry, with only the tart component of the apple flavor. If you let it age for a few months, the apple flavor tends to come back and the alcohol edge mellows; quite delicious. However, that's usually longer than someone in your situation wants to let something brew before drinking. If you want something that the ladies will drink, only let it actively ferment for ~3 days so that it achieves approx. 3-5% ABV. If you have a hydrometer, that would be when the gravity drops 20-35 points (eg. 1.064, dropping to 1.044-1.029). Once you have it at the desired alcohol concentration, pop it in the fridge/freezer and get it as cold as possible without freezing. The cold temp will cause the yeast to stop doing their thing, and drop to the bottom as a brown layer (this is called "cold crashing"). At this point, you should siphon the half fermented juice to another container to get it off the yeast cake. You can either add potassium sorbate to stabilize it from fermenting further, or just keep it as cold as possible and drink it ASAP. If you don't drink it fast, the few remaining yeast will continue munching on the leftover sugar and make it more wine-like.

 

Another thing to note is that apfelwein will make a nasty rotten-egg smell (hydrogen sulfide) if your fermentation temperature goes over 72F. In brewing circles, this is affectionately known as "rhino farts". As in, it smells as if a rhino farted your fermentation area. Keep it fermenting between 65-70 for best results.

[Ventsi]

Frank, you deserve a hug! That is the absolutely perfect reply I was looking/waiting for. I've had the the apfelwein brewing for five days, six tomorrow, and I suppose I'll kill the yeast and let it age starting tomorrow. I'd much rather have something pleasant tasting. And yeah, I noticed the rhino farts, partially the reason I had to take the fermentation outside where its near 80*F right now but I'm doing my absolute best to keep the carboy cool.

 

Again, my local home brewing store does not carry potassium or sodium sorbate for some odd reason. Can I use a salicylate or a benzoate in very small amounts to achieve the same results? I don't have a problem getting some sorbate but it will probably be a while until it gets to my door so I'd rather try one of the above mentioned assuming it has no adverse effects.

[FrankRizzo]

No problem, dude. Brewing is my "other" hobby

 

The benzoate will work for stabilization, but make sure it's food-grade. According to the small container I saw at my local homebrew/health-food store, the usual dosage is 1/4tsp per 6gal of wine once it's racked off the yeast. With a batch as small as you've got (~1gal), it's probably just easiest to keep it cold so the yeast stay dormant. A gallon will probably only last a few mins anyway once you bring it out at a party.

 

One other thing. Once you've transferred the juice off the yeast cake, you can actually reuse the yeast 1 or 2 more times by pouring fresh juice into the container. At a dollar or two per package, the yeast probably isn't breaking the bank but it's nice to reduce costs if you can. Keep the yeast cold between batches, and try not to have too much time between pouring in new juice (1-2days max).

[Ventsi]

Alright, sweet. I normally wouldn't ask but my buddy won't get off my ass. Do you have any "recipes" you can recommend? I personally was thinking about trying hard cider with a touch of raspberry for my next batch.

[Ventsi]

Well I must say all went well, the cider came out better than expected and was enjoyed by everyone, now its all gone after a... tasting session.

Now I have another gallon of white grape and I'm going to start on a gallon of apple-cherry.

 

 

[NightHawkInLight]

I'm looking to get myself a brew kit. What are some of the things I should be thinking of when choosing one? Is there anything I should avoid?

[Mumbles]

I'm not sure if you mean beer or wine. This response is primarily for beer.

 

Most kits include a pretty good supply of what you need. There are a few slightly more tools that I don't know if I could go without anymore.

 

There is an improved capper with a magnet and springs that really is worth the extra couple of dollars. Really, I think they are $18 instead of $15, and much better IMO.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/bottling/bottle-cappers/red-baron-emily-capper.html

 

A bottle filler. Not all kits come with one, but for a few dollars I don't think it's worth it to go without. I've never worked with a spring loaded one, but the one that uses gravity leaks or sticks a little bit sometimes. They're pretty easy to get the hang of, and leaves a perfect amount of head space every time.

 

Once you get the hang of everything, a secondary fermenter is really nice. If nothing else, it helps get the beer clearer, and frees up the primary for making more beer.

[NightHawkInLight]

Yep, looking to make beer, no wine yet.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely spring for a decent capper. Probably a secondary fermenter also. I'd like to get a few varieties going in rapid succession. I want to have something developed that I really like by the time next years crop of tobacco is ready to smoke.

[Algenco]

Nothing to making wine, I make several batchs per year.

[Mumbles]

If any of you guys have kegging systems with soda kegs, I was wondering how long they take to cool off? I am thinking about getting a 2 keg kegging system. If I wanted to take one with me somewhere, would being on ice for a few hours be enough to chill them?

[NightHawkInLight]

If any of you guys have kegging systems with soda kegs, I was wondering how long they take to cool off? I am thinking about getting a 2 keg kegging system. If I wanted to take one with me somewhere, would being on ice for a few hours be enough to chill them?

According to mythbusters, the fastest way to chill your beer is with saltwater. Unfortunately it makes the can salty. Shouldn't have that problem with a keg. Not sure on the overall time required, but much less than straight icewater. I'd guess it would be nice and frosty after a two hour stretch.