So we don't threadjack Spagbook again with talk about what we're brewing and how, this is a rundown of various alcohol production endeavors I'm up to at the moment.
Add your own! Whether it's super yeasting molasses and grape juice for imitation port wine, a gallon of apple juice in a jug with a sock, or several gallons of finer, calibrated brew, let us know what you're about to perpetrate!
So: last night:
1 gallon cyser with honey, 1 cup sugar, cinamon and allspice. Pitched with liquid english cider yeast. Was fermenting this morning.
4 gallons straight- up apple cider, unpasteurized. Pitched with the same yeast. Was fermenting within 15 min.
~2L Krupnikas. (Lithuanian honey liqeur) with extra cinamon and dried chinese hot peppers. Decanted, filtered out some of the crap.
I'm guessing the ciders won't need to go very long, since they are starting so fast. I'm decanting them to a secondary after 1 week, and seeing how they are. The krupnikas I'll be continuing to decant and filter as crap from the honey and spices filters out, then it will sit in bottles to mellow out for a month or so. Should be mellowed and better to drink around new years.
So IF'N I want to make mead and cider, how long should I plan for? Want them done by Xmas at the latest...
Look up a few recipes online. Many meads require long term - bottling to mature, but "quick meads" or cider can be done very fast. (NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
Cider is quicker. (Warning: amateur barbarian brewer speaking) Get it from a local orchard / farm if you can. They often sell it without preservatives or unpasteurized. Then you have options on yeast, recipe, etc. A simple cider can be done in about a week or so of fermentation, and a week / few days or so bottled in the fridge to stop the yeast from working, and let the crap settle out. You want to at least decant it into clean bottles every few days until the majority of the crap has settled out. It's dead yeast and leftover plant matter that will give the cider a funny taste.
(You CAN get fanatic with fancy glass bottles and siphoning here. I jsut move it between a few spare plastic jugs.)
Exactly WHEN it's done fermenting is determined entirely by taste and look. If it's still bubbling in the carboy, it's still becoming more boozier. If left too long though it can become dry / nasty. Longer fermentation = less sugar in the juice flavoring it, so be aware, and try every so often. You might be able to get scientific with a hydrometer to check the specific gravity and all. I jsut drink some. Any yeast also has a point where it's made enough alcohol to kill itself, which will stop it cold too.
What Richter said. A good mead takes a while. If you start now, you can have one ready to drink for next Christmas.
You could make a cider or a braggot (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/114) in the same amount of time it takes to make a beer of the same strength. A braggot recipe such as this one (http://www.brewtility.com/ViewRecipe.aspx?RecipeID=49) would be ready in about 5 weeks -- about two weeks in the fermenter and then about three weeks bottle conditioning.
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Well, sometimes brews don't go as expected. Sometimes your cider is so bad you HAVE to add whiskey to it to "improve" it.
I should probably add that right I am doing a short mead, which CAN be done before Christmas, but the alcohol content is low and I primarily do it for a lighter, drier flavor.
My current batch is technically a "methaglin" or spiced mead. It contains cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, and a dried Chinese hot pepper. I boiled my spices in water with black tea and lemon to naturally help the pH, but over all it shouldn't effect the flavor too much.
It will have been in the primary 2 weeks on Saturday. Because I want it done in time for a contest, I'm going to secondary this weekend, and then bottle next weekend. That way it's in the bottle and refrigerated (to stop fermentation, unless you want your bottles to double as a bomb) for 3 weeks before serving.
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
It's been done. Ask Ratatosk. The sort of stuff you drink one mug and wake up 2 days later in a weird basement dressed only in newspaper.
By comparison, the krupnikas is a bit milder, and is a very potent, flavorful drink. If you like the idea of jagermeister, but get sick of the flavor, the this stuff is for you. Some love it, some catch jsut a whiff, have their allergies annhilated, and rush off distressed they no longer have an excuse to ditch work. (Like my aunt)
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 04, 2010, 06:45:38 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Well, sometimes brews don't go as expected. Sometimes your cider is so bad you HAVE to add whiskey to it to "improve" it.
Oh I completely misunderstood, I thought that someone had mixed honey and Everclear from the get go to make mead. Sorry!
Quote from: Jenne on November 04, 2010, 04:45:15 PM
So IF'N I want to make mead and cider, how long should I plan for? Want them done by Xmas at the latest...
big soda bottle + apple juice + honey + yeast. leave the top 1/4th empty. screw on cap, shake a bit. then you turn the cap
just loose enough so that carbon dioxide can escape. store in a not-too-cold place.
there. that's the simplest thing that could possibly work. should be done in 1-2 weeks.
- make sure there is no preservative in the apple juice, that would kill the yeast. also use clear juice, not the fancy cloudy stuff.
- yeast. I often use bread yeast, which works fine, but proper yeast intended for brewing (wine/cider/whatever) gives a bit cleaner flavour. a bit of time after it's done also cleans it somewhat, I find.
- as Richter said, dead yeast collects on the bottom and gives odd flavours when it's in contact with the booze for long. so when a decent layer forms (0.5 inch?) decant it into another container. as long as the yeast is active a littlebit will always be at the bottom, that's fine. the live yeast is generally found floating happily through the liquid, so don't worry about discarding the sediment dead yeast when decanting.
- how much honey? I'm not sure, I usually eyeball it, but it's supposed to taste insanely sweet that you barely don't like it anymore :) IIRC this one time I used one Kg honey on a total of 4 L of liquid. That's 2.2lbs on 1.06 gallon. somebody correct me if this is way off.
- 1250g honey has sugar-content equal to 1000g white sugar (said the Internet a few years ago)
- fruit flies love the smell of fermenting booze. you can wrap a plastic bread bag with a rubber band over the top of the bottle to mostly keep the smell in and/or confuse the flies.
Since it's done in two weeks, you can have a few tries before Christmas to get it right :)
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 09:12:32 PM
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 04, 2010, 06:45:38 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Well, sometimes brews don't go as expected. Sometimes your cider is so bad you HAVE to add whiskey to it to "improve" it.
Oh I completely misunderstood, I thought that someone had mixed honey and Everclear from the get go to make mead. Sorry!
Nono, you heard right. They were two seperate incidents.
One was a story of someone passing around honey + everclear as "quickmead". (Really not mead by many definitions of the term!)
The other incident was my brewing attempt from last year. I let 3 gallons of cider go natural, and did 3 gallons with honey, cinamon, and a champagne yeast. The straight cider was not so good. Not the best year, so very bitter. The mead wasn't much better. A few months of devoted drinking / giving away / throwing away, I still ahd some of each. It had gotten a bit of weird flavor form sitting in the jugs, with sediment, but had cleared and mellowed nicely otherwise from the bitterness. I mixed them together. To mask the weird flavor I added whiskey, and submitted it for the brewing competition at a small local SCA event labelled as "Faelan's Armor Cleaner". It was pronounced "Surprisingly drinkable!"
I racked my brew into the secondary last night. The peppery finish catches you off guard. :mrgreen:
Quote from: Richter on November 05, 2010, 01:32:46 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 09:12:32 PM
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 04, 2010, 06:45:38 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Well, sometimes brews don't go as expected. Sometimes your cider is so bad you HAVE to add whiskey to it to "improve" it.
Oh I completely misunderstood, I thought that someone had mixed honey and Everclear from the get go to make mead. Sorry!
Nono, you heard right. They were two seperate incidents.
One was a story of someone passing around honey + everclear as "quickmead". (Really not mead by many definitions of the term!)
The other incident was my brewing attempt from last year. I let 3 gallons of cider go natural, and did 3 gallons with honey, cinamon, and a champagne yeast. The straight cider was not so good. Not the best year, so very bitter. The mead wasn't much better. A few months of devoted drinking / giving away / throwing away, I still ahd some of each. It had gotten a bit of weird flavor form sitting in the jugs, with sediment, but had cleared and mellowed nicely otherwise from the bitterness. I mixed them together. To mask the weird flavor I added whiskey, and submitted it for the brewing competition at a small local SCA event labelled as "Faelan's Armor Cleaner". It was pronounced "Surprisingly drinkable!"
:lulz:
Contributing got me in on the judging too. I had some GREAT stuff which made me fell bad about submittign blended, spiked dregs. Then I also drank some stuff which had gotten a lot more care and time, but tasted like absolute shit.
We had done a gallon of something called "Joe's Ancient Mead" with raisins, orange, cinnamon and junk and just moved it into the secondary last night.
Smells like friggin gasoline.
It should be better after some bottle aging.
BTW someone said a mead would take very long before it's done. But the recipe I posted on the previous page is really very quick. But a mead is basically just stuff you brew with honey instead of sugar, right? I personally just use honey instead of sugar because I dunno, it matters little and sugar is boring :)
Exactly, the honey provides the main sugar to ferment. I've never tried it honey + water + yeast, since every recipe I've ever seen adds spices or fruit flavors. I suspect it wouldn't be good.
Did that once but my yeast was dead so I just had sweet water to drink.
I drank it anyway out of principle.
We did a plain flavored mead with no spices.
It's pretty good actually.
We just bottled our imperial stout. MMmmmmm.
It's gonna be better come december or january. (and then later)
There's a noticeable difference in the bitterness after the dry hopping. Takes most of it out.
Quote from: Richter on November 05, 2010, 01:32:46 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 09:12:32 PM
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 04, 2010, 06:45:38 PM
Quote from: Out of Order on November 04, 2010, 06:25:12 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 04, 2010, 06:07:37 PM
(NOTE: Honey in Everclear is NOT quickmead. It's more akin to the Krupnikas I mentioned about, which is "Kill yo ass" booze)
I don't mean to threadjack in any way but that line was funny as hell!!!! I am massively intrigued with who would think that and why....
Sorry!
Well, sometimes brews don't go as expected. Sometimes your cider is so bad you HAVE to add whiskey to it to "improve" it.
Oh I completely misunderstood, I thought that someone had mixed honey and Everclear from the get go to make mead. Sorry!
Nono, you heard right. They were two seperate incidents.
One was a story of someone passing around honey + everclear as "quickmead". (Really not mead by many definitions of the term!)
The other incident was my brewing attempt from last year. I let 3 gallons of cider go natural, and did 3 gallons with honey, cinamon, and a champagne yeast. The straight cider was not so good. Not the best year, so very bitter. The mead wasn't much better. A few months of devoted drinking / giving away / throwing away, I still ahd some of each. It had gotten a bit of weird flavor form sitting in the jugs, with sediment, but had cleared and mellowed nicely otherwise from the bitterness. I mixed them together. To mask the weird flavor I added whiskey, and submitted it for the brewing competition at a small local SCA event labelled as "Faelan's Armor Cleaner". It was pronounced "Surprisingly drinkable!"
I would definitely drink someone called Armor Cleaner.
Squid, I finally opened the first bottle of my Russian Imperial Stout.
(http://imgur.com/zzG6u.jpg)
I found it smooth and chocolaty, and dangerously drinkable. It definitely did not taste like it was 12% ABV.
Here is a pic of my Belgian golden strong with strawberries.
(http://imgur.com/bsS1j.jpg)
Even though it has aged for five months, it still has a very strong strawberry aroma.
:aaa:
I WANT TO HUG IT!
It's beauuuuuuuuuuuuuuutiful
I love this thread.
I want those glasses!
I want what's IN them!
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 08, 2010, 03:33:26 PM
I want those glasses!
It's a stemless red wine glass that I got for $3 at Harris Teeter.
do you remember how much priming sugar you used to carbonate your stout? we used 3/4c for the 5 gallon bucket
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 08, 2010, 04:45:49 PM
do you remember how much priming sugar you used to carbonate your stout? we used 3/4c for the 5 gallon bucket
I figure 2g of corn sugar makes roughly 1g of CO2. I was shooting for 5g CO2 / liter (about 2.5 volumes), and IIRC I had 16 liters to bottle, so that would have taken 160g of corn sugar.
:argh!: damn metrics! all makin sense and shit!
so a cup is about 100 grams if google is correct, which means we should have slightly less... but then you also.. did.. with..
oh my.
head explode.
It should work.
Am I crazy for not wanting carbonated beer?
My cider will have been going for about a week this Wednesday, and a LOAD of crap from the original juice has settled out. I'm about to decant / rack it to get the garbage out of the bottom of the carboi. I should give the cyser the same treatment.
Since I lent out my other carboi, I'm just going to do this into cleaned, sterilized plastic jugs. Not IDEAL, but I don't see why a temporary decant would fuck things up, as long as it's quick and everything stays covered. Can anyone clue me in if this may be atrociously bad?
This entire thread is fascinating. Only alcohol I've ever made is wine and while it turned out drinkable it sure wasn't up for any kind of competition. Which recipe of these would you suggest would be the best one for page one "Alcohol Brewing for Dummies"? You all have me intrigued and I want to make some now!
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 08, 2010, 09:52:31 PM
Am I crazy for not wanting carbonated beer?
No.
I have to be in the right mood for highly carbonated beers. Usually I prefer it to be milder.
Quote from: Niamh on November 08, 2010, 10:40:15 PM
This entire thread is fascinating. Only alcohol I've ever made is wine and while it turned out drinkable it sure wasn't up for any kind of competition. Which recipe of these would you suggest would be the best one for page one "Alcohol Brewing for Dummies"? You all have me intrigued and I want to make some now!
MY first couple batches were just apple juice concentrate, sugar and water, boiled and set in a jar with some plastic tube for an airlock. I abhor compelxity, and love things I can brew, pour into a jug, and forget about aside from drinking it. Simple, little set-up $$, and you don't get bogged down trying to make uber-brew your first time out. No frustration when the product tastes like shit either. That's how I got started, and everything since has been adding on, scrounging, and learning where I see a need to. Enthusiastic friends help a LOT. No pressure, just what seems fun.
Easiest thing to do is search around online. I think I found the first few recipies under "prison wine".
Then I drank a gallon jug of cheap burgundy to get a large glass vessel for the brew, and went form there.
Quote from: Richter on November 08, 2010, 11:21:54 PM
Quote from: Niamh on November 08, 2010, 10:40:15 PM
This entire thread is fascinating. Only alcohol I've ever made is wine and while it turned out drinkable it sure wasn't up for any kind of competition. Which recipe of these would you suggest would be the best one for page one "Alcohol Brewing for Dummies"? You all have me intrigued and I want to make some now!
MY first couple batches were just apple juice concentrate, sugar and water, boiled and set in a jar with some plastic tube for an airlock. I abhor compelxity, and love things I can brew, pour into a jug, and forget about aside from drinking it. Simple, little set-up $$, and you don't get bogged down trying to make uber-brew your first time out. No frustration when the product tastes like shit either. That's how I got started, and everything since has been adding on, scrounging, and learning where I see a need to. Enthusiastic friends help a LOT. No pressure, just what seems fun.
Easiest thing to do is search around online. I think I found the first few recipies under "prison wine".
Then I drank a gallon jug of cheap burgundy to get a large glass vessel for the brew, and went form there.
Cool beans thank you. I'm going to try something this weekend. I need to hit the farm for good apple juice. I see where it's said not to use the cloudy kind but I have to ask if the store stuff isn't "too processsed" to work as well? Any suggested brands of juice?
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 08, 2010, 09:50:36 PM
:argh!: damn metrics! all makin sense and shit!
so a cup is about 100 grams if google is correct, which means we should have slightly less... but then you also.. did.. with..
oh my.
head explode.
It should work.
Hmm... Google tells me that 3/4 cup is 142 grams. I don't know -- I always weigh my corn sugar. Either way, it's less than I used, but you should be fine. A RIS doesn't need much carbonation.
Niamh:
Check labels. If you can, get unpasteurized cider from a farm or orchard. It's not available everywhere, due to food laws, but it's the easiest. No brands, jsut what the farm stands have.
Unpasteurized is biological russian roulette. You don't need to buy yeast, you just leave it at room temp and it will start to ferment as the naturally present yeasts take off. (Warning: the natural yeast can be good, and make alcohol. Or not, and make shit. See easlier pages of the thread.) Oh yeah, cloudy is OK too. It will settle out with time anyways.
Pasteuized stuff will also work, but you'll have to find a local homebrew store for a yeast. Some sell yeasts jsut for ciders, but any ale / champagne / mead yeast should work out. Ask the folks there what they'd recomend! the kind of yeast will affect the finished flavor. You can also use bread yeast. It WILL leave an aftertaste. With experimentation, you can minimize this (and get something suspiciously like Strongbow.), but it's really not designed for the purpose.
Grocery store juice, you get preservatives most of the time. Still, this may NOT be enough to stop the efficient infectious terror of the yeast! It will slow it down, and you won't see it bubbling out co2 as fast as an un - preservatived local organic-y juice. Once in awhile, I've had preservative laden juice kill off a yeast. Easy fix: add more. Your organic terror cannot be stopped by the man's chemical oppression!
Quote from: Richter on November 08, 2010, 11:54:49 PM
Niamh:
Check labels. If you can, get unpasteurized cider from a farm or orchard. It's not available everywhere, due to food laws, but it's the easiest. No brands, jsut what the farm stands have.
Unpasteurized is biological russian roulette. You don't need to buy yeast, you just leave it at room temp and it will start to ferment as the naturally present yeasts take off. (Warning: the natural yeast can be good, and make alcohol. Or not, and make shit. See easlier pages of the thread.) Oh yeah, cloudy is OK too. It will settle out with time anyways.
Pasteuized stuff will also work, but you'll have to find a local homebrew store for a yeast. Some sell yeasts jsut for ciders, but any ale / champagne / mead yeast should work out. Ask the folks there what they'd recomend! the kind of yeast will affect the finished flavor. You can also use bread yeast. It WILL leave an aftertaste. With experimentation, you can minimize this (and get something suspiciously like Strongbow.), but it's really not designed for the purpose.
Grocery store juice, you get preservatives most of the time. Still, this may NOT be enough to stop the efficient infectious terror of the yeast! It will slow it down, and you won't see it bubbling out co2 as fast as an un - preservatived local organic-y juice. Once in awhile, I've had preservative laden juice kill off a yeast. Easy fix: add more. Your organic terror cannot be stopped by the man's chemical oppression!
I can get unpasteurized juice. Or I can use my juicer too! I have champagne yeast as I was going to try to make wine with it. couldn't find the brewers the recipe called for. This is so cool. Thanks!
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 08, 2010, 09:52:31 PM
Am I crazy for not wanting carbonated beer?
You usually drink it flat??
Quote from: Richter on November 08, 2010, 09:54:38 PM
My cider will have been going for about a week this Wednesday, and a LOAD of crap from the original juice has settled out. I'm about to decant / rack it to get the garbage out of the bottom of the carboi. I should give the cyser the same treatment.
Since I lent out my other carboi, I'm just going to do this into cleaned, sterilized plastic jugs. Not IDEAL, but I don't see why a temporary decant would fuck things up, as long as it's quick and everything stays covered. Can anyone clue me in if this may be atrociously bad?
As long as it's a food grade plastic it should be ok. The only real argument I've seen is from chemical or color dye leeching into the brew.
Thanks for all the answers, Everyone. I'll be trying my hand at this soon. Just gotta gather all the supplies. What sucks is that I had a whole gallon of the unpasteurized cider stuff not that long ago, but we drank it. Because I really like it. :D But I can get more! :D
Thought I'd tip my hat in this thread. I'm new here, and was taken aback to see a thread full of fellow brewers.
I'm picking up the goods to make either an American IPA or a Black IPA this weekend. Haven't put the carboy to use in a few months, so it should be interesting. Just started extract brewing this year, and thus far I've produced 2 typical Irish stouts and a nut brown ale, to varying levels of success.
If you're ever looking for a good place to find beer/wine/mead brewing help/advice/recipes, I highly recommend homebrewtalk.com
We're gonna start straying away from the extracts and start doing all grain.
There's a clone for Bell's two hearted we wanna do and also a black rye IPA. we'll see what happens.
Very cool. I live in a 3rd floor apartment, so I don't have a good environment to go AG yet. I'm planning a move to the west coast (probably Portland) next year, so hopefully my new place will provide a better setup.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 09, 2010, 05:55:09 AM
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 08, 2010, 09:52:31 PM
Am I crazy for not wanting carbonated beer?
You usually drink it flat??
Quote from: Richter on November 08, 2010, 09:54:38 PM
My cider will have been going for about a week this Wednesday, and a LOAD of crap from the original juice has settled out. I'm about to decant / rack it to get the garbage out of the bottom of the carboi. I should give the cyser the same treatment.
Since I lent out my other carboi, I'm just going to do this into cleaned, sterilized plastic jugs. Not IDEAL, but I don't see why a temporary decant would fuck things up, as long as it's quick and everything stays covered. Can anyone clue me in if this may be atrociously bad?
As long as it's a food grade plastic it should be ok. The only real argument I've seen is from chemical or color dye leeching into the brew.
Cool. It would only be a temporary swap-out while I rinse the sediment out of the carboy. If it does anything horrible, I will tell you all.
Choptop reminded me, I'm hankering to try a simple beer after this round. Fermenting in a secondary once I get my extra carboy back won't be an issue. I'm usually put off by the need to bottle it, since this requires the storage space for extra bottles.
I'm fortunate enough to have access to 5 gallon kegs (working in the bar). Figuring out how to clean them out and fill them with our stuff should be interesting.
Yes I know there's a deposit and you have to give them back, but they never say when.
:lol: Squiddy: mercantile loophole finder extraordinaire. :golfclap:
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 09, 2010, 05:55:09 AM
Quote from: Suu Cool for School. on November 08, 2010, 09:52:31 PM
Am I crazy for not wanting carbonated beer?
You usually drink it flat??
Not FLAT, but not overly Coors Light fizzy. Usually the natural carbonation that occurs during the fermentation process is enough for me if you let the bottles age enough, and for something like a stout I'd prefer nitro over CO
2 anyway, but I have no idea on how to nitro-gas beer. I'm assuming it would be a forced process like how you force-carb a keg.
Yeah nitro is like that. And much better with a stout I agree. But can't be done with bottling.
Most beers are given a priming sugar right before bottling to kick the yeast back into action to create some gas for carbonating. (i'm sure you know that)
Also I've never had a Coors light. I think I have to try this.... for science.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 10, 2010, 04:27:19 PM
Also I've never had a Coors light. I think I have to try this.... for science.
No. No you don't. It's not worth it man, it's just... not... worth it.
How can I make fun of it if I've never tasted it?
Coors Light = any other mass-produced light beer. You're not missing anything.
LOL I'm sure it's just as bad as any other.
The thing I won't try is that chelada stuff. NO.
It's a fizzy water drink with bits of alcohol and carbs, made to consume when outside fishign for long periods of time. That's about it.
I shook one of those stouts. (oh yeah, I had to)
It's fizzy!!
I'm gonna pretend like they're done and drink one this weekend. Full report to follow.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 10, 2010, 04:56:45 PM
LOL I'm sure it's just as bad as any other.
The thing I won't try is that chelada stuff. NO.
I tried one when they first came out. Just had to. One sip, rest down the drain. The only thing worse I can think of are those energy drinks that had Steven Seagal's face on them.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 10, 2010, 04:56:45 PM
LOL I'm sure it's just as bad as any other.
The thing I won't try is that chelada stuff. NO.
CHELADA IS GOOD! ME LIKEY~!
And I make my own, anyway. Homemade cheladas at the bars are great, too. Every bar has their own recipe.
Quote from: Choptop on November 10, 2010, 07:53:08 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 10, 2010, 04:56:45 PM
LOL I'm sure it's just as bad as any other.
The thing I won't try is that chelada stuff. NO.
I tried one when they first came out. Just had to. One sip, rest down the drain. The only thing worse I can think of are those energy drinks that had Steven Seagal's face on them.
You can't go on the first sip of ANYTHING if you like it, sorry. Tastebuds have to accommodate to the alcohol first. First step in wine tasting passed looking at it in the light for the color and clarity and then the texture is TASTE then TASTE AGAIN.
Anyway, it's "acquired" anyway. I thought it was hella gross just thinking about it at first. But "bloody beer" has been around for ages in the South.
To quote the menu at The Abbey in Providence:
"Coors Light: Take any flavor that Bud Light may have had out and you have a Coors Light."
So we couldn't wait and busted into a bottle of this stout.
Already it keeps a little froth when swished, like a good stout should.
It's well balanced, not too hoppy, not too malty or bitter.
This shit is gonna be really good in a year or 6 months. As it is it's really smooth and drinkable. Surprisingly good for as young as it is.
It measured at 9.99%
ehem...
w00t.
I racked the cider last night. The plain cider is good and the cyser tastes like apple pie. It will loose some sweet after another week or two, which I'm looking forward to!
Cider?? Damn near racked her!!
(http://jeffpicard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/rim-shot-johnny-utah.jpg)
I bottle this weekend. :jebus:
I wanna taste everybody's stuff!
Can't this stuff be shipped? Mailed? Sent by seagull?
We need an awesome homebrew tradeoff
That is a fantastic idea (although nothing I've brewed so far is worth trading)
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 11, 2010, 09:26:53 PM
I wanna taste everybody's stuff!
Can't this stuff be shipped? Mailed? Sent by seagull?
We need an awesome homebrew tradeoff
I just have a feeling that could be like shipping bombs if they aren't bottled correctly. :horrormirth:
I'll see what I can do when I come down for Christmas.
If any of my krupnikas is left, I'll send a flask with you. It's going to be the most stable.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 11, 2010, 09:26:53 PM
I wanna taste everybody's stuff!
Can't this stuff be shipped? Mailed? Sent by seagull?
We need an awesome homebrew tradeoff
Can we get a transatlantic pipeline?
Taste tested the cider last night. I'm giving it until Wednesday, then bottling / refridgerating. It's not super flavorful, but I don't want it to get too sharp.
The cyser is still pretty sweet, so I'm thinking I'll give it another few days or a week more.
Quote from: Triple Zero on November 11, 2010, 05:02:51 PM
Cider?? Damn near racked her!!
I still laugh every time I scroll past this shit
The rimshot pic scrolling past adds a nice touch too ;-)
Quote from: Richter on November 15, 2010, 09:52:52 PM
Taste tested the cider last night. I'm giving it until Wednesday, then bottling / refridgerating. It's not super flavorful, but I don't want it to get too sharp.
The cyser is still pretty sweet, so I'm thinking I'll give it another few days or a week more.
If I bottle on Thursday as planned, I'll have JUST 3 weeks before the event. Damn.
I should also make a label.
I'm going to go the duct tape + sharpie route again.
The cyser will be "Armor Cleaner Mk. 2". Do you think the krupnikas is too high-test for a "cordial"?
Quote from: Richter on November 16, 2010, 02:48:37 PM
I'm going to go the duct tape + sharpie route again.
The cyser will be "Armor Cleaner Mk. 2". Do you think the krupnikas is too high-test for a "cordial"?
It's considered a "liqueur". I wouldn't say it's too high-test, since most cordials are made from grain alcohol anyway, but the strong flavors may scare people.......Do it.
Are you implying I intent to troll a brewing competition with my spiced ass-kicker concoction?
You're right.
It's period.
It's Lithuanian.
They had it coming.
Motherfucking Suu, you have to pay attention to these motherfucking instructions. Leln too.
At the fucking competition when you're sampling my fucking liquer there is a fucking order of operations or this shit will fucking absolutely your head and lungs.
1. Breathe in slightly.
2. Sip. Do not shoot, do not gulp. Sip.
3. Exhale slightly.
4. ???
5. Profit.
This shit is still so fucking that the very fumes will eradicate the head of whoever drinks it if you inhale them directly. We are CERTAIN to see people gag and spew. It will be labeled "Faelan's 'Shut Up and Swallow' Krupnikas".
:lulz:
Quote from: Richter on November 18, 2010, 01:02:08 AM
Motherfucking Suu, you have to pay attention to these motherfucking instructions. Leln too.
At the fucking competition when you're sampling my fucking liquer there is a fucking order of operations or this shit will fucking absolutely your head and lungs.
1. Breathe in slightly.
2. Sip. Do not shoot, do not gulp. Sip.
3. Exhale slightly.
4. ???
5. Profit.
This shit is still so fucking that the very fumes will eradicate the head of whoever drinks it if you inhale them directly. We are CERTAIN to see people gag and spew. It will be labeled "Faelan's 'Shut Up and Swallow' Krupnikas".
Hey, I did listen to your directions on the krupnikas. That's why I put it in cake rather than drinking it. I'm half wondering if I could sneak into the brewing competition by bringing some of the fruitcake I'll be baking in a week or three, with the excuse that the fruit portion has been soaking in alcohol since September. Do you think it would work?
Quote from: leln on November 18, 2010, 09:33:45 AM
Quote from: Richter on November 18, 2010, 01:02:08 AM
Motherfucking Suu, you have to pay attention to these motherfucking instructions. Leln too.
At the fucking competition when you're sampling my fucking liquer there is a fucking order of operations or this shit will fucking absolutely your head and lungs.
1. Breathe in slightly.
2. Sip. Do not shoot, do not gulp. Sip.
3. Exhale slightly.
4. ???
5. Profit.
This shit is still so fucking that the very fumes will eradicate the head of whoever drinks it if you inhale them directly. We are CERTAIN to see people gag and spew. It will be labeled "Faelan's 'Shut Up and Swallow' Krupnikas".
Hey, I did listen to your directions on the krupnikas. That's why I put it in cake rather than drinking it. I'm half wondering if I could sneak into the brewing competition by bringing some of the fruitcake I'll be baking in a week or three, with the excuse that the fruit portion has been soaking in alcohol since September. Do you think it would work?
I think it has to be drinkable. Do you have any of the soaking rum? You could enter that as a cordial.
Keep it in bottles fro about three years.
That should mellow it out.
I should have made more than 2.25L
Oh well, that's a reason to cook another batch!
I checked on my mead yesterday...it's...carbonating itself. Enzo wants me to say fuck the competition and wait, but I think I should do one bottle and throw it in the fridge to kill the fermentation, and let the rest go and see what happens. You can't have a short mead if it's not SHORT.
How much do you have going? (Can't remember if it was a 1 gal or a 3 gal.)
Quote from: Richter on November 18, 2010, 08:08:31 PM
How much do you have going? (Can't remember if it was a 1 gal or a 3 gal.)
ONLY A GALLON.
If I bottle now and DON'T refrigerate, I'll have a tactical nuke. I do remember what I put in it though...
1 large thing of Stop And Shop Honey
Must with black tea, lemon peel, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks, and a dried Chinese hot pepper. Steeped for the duration it took me to get the funk out of the honey.
Combined honey and must. Added water to cool temperature and to add volume.
Pitched Red Star Premier Cuvee yeast. Dry form.
Primary: 2 weeks: No fermentation lock, used mesh.
Secondary: 2 weeks today: Fermentation lock. OH GOD IT'S BUBBLING UP FROM THE SEDIMENT. SMELLS LIKE VICTORY.
Bottle: ???
PROFIT!
It's clarifying nicely too. I just don't want it to dry out too much since I used a dry wine yeast. I gotta taste it tonight and find out. Enzo needs to realize that I know how to brew. Next time I'm just doing it in the comfort of my own home to avoid criticism.
LOL at Tactical Nuke. Tie a bag of nails around it and enter it. We'll see if the gods like us at the competition.
My cyser is bottled as of last night. GOing to see how it comes out once it's settled, but it tastes pretty win so far. It's about 1/2 cup of honey, 1 cup of sugar, .75 gal cider, allspice and cinnamon. Boil, cool, crboy, pitch, 1 week primary and 1 week 2ndary.
The straight cider is still disapointing ATM. Going to let it settle, re-bottle, and leave it in the fridge to age.
Putting it in the fridge won't completely kill the fermentation.
It only puts the yeast to sleep.
Once they're warmed up again (taken out of the fridge) they wake back up and that's where you can run into bottle bombs.
You should let fermentation run it's course and if you think it's going too far, pull it off the yeast cake and into another container for a bit till it settles.
Heating it to 150 degrees and holding it there for 30 minutes should kill the fermentation.
So I should put this opportunity out there for prospective honey buyers. My father is about to harvest between 100 and 150 pounds of honey from the bees he keeps. It's legitimately the best honey I've ever tasted, with it mostly being made of clover on the lawn and the herbs/fruits in his huge garden. It's spicy and tastes almost like cinnamon. I think he's asking for $8/lb, which is pricey I know, but if anyone is interested I'll see if I can float any your way.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 19, 2010, 09:03:01 PM
So I should put this opportunity out there for prospective honey buyers. My father is about to harvest between 100 and 150 pounds of honey from the bees he keeps. It's legitimately the best honey I've ever tasted, with it mostly being made of clover on the lawn and the herbs/fruits in his huge garden. It's spicy and tastes almost like cinnamon. I think he's asking for $8/lb, which is pricey I know, but if anyone is interested I'll see if I can float any your way.
I'd be interested...I wouldn't make mead out of it but we love good honey. And I like helping out mom n pop operations. Flow me details via pm?
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 19, 2010, 09:03:01 PM
So I should put this opportunity out there for prospective honey buyers. My father is about to harvest between 100 and 150 pounds of honey from the bees he keeps. It's legitimately the best honey I've ever tasted, with it mostly being made of clover on the lawn and the herbs/fruits in his huge garden. It's spicy and tastes almost like cinnamon. I think he's asking for $8/lb, which is pricey I know, but if anyone is interested I'll see if I can float any your way.
When is he harvesting / need payment? I'd be down for 2-4 lbs for my next cyser. (Will whore out more to the locals, but liek with drugs, need to do a taste first :wink: )
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 19, 2010, 09:03:01 PM
So I should put this opportunity out there for prospective honey buyers. My father is about to harvest between 100 and 150 pounds of honey from the bees he keeps. It's legitimately the best honey I've ever tasted, with it mostly being made of clover on the lawn and the herbs/fruits in his huge garden. It's spicy and tastes almost like cinnamon. I think he's asking for $8/lb, which is pricey I know, but if anyone is interested I'll see if I can float any your way.
That's actually pretty reasonable for fresh honey.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 19, 2010, 06:20:26 PM
Putting it in the fridge won't completely kill the fermentation.
It only puts the yeast to sleep.
Once they're warmed up again (taken out of the fridge) they wake back up and that's where you can run into bottle bombs.
You should let fermentation run it's course and if you think it's going too far, pull it off the yeast cake and into another container for a bit till it settles.
I just don't want it to dry out too much. I need to taste it. I'll do that Sunday probably.
Richter: Enzo's cider isn't doing to hot either. He's thinking the fermentation is going VERY slow, so he's leaving it in the carboy a minimum of a year.
I'm jsut not getting good flavor out of it. I think if I ferment longer it will just become nasty sharp. We'll have to meet up and shop talk.
It makes me wonder if you should add sugar or something to cider. Seriously. It never seems to start right.
Yeah, might need more of a kick. May re-carboy and sugar 2 gallons....
He's borrowing an extractor (in exchange for 5lbs) this weekend. I think he intends to heat it up overnight and actually harvest it on Monday. As for when he gets it jarred and such, I'd expect Wednesday.
Jenne, I think I've shipped one item in my life, so if you have any secrets of a practical postage, I'll do whatever you prefer.
Richter, I can mail yours, I can deliver it in person, or I can try to trebuchet it precisely into your window (cost of trebuchet construction and any (re: all) shattered honey jars are also on you). I'm also not entirely familiar with your address quite yet so I'll just end up covering all of Federal Hill in honey.
I have considered your proposal very carefully. You may fire at will.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 19, 2010, 09:03:01 PM
So I should put this opportunity out there for prospective honey buyers. My father is about to harvest between 100 and 150 pounds of honey from the bees he keeps. It's legitimately the best honey I've ever tasted, with it mostly being made of clover on the lawn and the herbs/fruits in his huge garden. It's spicy and tastes almost like cinnamon. I think he's asking for $8/lb, which is pricey I know, but if anyone is interested I'll see if I can float any your way.
I would like a lb of this honey.
I have a thing about trying honeys from no-name little guys.
NEED.
PM please :)
Reading you guys talk about honey concoctions all the time has piqued my interest, so I just threw together my first basic non-beer brewing project. A little under a gallon of apple juice, 2 pounds of clover honey, and some Munton's ale yeast I already had in the fridge. I mixed it in the juice bottle and I'm using the balloon trick as an airlock. About how many weeks should I let it sit before I venture to take a taste?
Reading you guys talk about honey makes me think of the honey sale the College Town entomology club had several weeks ago. We had many gallons, not sure what the weight was.
Quote from: Richter on November 20, 2010, 03:48:48 AM
I have considered your proposal very carefully. You may fire at will.
Great, now if he misses, I could very well be in the line of fire.
Quote from: Choptop on November 20, 2010, 05:28:25 PM
Reading you guys talk about honey concoctions all the time has piqued my interest, so I just threw together my first basic non-beer brewing project. A little under a gallon of apple juice, 2 pounds of clover honey, and some Munton's ale yeast I already had in the fridge. I mixed it in the juice bottle and I'm using the balloon trick as an airlock. About how many weeks should I let it sit before I venture to take a taste?
Did you boil the honey or dilute it with water at all? Is the apple juice pasteurized? This all matters.
Quote from: Suu on November 21, 2010, 07:00:40 PM
Quote from: Richter on November 20, 2010, 03:48:48 AM
I have considered your proposal very carefully. You may fire at will.
Great, now if he misses, I could very well be in the line of fire.
HA HA YOU'RE GONNA GET STICKY!!
Quote from: Suu on November 21, 2010, 07:01:57 PM
Quote from: Choptop on November 20, 2010, 05:28:25 PM
Reading you guys talk about honey concoctions all the time has piqued my interest, so I just threw together my first basic non-beer brewing project. A little under a gallon of apple juice, 2 pounds of clover honey, and some Munton's ale yeast I already had in the fridge. I mixed it in the juice bottle and I'm using the balloon trick as an airlock. About how many weeks should I let it sit before I venture to take a taste?
Did you boil the honey or dilute it with water at all? Is the apple juice pasteurized? This all matters.
I believe the juice is pasteurized. I didn't dilute the honey, I added it to the juice and shook it vigorously until it was dissolved.
The pasteurization process tends to ruin the prospect of a decent fermentation. Not saying that it WON'T ferment, mind you, considering you put lots of sugars in there, but results could be interesting to say the least. I'd check on it in 2 weeks. If there's sedimentation on the bottom, siphon it into a new bottle then.
My mead is now fridged to put the yeasties to sleeps. Here's hopin' for something tasty in 3 weeks.
Cool, all good info. The yeast has been pretty active for the past couple days. It's very cloudy, and the balloon I'm using as an airlock is standing steadily at attention. I'll let you you know how it is in a couple weeks.
A timetable for those interested in honey: This morning he told me he was extracting on Wednesday. Once he gets some jars, he'll give me however many I need to send off.
Pricing, he clarified that he's asking $7 for a 1lb jar. I believe he said he'd ask $12 for a 2lb jar, and I don't remember if he said anything about half pounds.
I was throwing the info in here because it was thread relevant, but since there seems to be a fair amount of interest I'll cross post it in Apple Talk.
Win!
If you can get it to me before I head to Florida, I may be able to fly with Squid's order and save her some postage.
cha-ching!
TOO LATE.
Squid's honey is being shipped by the bees themselves. I've set up a vapor screen superhighway to direct them to Florida. They have been trained to form a beard structure on her face and then vomit the honey all at once. They were promised a freshly planted clover patch if they stung over 100 Floridians while they were down there.
Richter's honey delivery by trebuchet has been scrapped in favor of a ballista.
Jenne's is receiving the honey from EoC's Delivery Service. It'll cost approximately $500 for the round trip flight to San Diego, plus a couch to crash on. Food is optional but pleasantly welcome.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 23, 2010, 04:58:49 PM
TOO LATE.
Squid's honey is being shipped by the bees themselves. I've set up a vapor screen superhighway to direct them to Florida. They have been trained to form a beard structure on her face and then vomit the honey all at once. They were promised a freshly planted clover patch if they stung over 100 Floridians while they were down there.
Richter's honey delivery by trebuchet has been scrapped in favor of a ballista.
Jenne's is receiving the honey from EoC's Delivery Service. It'll cost approximately $500 for the round trip flight to San Diego, plus a couch to crash on. Food is optional but pleasantly welcome.
Oh good, ballistas have better aim. Now I don't have to worry.
...still, the prospect of the West End/South Providence getting coated in honey is HYSTERICAL...as long as it jams all the guns.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 23, 2010, 04:58:49 PM
TOO LATE.
Squid's honey is being shipped by the bees themselves. I've set up a vapor screen superhighway to direct them to Florida. They have been trained to form a beard structure on her face and then vomit the honey all at once. They were promised a freshly planted clover patch if they stung over 100 Floridians while they were down there.
Richter's honey delivery by trebuchet has been scrapped in favor of a ballista.
Jenne's is receiving the honey from EoC's Delivery Service. It'll cost approximately $500 for the round trip flight to San Diego, plus a couch to crash on. Food is optional but pleasantly welcome.
Oh What the FUCK.
I didn't even order yet! And this is maple syrup! What the hell are you pulling? Yes, I know it's you, because I refuse to beleive anyone else would call my cell phone, and scream "ODIN!" in a canadian accent jsut as the first bottle sails into the lot outside. Now I don't know your relative distance, but you fell kind of short. Dani from the Indian joint next door ate the bottle to the face, but it was right on trajectory for my window.
Dani's OK, by the way. He was hardened to these horrors growing up in Punjab. He swears the burning crotch of Shiva upon thee in retribution, by the way.
FUCK YEAH CLOVER HUNGRY ANGRY BEE BEARD FTW!!
My friends will be soooo fucking jealous.
Quote from: Richter on November 23, 2010, 06:04:51 PM
Oh What the FUCK.
I didn't even order yet! And this is maple syrup! What the hell are you pulling? Yes, I know it's you, because I refuse to beleive anyone else would call my cell phone, and scream "ODIN!" in a canadian accent jsut as the first bottle sails into the lot outside. Now I don't know your relative distance, but you fell kind of short. Dani from the Indian joint next door ate the bottle to the face, but it was right on trajectory for my window.
Dani's OK, by the way. He was hardened to these horrors growing up in Punjab. He swears the burning crotch of Shiva upon thee in retribution, by the way.
That wasn't EoC. That was members of the Fall River contingent getting you back for the stunt you pulled in June that involved the the tub of lard from Price Rite and that six pack of Stella Artois.
They all loved it at the time. Freaking kids. They'll laugh and approve of the whole thing, but then bitch later when they realize all their self respect is gone.
In the immortal words of GS: "What's he doing? Oh god...HE'S GETTING A BEER!!!!!"
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on November 20, 2010, 01:34:19 AM
Jenne, I think I've shipped one item in my life, so if you have any secrets of a practical postage, I'll do whatever you prefer.
Well, bubble wrap is an option--failing that, those plastic shopping bags they give you at the store--I've used those as a "free" wrapping solution...I'll repay or prepay you for postage, of course! ETA: I'll take the $12 jar, please!
I siphoned out a couple small sips of my makeshift cyser to see what's going on in there. It's highly fizzy, still tastes somewhat like apples, and has enough alcohol to faintly burn the back of my throat... or maybe that's some sort of necrosis or "Draino Effect"...
That sounds like success to me!
Yep, I'm very pleased. If I had known how easy it was, I would have been making mead and/or cyser long before I started brewing beer. Looks like I'll have something tasty to keep me warm now that NC has finally gotten coooold.
PLUS, I'm planning on brewing an American IPA extract kit Saturday. I was originally aiming for Friday after work (I get off early afternoon on fridays) but one of the local breweries (http://www.redoakbrewery.com) is doing a tour day that afternoon, so I'm gonna go drool over their gear.
Quote from: Choptop on December 02, 2010, 01:27:47 AM
Yep, I'm very pleased. If I had known how easy it was, I would have been making mead and/or cyser long before I started brewing beer. Looks like I'll have something tasty to keep me warm now that NC has finally gotten coooold.
What part of NC are you in? Are you a member of any homebrew club? There are several throughout the state. I'm a member of Carolina Brewmasters in Charlotte, and also Cabarrus Homebrewers Society in Concord.
I live sort of in the middle between Burlington and Mebane. I've been to a couple of the Durham homebrew club's events, but I'm too lazy to drive out there every week.
Yeah, that would be a bit of drive for you. There's also a club in Greensboro, but that's probably even further for you.
I'm about the same distance from the Charlotte club as I am from the Winston-Salem one. It's kind of a hefty drive, but our meetings are only once a month. I don't often make it to many of the other events.
This honey is premium uncut shit, man, it's high quality product.
PMs have been sent to those who ordered. My father is requesting that I stop selling it because apparently when he said "sell as much as you can" he wasn't exactly expecting that I could probably get rid of his entire harvest in a week. Once he gets a count of the jars he's sold and the ones that he'll be giving away for Christmas, he'll probably open back up.
ETA: I just got a chance to taste this year's harvest. Previous description does not apply. This one seems a bit more standard fare fresh as hell honey than the spicy oddness of the last batch.
Also, he didn't apply labels. Which means I get to apply my own. MUAHAHAHAHA.
:lol: about the labels! Hey, read my 2nd pm!
NM, reading your reply now. :mrgreen: :D :lol:
My Belgian Strong Golden ale with Strawberries took 2nd place out of 15 in the Belgian and French Ale category yesterday. w00t!
Excellent!
Mine is for the most part ready to go this weekend. I don't think I'll win anything, but it should be a good time.
Quote from: Pastor-Mullah Zappathruster on December 06, 2010, 03:21:35 AM
My Belgian Strong Golden ale with Strawberries took 2nd place out of 15 in the Belgian and French Ale category yesterday. w00t!
Holy shit! That's awesome!
Quote from: Suu on December 06, 2010, 03:19:43 PM
Excellent!
Mine is for the most part ready to go this weekend. I don't think I'll win anything, but it should be a good time.
It's all about the drinking and BS'ing anyways.
ALSO: NOt quite a brew, but I've mixed up 2 batches of caribou.
#1: The quickie
1/4 gallon burgundy (carlo rossi)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Tomatin Scotch
- Actually works! The stuff tastes like a heavy mulled wine, with a bit of smokiness from the scotch. Using a canadian whiskey with a lighter flavor is likely best to avoid this. As much as I'd like to play with the flavors, I'm not wasting good scotch on the endeavor. I also just mixed up and drank this stuff, and didn't let it sit like I've heard you're supposed to.
#2 The real shiz.
In a 1 Gallon jug:
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
750 ml Canadian Mist whiskey
Carlo Rossi burginy to top up the jug
- Much smoother flavor than the version above. Having never drank candian mist before I tried some straight. Not bad, but didn't stand out as an "OMG flavor" experience like scotch, or "ARG I HATE MYSELF" like a drinkin' whiskey.
This gallon is agiing until 12/19-ish Moosemass
Honey has arrived. Is very awesome. Y'all be jealous! :D
Winner, best Beer/Cider = Richter, with his Armor Cleaner Mark 2 Cyser
Winner, best Mead= Suu, with her Short n' Spicy. :D
....I also accidentally work this morning. :oops:
Congratulations to both of you.
I was pretty surprised, the competition was tough. There were a lot of entries...Hence why when I got up at 7 to go to work, I was like, "Um, no."
The event also accidentally my whole bottle of krupnikas. Master L requested some, and has taken it with him back to the VA to petition to keep it for his personal use. I expect to receive a VERY nasty report of exactly how horrid the stuff is soon.
Johan: "He shouldn't have that. His wardens will have a fit. Here's a bottle."
Lessee...
I remember crying to Baron Eloi about fencing shit, and hitting the point of no-coherence. And somehow I wake up today to a box of fudge and pretzels on my desk and half a mushroom pie in my fridge.
Quote from: Suu on December 13, 2010, 07:05:12 PM
Lessee...
I remember crying to Baron Eloi about fencing shit, and hitting the point of no-coherence. And somehow I wake up today to a box of fudge and pretzels on my desk and half a mushroom pie in my fridge.
....and that's how international incidents begin.
You are the George Bush Senior of the SCA
(http://i51.tinypic.com/9056j5.jpg)
No.
I didn't throw up on the Prince's lap. Now THAT would have been spectacular!
Just wait til I hit the bar with him the week after new years....he's gonna end up puking in my lap....and that's when i swipe the crown and run away.
SUPER HUMERAL SAMBA WEARING SHENANIGAN SQUAD!
Quote from: Suu on December 14, 2010, 02:17:43 AM
No.
I didn't throw up on the Prince's lap. Now THAT would have been spectacular!
THIS
Quote from: Suu on December 14, 2010, 02:37:15 AM
SUPER HUMERAL SAMBA WEARING SHENANIGAN SQUAD!
My food? It is all over my desk, partially chewed. Thank you.
It's hard to explain the awesome that is Master Llew's Shenanigan Squad.
It's required that while performing such shenanigans, all participants of the squad wear black Adidas Sambas, superhumerals are optional.
The Shennanigan squad is many things. Silly antics, exploitative schlock, a way to keep the mooks busy, and instrument of hot steamy justice.
The best part is that we all live in baronies that support our antics, especially when our own baron is a household member, and equally part of the squad.
"There goes those dastardly kids from Bridge and Smoking Rocks again!"
BWUAHAHAHA.
"Dastardly kids"... :lulz:, I think we average as mid / late 20's
Quote from: Richter on December 14, 2010, 05:37:24 PM
"Dastardly kids"... :lulz:, I think we average as mid / late 20's
To most of those relics, we're still kids. We still like to have "fun".
This is what mah booze looks like:
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/Mobile%20Uploads/Image0722.jpg)
I have five gallons if spiced apple cider in the basement, spiced wih cloves, ginger and cinammon. My plan for next is a mocha stout and then after that some more Molasses Imperial Stout. The last batch of it is nearly gone and it was absolutely delicious.
PICTURE TIME (I just got a new camera for xmas the same day I bottled a batch)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1355.snc4/162708_1644932597906_1074603110_1682616_7521512_n.jpg)
My 5th homebrew/1st IPA after 3 weeks in the fermentor.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1369.snc4/164139_1644939238072_1074603110_1682622_137097_n.jpg)
Siphoning over to the bottling bucket
(http://l4.sphotos.l3.fbcdn.net/hphotos-l3-ash1/hs773.ash1/166379_1644940838112_1074603110_1682624_7660850_n.jpg)
A beautiful batch of beer
how does it taste??
Damn tasty so far. Super hoppy. I'll let you know again in a week after it's got some carbonation.
You know that sake stuff they have at the Japanese steak house, that comes out piping hot and you have to drink it quickly because if you let it get below body temperature it starts to taste like rubbing alcohol mixed with nail polish remover? Well, I am never drinking that shit again. I went to my homebrew club meeting last night, and someone brought a bottle of real sake that she had made, and it like tasted all good and junk, exactly like I didn't know sake could taste. I see that my local homebrew store sells Koji culture, so now I'm going to have to make some myself. I'll let you know how it comes out.
I got my scoresheets with feedback on my competition entries. I knew my Russian Imperial stout was overcarbonated, but the judges also pointed out that it was overattenuated (too thin) and slightly too hoppy. So, next time I will mash at a higher temperature, back off on the carbonation a lot, and let it age for two years before I submit it to a competition. I don't know if I need to back off on the hops any, or if I just need to let them age out.
Awesome, I'd love to try some craft-made sake. I used to manage a sushi place once upon a time, and have consumed large quantities of not-so-great sake in my life.
Quote from: Pastor-Mullah Zappathruster on January 07, 2011, 04:09:38 AM
You know that sake stuff they have at the Japanese steak house, that comes out piping hot and you have to drink it quickly because if you let it get below body temperature it starts to taste like rubbing alcohol mixed with nail polish remover? Well, I am never drinking that shit again. I went to my homebrew club meeting last night, and someone brought a bottle of real sake that she had made, and it like tasted all good and junk, exactly like I didn't know sake could taste. I see that my local homebrew store sells Koji culture, so now I'm going to have to make some myself. I'll let you know how it comes out.
I got my scoresheets with feedback on my competition entries. I knew my Russian Imperial stout was overcarbonated, but the judges also pointed out that it was overattenuated (too thin) and slightly too hoppy. So, next time I will mash at a higher temperature, back off on the carbonation a lot, and let it age for two years before I submit it to a competition. I don't know if I need to back off on the hops any, or if I just need to let them age out.
You don't need to back off the hops, they need to pull their big boy pants back up.
^THAT
I like my hoppy stout. Hell, Rasputin is really hoppy.
Note to self for next time though: use a hop sock.
Fuckin overhopped beers. It's a total trend here, and it drives me insane. Yeah, yeah, hoppy. IPA is neato. Whatever.
No no it's not like that.
The stouts don't taste like soap when too hoppy like the IPA's do.
They just make me sneeze.
I can see where you're getting sick of the over hopped IPA's though. People keep ordering these things at the bar and really, it's belgian, brown and mead season to me. Save those damn things for that period between summer and fall. What's it called? Oh, lovebug season.
Sneeze? Is that what's causing it, hoppiness?
I've always found it weird, I thought it has to do with how chilled the beer was, but it could be hopped, or maybe just randomly, but it happens so very often that the very first beer makes me sneeze, a lot. But good sneezes, like I associate them with the slight initial alcohol buzz. It's just, nobody I know has that, and sometimes I sneeze like five or six times and they're all like, wtf hayfever? cat allergy? and I say, no it's the beer, it happens sometimes. And they're all like OMG YOURE ALLERGIC TO BEER??? And I have to explain no it just makes me sneeze for a bit sometimes and that's okay.
Hops are flowers, after all. They make me sneeze too.
I know one of the judges personally, and he's a huge hophead. It's not that my imperial stout was too hoppy for his tastes, but rather that he felt it was slightly out of balance.
I am about to brew this beer again so it will be ready in time for next winter. I think I will switch out my bittering hop. I don't think that Magnum is the "clean bittering hop" it's advertised to be. Palisade might be more what I'm looking for.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 14, 2011, 06:36:59 AM
No no it's not like that.
The stouts don't taste like soap when too hoppy like the IPA's do.
They just make me sneeze.
I can see where you're getting sick of the over hopped IPA's though. People keep ordering these things at the bar and really, it's belgian, brown and mead season to me. Save those damn things for that period between summer and fall. What's it called? Oh, lovebug season.
Quote from: Suu on January 14, 2011, 02:26:07 PM
Hops are flowers, after all. They make me sneeze too.
Oh HELL. THAT's why I sneeze sometimes when I'm having one of those! Shit. Dumb, Jenne, really dumb.
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 14, 2011, 02:17:32 PM
Sneeze? Is that what's causing it, hoppiness?
I've always found it weird, I thought it has to do with how chilled the beer was, but it could be hopped, or maybe just randomly, but it happens so very often that the very first beer makes me sneeze, a lot. But good sneezes, like I associate them with the slight initial alcohol buzz. It's just, nobody I know has that, and sometimes I sneeze like five or six times and they're all like, wtf hayfever? cat allergy? and I say, no it's the beer, it happens sometimes. And they're all like OMG YOURE ALLERGIC TO BEER??? And I have to explain no it just makes me sneeze for a bit sometimes and that's okay.
Truthfully, I'm glad now I know. And thanks for sharing that because I was feeling really stupid. I never put it together like that before, either. But it all makes sense now. I do have hayfever and mild allergies to dust. So the hoppy flowers would totally do that to me.
Phew.
but but but but but I dont even have hayfever! :?
Quote from: Triple Zero on January 15, 2011, 12:57:32 AM
but but but but but I dont even have hayfever! :?
Well it's not hay, it's hops. You have hopfever.
:lol:
awesome.
Today we are brewing:
Bell's Two Hearted IPA clone
and
A belgian double with strawberries and a saison yeast.
Mmmmmmm. Smells good in here.
(both of these are all grain, no malt extracts)
My "Not so good" cider has really improved after 2-3 months bottled in the fridge. Some of the water has frozen off too, and it's tasting like a lighter Strongbow without the aftertaste.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 16, 2011, 11:12:02 PM
Today we are brewing:
Bell's Two Hearted IPA clone
and
A belgian double with strawberries and a saison yeast.
Mmmmmmm. Smells good in here.
(both of these are all grain, no malt extracts)
Cool. I'll be really interested to know how that strawberry double turns out.
Quote from: Richter on January 19, 2011, 06:40:10 PM
My "Not so good" cider has really improved after 2-3 months bottled in the fridge. Some of the water has frozen off too, and it's tasting like a lighter Strongbow without the aftertaste.
Glad to hear it's improving. It will probably be excellent by the time you get to your last bottle.
This weekend, I plan on brewing a rye wine and a foreign extra stout. I have some chipotles soaking in a pint of Kaluha right now, and I dumping the whole mess into the stout when it goes into secondary.
Quote from: Pastor-Mullah Zappathruster on January 19, 2011, 07:13:47 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on January 16, 2011, 11:12:02 PM
Today we are brewing:
Bell's Two Hearted IPA clone
and
A belgian double with strawberries and a saison yeast.
Mmmmmmm. Smells good in here.
(both of these are all grain, no malt extracts)
Cool. I'll be really interested to know how that strawberry double turns out.
Quote from: Richter on January 19, 2011, 06:40:10 PM
My "Not so good" cider has really improved after 2-3 months bottled in the fridge. Some of the water has frozen off too, and it's tasting like a lighter Strongbow without the aftertaste.
Glad to hear it's improving. It will probably be excellent by the time you get to your last bottle.
This weekend, I plan on brewing a rye wine and a foreign extra stout. I have some chipotles soaking in a pint of Kaluha right now, and I dumping the whole mess into the stout when it goes into secondary.
:golfclap:
Shitballs, Zappathruster--chilis in KAHLUA? I think I just got wet.
Dammit. I never have a clear path to a timeframe I can gather shit together and just MAKE this stuff. Bah. I have to rectify this. Immediately.
...after this weekend, of course. Ugh.
Quote from: Jenne on January 22, 2011, 06:13:02 AM
Shitballs, Zappathruster--chilis in KAHLUA? I think I just got wet.
:D
It has been soaking for about a week. I opened the jar to check on it, and it smells awesome. I could strain it and drink it straight up.
I brewed the beer yesterday, so it will soak for another two weeks or so before it goes into the beer, if I can stay out of it.
DAMN :mrgreen:
Also, started my next batch of liqeur. Use dried habeneros this time, and I've got ghost chilis for the next batch.
Frighteningly enough, I'm actually looking forward to seeing the results of the ghost chili experiment.
I gotta get supplies for my first brewing project and get it rolling.
The last time I ate ghost chile/bhut jolokia. I got a nosebleed.
We do this shit for science.
We just bottled our IPA on Sunday.
By this Saturday it should be ready to drink.
We're bringing a 22oz up north with us.
It's a Bell's Two Hearted ale clone. Only real difference as far as I can tell is we didn't propagate their yeast and used american ale II yeast.
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/2hearted-1.jpg)
The belgian needed a little help since it's too cold for the saison yeast, so after a week we added a trappist yeast. By this weekend it should be ready for the secondary where we'll then add strawberries.
The blueberry pomegranate hooch is almost clear, so I'll probably bottle that this weekend too.
(this shit is going to be strong)
The limeade is still bubbling away.
I need to find a Sam's or BJ's where I can buy a palette of limeade for this venture. I need to make at least 5 gallons.
Quote from: Suu on February 01, 2011, 04:55:48 PM
The last time I ate ghost chile/bhut jolokia. I got a nosebleed.
We do this shit for science.
"Faelen's: How do I Destroyed Life?"
Quote from: Suu on February 01, 2011, 07:47:29 PM
I need to find a Sam's or BJ's where I can buy a palette of limeade for this venture. I need to make at least 5 gallons.
We used frozen concentrate by minute maid, no chemical preservatives.
Ten cans makes 5 gallons.
Here:
10 cans frozen limeade
4 gallons boiled water
2 lbs sugar
1 pack champagne yeast
Whoa! am IMPRESSED yet AGAIN!
Here it is in a glass:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/IPA.jpg)
Already drinkable, good head retention, lighter body than Bell's, smooth and easy. Niiiice.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 02, 2011, 04:22:14 AM
Quote from: Suu on February 01, 2011, 07:47:29 PM
I need to find a Sam's or BJ's where I can buy a palette of limeade for this venture. I need to make at least 5 gallons.
We used frozen concentrate by minute maid, no chemical preservatives.
Ten cans makes 5 gallons.
Here:
10 cans frozen limeade
4 gallons boiled water
2 lbs sugar
1 pack champagne yeast
Oooh, great idea!
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 03, 2011, 11:01:44 PM
Here it is in a glass:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/IPA.jpg)
Already drinkable, good head retention, lighter body than Bell's, smooth and easy. Niiiice.
Want.
Ok, so we tested it on a bunch of people and here's the verdict:
The color is maybe a half a shade off from Bell's, it isn't as hoppy so no sneezing, it's slightly lighter bodied, a little less with the in your face orangey citrus and a lot easier to drink.
Side by side test with the Two Hearted, everyone liked ours better.
SUCCESS!!
I added the Kaluha and chipotles to my foreign extra stout today. Those had been soaking together for three weeks. I strained about 1/2 an ounce out to taste and it was wonderful. I will have to make more of that stuff, just for sipping on.
I also brewed another Russian Imperial Stout today. Sometime next winter, I'll let you know how it turned out.
Oh man. I want to taste so bad.
Mr Squid just put together a black rye ale last night.
It isn't black but it's dark. Definitely can taste the rye.
SQUIDDY I HAD YER STOUT LAST NIGHT IT WAS VERY GOOD AND REMINDED ME OF TASTY THINGS LIKE OLD RASPUTIN OR SOMETHING.
Quote from: Suu on February 07, 2011, 06:10:27 PM
SQUIDDY I HAD YER STOUT LAST NIGHT IT WAS VERY GOOD AND REMINDED ME OF TASTY THINGS LIKE OLD RASPUTIN OR SOMETHING.
I may not be an expert (yet), but the taste of the stout I had was very good. :D I liked.
Yeaaaay! I was afraid it didn't make it in one piece.
It's modeled after Rasputin, so if it reminded you of that then we did good.
It was also really young ad should have aged for a good year, but we wee excited to get into it.
The newer things are going to be better.
Squid's beer, even after being shipped cross country and settled in teh fridge for 2 weeks, was NOT fucking around. Light would not penetrate it. Great flavor, almost reminiscent of a coffee porter, but with spicyness.
Awesome. I'm glad you guys didn't hate it :D
We are working on our turkish coffee stout right now.
We're adding cardamom to a sweet coffee stout. Hope it turns out good.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 13, 2011, 03:37:05 AM
Awesome. I'm glad you guys didn't hate it :D
We are working on our turkish coffee stout right now.
We're adding cardamom to a sweet coffee stout. Hope it turns out good.
:eek: :fap:
It's exploding in the brew closet.
We have to keep cleaning out the blow off tube cause it keeps sludgin over.
This might be a little strong. :lol:
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 14, 2011, 06:22:51 PM
It's exploding in the brew closet.
We have to keep cleaning out the blow off tube cause it keeps sludgin over.
This might be a little strong. :lol:
:lulz:
Friend of mine once referred to one of his brewing projects as "Vesuvius." It was, apparently, epic in the amount which painted the ceiling.
This shit is fun :lulz:
The Providence contingent are heading to the local brew store tonight for supplies.
I'm planning on doing Squiddy's hard limeade. :D
I figure by the time this is ready to secondary I'm going to maybe start a beer.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 23, 2011, 08:39:16 PM
The Providence contingent are heading to the local brew store tonight for supplies.
I'm planning on doing Squiddy's hard limeade. :D
I figure by the time this is ready to secondary I'm going to maybe start a beer.
Yay, gonna start my first brewing project!
Cross your fingers, if it doesn't explode, and if it's not so good we demolish it, I'll test it out on the New England Meatup crew.
Mine won't be ready yet.
I've giving it...time.
I plan on doing a two-fer this weekend, brewing a Strong Scotch ale off the first runnings, and a normal strength Scottish ale off the second runnings. Also, my sake should be ready this weekend, just have to strain out the solids, pasteurize it, and bottle it.
Picked up some basics. A new carboy, carboy brush, big ass spoon for mixing, fermentation lock and champagne yeast, which I almost forgot to put in the fridge until now.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 23, 2011, 08:39:16 PM
The Providence contingent are heading to the local brew store tonight for supplies.
I'm planning on doing Squiddy's hard limeade. :D
I figure by the time this is ready to secondary I'm going to maybe start a beer.
PS- the limeade takes a long time to lose the yeast flavor
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 24, 2011, 04:39:09 PM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 23, 2011, 08:39:16 PM
The Providence contingent are heading to the local brew store tonight for supplies.
I'm planning on doing Squiddy's hard limeade. :D
I figure by the time this is ready to secondary I'm going to maybe start a beer.
PS- the limeade takes a long time to lose the yeast flavor
I'm giving in 3 months in the primary.
That's kinda long.
A month, month and a half should do it.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 24, 2011, 06:28:13 PM
That's kinda long.
A month, month and a half should do it.
Did you secondary yours?
My first try.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110226_230422.jpg)
Here's hoping it doesn't go boom in the night. It started making little blurpy noises about two minutes after tossing the yeast in.
I just brewed the limeade. I have a 5gal carboy instead of a 6, so I went with 4 gallons. So I used 8 cans of concentrate instead of 10. Still used 2lbs of sugar though...THE YEASTIES MUST EAT!
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/IMG_0221.jpg)
I didn't take an OG, but if I had a hydrometer, I'm assuming it would just jump out and scream anyway, it's so fucking sugary. Hopefully the champagne yeast will kill some of that.
Something I've been wondering since this thread started... How are y'all sterilizing these containers?
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on February 24, 2011, 03:38:14 AM
I plan on doing a two-fer this weekend, brewing a Strong Scotch ale off the first runnings, and a normal strength Scottish ale off the second runnings. Also, my sake should be ready this weekend, just have to strain out the solids, pasteurize it, and bottle it.
If you pasteurize sake won't that kill the alcohol?
Quote from: Khara on February 28, 2011, 04:03:15 AM
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on February 24, 2011, 03:38:14 AM
I plan on doing a two-fer this weekend, brewing a Strong Scotch ale off the first runnings, and a normal strength Scottish ale off the second runnings. Also, my sake should be ready this weekend, just have to strain out the solids, pasteurize it, and bottle it.
If you pasteurize sake won't that kill the alcohol?
It just kills the yeast, and high temps doesn't make alcohol evap like people think it does.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on February 28, 2011, 03:36:14 AM
Something I've been wondering since this thread started... How are y'all sterilizing these containers?
They make special sanitizers. Or you can also be VERY careful with bleach. Seriously, just a couple tablespoons for a whole carboy in a pinch.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on February 28, 2011, 02:56:10 AM
Quote from: Luna on February 27, 2011, 04:09:21 AM
My first try.
Whatcha got in there?
It's apple cider. Given that I won't need it until August (save what will be used for testing purposes, and what gets fed to people at the NE Meatup), I will very carefully store it in the freezer. A lot. And I figure the frozen stuff can be discarded as weak and unworthy... :evil:
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110228_064723.jpg)
Must've done something right, it's blurping at me every two to three seconds, now.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on February 28, 2011, 03:36:14 AM
Something I've been wondering since this thread started... How are y'all sterilizing these containers?
Yep, bleach, then rinse 'em a LOT.
You should have a nice krausen on that soon.
Also: I'm warning you, it will taste like sweaty taint if you drink it too early, so if it's still GAHHHH by August, don't freak out. Enzo's had to age his a year for it to be drinkable.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 28, 2011, 01:53:07 PM
You should have a nice krausen on that soon.
Also: I'm warning you, it will taste like sweaty taint if you drink it too early, so if it's still GAHHHH by August, don't freak out. Enzo's had to age his a year for it to be drinkable.
WTF is a... nevermind, I look it up. (I need a vocabulary list for this new hobby, I swear. I already made Richter back it up and speak English to me.)
I can't decide if that's cool or kinda gross. Or both. Probably both.
This is my first try, so I'm hoping for the best (that being, I pass the bottle and people swoon at my feet), and preparing for the worst (I taste it and pour it down the sink as a mercy killing).
No, don't dump it, *age* it.
...Just don't fortify it with whiskey like Richter did to one of his first batches of cider to make it drinkable.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 28, 2011, 02:07:53 PM
No, don't dump it, *age* it.
...Just don't fortify it with whiskey like Richter did to one of his first batches of cider to make it drinkable.
Whiskey? Of course not.
Spiced rum. ;)
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 28, 2011, 04:32:21 AM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on February 28, 2011, 03:36:14 AM
Something I've been wondering since this thread started... How are y'all sterilizing these containers?
They make special sanitizers. Or you can also be VERY careful with bleach. Seriously, just a couple tablespoons for a whole carboy in a pinch.
I'm cheap, and I use bleach since I have it around. Hasn't been an issue, but like Suu sayeth, be careful, and rinse many times with clean water before you add your yeast. Bleach will fucking badly any possibility of fermentation if you mess up.
All quiet on the Suustern front.
Have positive pressure, no visible sign of fermentation just yet.
Oh, I think there's something alive in there now.
WOOT WOOT!
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on February 24, 2011, 06:33:08 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 24, 2011, 06:28:13 PM
That's kinda long.
A month, month and a half should do it.
Did you secondary yours?
No we just left it in there for a long time till the yeast dropped out, then bottled it and aged it till it looked pretty much clear.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on February 28, 2011, 03:36:14 AM
Something I've been wondering since this thread started... How are y'all sterilizing these containers?
We use Starsan. It's an acid based sanitizer. Sanitation is super important. If one wrong thing gets in it blows the whole thing.
Also- Luna, ciders don't usually boom, you should be just fine. They can blurp quite a bit but you won't need a blow off tube.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 01, 2011, 07:14:26 AM
Also- Luna, ciders don't usually boom, you should be just fine. They can blurp quite a bit but you won't need a blow off tube.
Never done it before, and I've heard the horror stories, so, just a little nervous. This one seems downright friendly, just quietly burbling away.
Richter can blow up cider, but it doesn't go up like a beer does, especially an IPA.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 01, 2011, 12:41:13 PM
Richter can blow up cider, but it doesn't go up like a beer does, especially an IPA.
I can't think of much Richter couldn't blow up, if he put his mind to the job.
There seems to be plenty of space in there, I'm not worried. Much.
Y'all should have seen the turkish coffee stout.
The blow off tube needed a blow off tube.
before we realized
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/tks.jpg)
there we go, that's better
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/tks2.jpg)
this shit made a mess. we bottle tomorrow.
(the belgian double with berries is in the background there. bottling for that is saturday)
Great action shot there :lulz:
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 01, 2011, 04:46:46 PM
Y'all should have seen the turkish coffee stout.
The blow off tube needed a blow off tube.
On one hand, I like seeing that sort of thing because it means the yeasties are very happy. On the other hand, I hate seeing that sort of thing because it means some good beer was wasted.
I just walked over to my carboy just in time to see it go "BLURP". Heeeeeeeeeeee, booze. :fap:
I already have A LOT of shit on the bottom, but I assume it's mostly pulp.
Mine's blurping every four to five seconds. Can't see if there's anything on the bottom of the carboy, the stuff's too dark.
I'm drinking the first bottle of my chipotle-Kahlua stout now. When I tasted it straight out of the fermenter, almost all I could taste was the chipotles -- not that I mind the taste of chipotles, but I was hoping the Kahlua and the stout character would shine through a little better. Now that it is bottle conditioned, I get stout and Kahlua up front and in the middle, and I don't get the chipotles until the finish. But when I get them, boy do I ever get them, like a kick in the teeth blast of chipotle.
I LOVE this beer.
If anyone can make it to Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC on Saturday, March 12 between 2-6 PM, I'll be serving this beer on cask at this event: http://www.partylikealeprechaun.info/
:argh!: NO.
Damn it.
I WANTS it!
Save me a bottle and we'll trade.. not through the mail, no sir, cause that's illegal.
(unless it's unfermented malta type beverage)
No?
Hey Squid, when is Hunahpu out?
I'mma be down in a couple of weeks. I won't have time to see you (I'll be down for weekdays, not a weekend. Boo.) but the liquor store within walking distance of the parentals is superb.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 02, 2011, 07:28:41 AM
:argh!: NO.
Damn it.
I WANTS it!
Save me a bottle and we'll trade.. not through the mail, no sir, cause that's illegal.
(unless it's unfermented malta type beverage)
No?
I'm going to have to brew this beer again soon. I'm bringing three 5ℓ casks to the event, which leaves me 7 bottles, one of which has already been drunken, and the rest of which are already spoken for.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on March 02, 2011, 03:47:31 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 02, 2011, 07:28:41 AM
:argh!: NO.
Damn it.
I WANTS it!
Save me a bottle and we'll trade.. not through the mail, no sir, cause that's illegal.
(unless it's unfermented malta type beverage)
No?
I'm going to have to brew this beer again soon. I'm bringing three 5ℓ casks to the event, which leaves me 7 bottles, one of which has already been drunken, and the rest of which are already spoken for.
Why don't you live in San Diego? Where I can come and drink all your yummy beer?
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 02, 2011, 12:44:06 PM
Hey Squid, when is Hunahpu out?
I'mma be down in a couple of weeks. I won't have time to see you (I'll be down for weekdays, not a weekend. Boo.) but the liquor store within walking distance of the parentals is superb.
March 12th. I'll be dragging all my friends over to the brewery and there's a beer bomb bus tour dragging a bunch of Orlandonians over as well.
FUCK YEAH I'M GETTING BEER!
That means I gotta smuggle some back....good thing I'm flying in to Warwick and not Boston. I really hate watching my suitcase drop from the ceiling.
56 bottles of THIS bottled this evening
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/Turkish.jpg)
It tastes like chocolatey coffee and cardamom. The cardamom is really pronounced but doesn't overpower the coffee. This was not easy to do. It tastes just like a Turkish coffee.
SUCCESS!
(ya like my labels? HAHA!)
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 03, 2011, 06:23:35 AM
56 bottles of THIS bottled this evening
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/Turkish.jpg)
It tastes like chocolatey coffee and cardamom. The cardamom is really pronounced but doesn't overpower the coffee. This was not easy to do. It tastes just like a Turkish coffee.
SUCCESS!
(ya like my labels? HAHA!)
That sounds like sex.
We'll find out in a few weeks
LABEL. WANT.
BEFORE ZEE GERMANS GET HERE!
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 03, 2011, 06:23:35 AM
56 bottles of THIS bottled this evening
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/Turkish.jpg)
It tastes like chocolatey coffee and cardamom. The cardamom is really pronounced but doesn't overpower the coffee. This was not easy to do. It tastes just like a Turkish coffee.
SUCCESS!
(ya like my labels? HAHA!)
Wow, that sounds great.
PMZ,
is woefully ignorant and has no idea who the guy on your label is. :sad:
Turkish from Snatch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQXl9K265eA
Somebody put a bunch of public domain books about homebrewing into a bit torrent. Mine has finished downloading, and I'll be seeding it over the weekend if anyone is interested.
http://www.homebrewkorea.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=769&p=5815
Here is the listing of books:
Accum - 1820 - A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine from Native Fruits.pdf
Accum - 1821 - Ubhandlung uber die Kunft zu Brauen.pdf
Anon - 1760 - The Compleat Brewer or, the Art and Mystery of Brewing Explained.pdf
Anon - 1768 - Every Man His Own Brewer; or A Compendium of the English Brewery.pdf
Anon - 17-- - London Complete Art of Cookery; also The Complete Brewer Explaining the Art of Brewing Porter, Ale, Twopenny, and Table-beer.pdf
Anon - 1807 - Remarks and Experiments on Different Parts of the Process of Brewing; Particularly on the Continued Application of a Boiling Heat During the Operation of Mashing.pdf
Anon - 1826 - The Vintner's and Brewer's Guide--Manufacturing Wines, Malted Liquors, Cider, Perry, Vinegar, Spirits, etc.pdf
Anon - 1830 - The Wine Drinkers Manual.pdf
Anon - 1847 - Practical Information on the Best Method of Brewing from Sugar.pdf
Anon - 1847 - The Secrets of the Mash Tun; or, Causes of Failure in Producing Good Ale or Beer.pdf
Anon - 1848 - How to Brew with three-fourths Barley to One Fourth Malt.pdf
Anon - 1855 - Practisches Lehrbuch der Bayer'schen Bierbrauerei.pdf
Anon - 1865 - The Art and Mystery of Making British Wines, Cider, Perry Cordials and Liquors--Also, the Whole Art of Brewing.pdf
Appligny - 1783 - Instructions sur L'art de Faire la Biere.pdf
Barclay - 1865 - Handy-book for Licenced Victuallers, Brewers, Wine Retailers, etc..pdf
Beik - 1864 - Die Bierbrauerie.pdf
Black - 1835 - Practical Treatise on Brewing - 1st Ed.pdf
Black - 1849 - A Practical Treatise on Brewing - 4th Ed.pdf
Booth - 1834 - The Art of Brewing - 2nd ed.pdf
Braverstock - 1824 - Braverstock on Brewing.pdf
Bromwich - 1783 - The Experienced Beekeeper.pdf
Buchanan - 1861 - The Culture of the Grape and Wine Making - 7th ed.pdf
Busby - 1825 - A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and the Art of Making Wine.pdf
Byrn - 1852 - The Complete Practical Brewer or, Plain Accurate , and Thorough Instructions in the Brewing of Ale, Beer, and Porter.pdf
Byrn - 1860 - The Complete Practical Brewer or, Plain Accurate , and Thorough Instructions in the Brewing of Ale, Beer, and Porter.pdf
Carnell - 1814 - A Treatise on Family Winemaking.pdf
Chadwick - 1835 - Practical Treatise on Brewing.pdf
Clarkson - 1853 - Instructions for Brewing Porter and Stout at an Expense of 4d and 5d per Gallon.pdf
Cobbett - 1826 - Cottage Economy Containing Information Relative to the Brewing of Beer, etc..pdf
Collingwood - 1792 - The Universal Cook and City and Country Housekeeper -- Including the Making and Management of Made Wines, Cordial Waters, and Malt Liquors.pdf
Combrune - 1758 - An Essay on Brewing with a View of Establishing the Principles of the Art.pdf
Combrune - 1802 - L'art de Brasser Traduit de L'anglais.pdf
Cooper - 1757 - The Complete Distiller.pdf
Coxe - 1817 - A View of the Management of Fruit Trees and the Management of Orchards and Cider.pdf
Davies - 1810 - The Inkeeper's and Butler's Guide , or, a Directory for Making and Managing British Wines - 13th ed.pdf
Denman - 1864 - The Vine and its Fruit.pdf
Digby - 1669 - The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Openend; Several Ways of Making Metheglin, Cider, Cherry-Wine, etc.txt
Dublin Society- 1733 - Instructions for Managing Bees.pdf
Dufour - 1826 - The American Vine-Dresser's Guide Being a Treatise on the Cultivation of the Vine and the Process of Wine Making.pdf
Feuchtwanger - 1858 - Fermented Liquors: A Treatise on Brewing, Distilling, and Rectifying.pdf
Ford - 1862 - A Practical Treatise on Malting and Brewing.pdf
Gray - 1823 - Observations on the Vinous Fermentation.pdf
Gray/Savage - 1866 - Ale in Prose and Verse.pdf
Gray - Key to Gray's Brewer's Assistant.pdf
Grey - 1866 - A Runlet of Ale.pdf
Gumbinner - 1846 - Handbuch der Praktischen Bierbrauerei.pdf
Hall - 1818 - The Distiller.pdf
Ham - 1828 - The Manufacture of Cider and Perry - 2nd ed.pdf
Ham - 1829 - Theory and Practice of Brewing With Malted and Unmalted Corn.pdf
Haraszthy - 1862 - Grape Culture, Wines, and Wine-Making.pdf
Harper - 1860 - The Manufacture, Imitation, Adulteration, and Reduction of Foreign Wines, Brandies, Gins, Rums, Etc.pdf
Hitchcock - 1842 - The Cause and Prevention of Acidity in Malt Liquors.pdf
Hughes - 1796 - A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer.pdf
Husmann - 1866 - The Cultivation of the Native Grape and Manufacture of American WInes.pdf
Jonas - 1818 - The Distiller's Guide; Comprehending the Art of Distillation and Rectification.pdf
Kidd - 1808 - Remarks and Experiments on the Different Parts of Brewing.pdf
Knight - 1801 - The Manufacture of Cider and Perry.pdf
Lacour - 1853 - The Manufacture of Liquors, Wines, and Cordials without the Aid of Distillation.pdf
Levesque - 1836 - The Art of Brewing and Fermenting in the Summer -- and the Making of Malt.pdf
Loftus - 1856 - The Brewer: A Familiar Treatise on the Art of Brewing with Directions for the Selection of Malt and Hops--and the Making of Cider and Wine.pdf
Marchant - 1888 - In Praise of Ale.pdf
Maxwell - 1747 - The Practical Bee-Master.pdf
McMullen - 1852 - Handbook of Wines: Practical, Theoretical, and Historical.pdf
Mead - 1867 - An Elementary Treatise on American Grape Culture and Wine Making.pdf
Mener - 1839 - Die Bayerische Bierbrauerei.pdf
Monzert - 1866 - The Independent Liquorist; or, the Art and Manufacturing and Preparing.pdf
Monzert - 1889 - Practical Distiller.pdf
Morewood - 1824 - An Essay on the Inventions and Customs of Both Ancients and Moderns in the Use of Inebriating Liquors.pdf
Morrice - 1802 - A Treatise on Brewing Wherein is Exhibited the Whole Process of the Art and Mystery of Brewing.pdf
Mulder - 1861 - De La Biere - Sa Composition Chimique, Sa Fabrication.pdf
Nutt - 1834 - Practical Directions for the Management of Honeybees.pdf
Otto - 1865 - Die Beirbrauerei, die Branntweinbrennerei und die Liqueurfabrication.pdf
Oxford - 1835 - Oxford Night Caps, Being a Collection of Reciepts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University - 3rd ed.pdf
Palmer - 1824 - The Spirit, Wine Dealer, and Publicans Director.pdf
Phipps - 1825 - The Vintner's Guide.pdf
Reemelin - 1859 - The Vine-Dresser's Manual; an Illustrated Treatise on Vinyards and Wine-Making.pdf
Roberts - 1835 - British Winemaker and Domestic Brewer.pdf
Roberts - 1847 - The Scottish Ale-Brewer and Practical Maltster -- Including India Pale Ale.pdf
Shultz - 1850 - Theoretisch-Praktische Bierbrauerei Nach Ihrer Ersten Entwicklung Bis Zum Jetzigen Standpunkte.pdf
Shutzenberger - 1893 - On Fermentation.pdf
Smeed - 1845 - The Wine Merchant's Manual: A Treatise on the Fining.pdf
Strong - 1867 - Culture of the Grape.pdf
Strutt - 1825 - The Practical Apiarian.pdf
Terrington - 1869 - Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks; a Collection of Recipes for Cups and Other Compounded Drinks.pdf
Thomas - 1862 - How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant's Companion.pdf
Thomson - 1849 - Brewing and Distillation.pdf
Tizard - 1850 - The Theory and Practice of Brewing (3rd ed).pdf
Tizard - 1857 - The Theory and Practice of Brewing (4th ed).pdf
Tovey - 1864 - British and Foreign Spirits.pdf
Tuck - 1822 - The Private Brewers Guide to the Art of Brewing Ale and Porter.pdf
Warder - 1713 - The True Amazons or, the Monarchy of Bees -- Also, how to make the English Wine or Mead.pdf
Watkins - 1773 - The Complete English Brewer or, the Art and Mystery of Brewing in All its Various Branches.pdf
Wigney - 1835 - A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Malting and Brewing.pdf
Wigney - 1838 - An Elementary Dictionary (of the brewers trade).pdf
Awesome, thanks, I'll be looking for it.
What I'm currently brewing:
19:29 <+triplezero> currently brewing a sort of pineapple/strawberry/apple/honey mead kind of
concoction. with all the fruit I can't see what could go wrong.
19:29 <+triplezero> it was fresh pineapple indeed.
19:29 <+Kai> Sounds good.
19:29 <+triplezero> it was sitting in my kitchen too long so I decided to just blend it to a pulp and add
applejuice honey and yeast
19:31 <+triplezero> it's just... the fucking thing has been fermenting for over 3 weeks and is still bubbling
19:31 <+Kai> Trip: sounds like it's going to be yum.
19:32 <+triplezero> hope so. i should use wine yeast instead of bread yeast though. I fear it's causing a
funny flavour.
I got a big 8L (2.1 gal) plastic bottle that used to contain mineral water. No waterlock, just covered with two sheets of plastic and a rubber band, each sheet has a tiny hole punctured to let the CO2 out, but they don't align, so no bacteria can fall in (is the idea).
For sterilisation, I used to use a few teaspoons of bleach and rinse 3 times. But since this one had just contained pure spring water, and due to the tap-thingy in the cap never had any contact with outside air, I just rinsed it with hot water a few times.
I used to be quite paranoid of getting stuff "infected", bleached everything, every tool, spoon or whatever the brew came in contact with. But then one time I guess we didn't RINSE IT OUT PROPAH and the yeast didn't do much, like Richter warns about. Turns out it does in fact do something, cause my friend never touched it afterwards, put it in a closet and when I helped him move we found it again, 2-3 years later. It was done, and it was delicious, kind of like a sherry with a hint of honey.
Anyway, it's always better to be safe than sorry. But personally I find that if you're just reasonably careful with not getting dust or dirty surfaces in the brew, rinse with hot water, it'll do just fine. I think it's something to do with that if the yeast is going strong, it'll kill off some of the buggers. Also, but someone may correct me on this, there's not all that much bacteria floating around in the air, at least not the kind that would want to live in your brew and spoil it. And since my dishwasher does 90 degrees celsius (194F) (I think. maybe it's just 70), even the wooden spoons are sterilized every 2-3 days.
Come to think of it, my approach probably wouldn't work so well if I did my dishes the old-fashioned way in mucky greyish water just so hot it doesn't burn my hands :)
<3 dishwasher
... just wish my brew would stop bubbling so I can kill the yeast, let it sink and drink it.
we worked on so much stuff today I lost track.
Richter made his Armageddon krupnikas.
No really, it made him cry when he drank it.
...and he was influenced badly by our local crazy brewer to use not a half of a chili, or a full, no...try 4 full bhut jolokia peppers, hydrated in Everclear, and then pureed in a food processor. :|
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 06, 2011, 05:06:27 AM
we worked on so much stuff today I lost track.
Richter made his Armageddon krupnikas.
No really, it made him cry when he drank it.
...and he was influenced badly by our local crazy brewer to use not a half of a chili, or a full, no...try 4 full bhut jolokia peppers, hydrated in Everclear, and then pureed in a food processor. :|
That sounds painful.
Sounds fucking delicious!
Quote from: Canis latrans eques on March 06, 2011, 05:22:11 AM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 06, 2011, 05:06:27 AM
we worked on so much stuff today I lost track.
Richter made his Armageddon krupnikas.
No really, it made him cry when he drank it.
...and he was influenced badly by our local crazy brewer to use not a half of a chili, or a full, no...try 4 full bhut jolokia peppers, hydrated in Everclear, and then pureed in a food processor. :|
That sounds painful.
"Evil" might be the correct word. I'm telling you, the stuff looked menacing in the pan...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110305_165841.jpg)
My contribution to the day's festivities, on the other hand, looks much more innocent.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110306_064400.jpg)
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 06, 2011, 07:35:06 AM
Sounds fucking delicious!
We're making people sign a waiver before they drink it. I had a drop, nay, a finger swipe of the top of the jar and my tongue went numb on impact.
Quote from: Luna on March 06, 2011, 11:45:34 AM
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110306_064400.jpg)
Damn. That's a lot of Labrador noses.
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 06, 2011, 07:42:51 PM
Quote from: Luna on March 06, 2011, 11:45:34 AM
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110306_064400.jpg)
Damn. That's a lot of Labrador noses.
Yep. They squirm and whine when you take 'em off, too. Suu had to sit on 'em for me. :wink:
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 06, 2011, 05:06:27 AM
we worked on so much stuff today I lost track.
Richter made his Armageddon krupnikas.
No really, it made him cry when he drank it.
...and he was influenced badly by our local crazy brewer to use not a half of a chili, or a full, no...try 4 full bhut jolokia peppers, hydrated in Everclear, and then pureed in a food processor. :|
Oh for the love of bejesus :x
I consider myself strong in the ways of The Spice and The Heat... but there are some things which were not meant for mortals.
Quote from: Cainad on March 07, 2011, 04:28:09 AM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 06, 2011, 05:06:27 AM
we worked on so much stuff today I lost track.
Richter made his Armageddon krupnikas.
No really, it made him cry when he drank it.
...and he was influenced badly by our local crazy brewer to use not a half of a chili, or a full, no...try 4 full bhut jolokia peppers, hydrated in Everclear, and then pureed in a food processor. :|
Oh for the love of bejesus :x
I consider myself strong in the ways of The Spice and The Heat... but there are some things which were not meant for mortals.
Tried a taste of it. To my surprise, I failed to immediately spit it out or vomit it back up. It still needs bottle time, but really, it's...
Well, fuck, it's hot as blazes, and I was leaning on the kitchen counter begging for something, ANYTHING to drink, no I don't CARE what, give me SOMETHING for God's sake...
Listen, you bitch about not being able to handle spicy very well, and when I damn well warned you all that eating bhut jolokia in my vindaloo gave me a nosebleed (in addition to the hemorrhoids, oh yes, I didn't mention that did I? That fucking pepper burst more capillaries in my rectum than LMNO has vibrating cock rings. I poured from my orifice searing white hot pain and blood for 3 days and had to sit on a goddamn pillow.), I figure you'd heed the warning, for fuck's sake.
No complaining anymore from you, or anyone else who drinks that vile concoction. Ever. You did it to yourself. Enjoy the butt fire.
This is the word of your Princess, and as such, is incontestable and punishable by splashing that shit on various mucus membranes.
I said I'd try it. I did. I figure the Thermonuclear Vindaloo did nothing but some disturbing gurgles, I'd see if it could handle this. So far, so good... though I'll give it until tomorrow before I call it clear.
(How DO you know how many vibrating cock rings LMNO has, anyway?)
Besides... Now Richter can convince ANY of the guys to drink the stuff, after all, if LUNA can drink it, how bad can it be, right? :evil:
If you can drink it, it's not hot enough.
MORE PEPPERS!
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 07, 2011, 02:49:37 PM
If you can drink it, it's not hot enough.
MORE PEPPERS!
Note, I did NOT finish the shot he handed to me. But I tried it.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 06, 2011, 03:02:53 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 06, 2011, 07:35:06 AM
Sounds fucking delicious!
We're making people sign a waiver before they drink it. I had a drop, nay, a finger swipe of the top of the jar and my tongue went numb on impact.
that's what I'm talkin about
The first drink of it I had made me burst into tears. People go on about "I learned how to drink in / from the such and such.", but this is stuff you have to know how to consume, or it WILL wreck your head.
I gave Herbert a shot and he looked like someone maced him.
Quote from: Richter on March 07, 2011, 09:38:47 PM
The first drink of it I had made me burst into tears. People go on about "I learned how to drink in / from the such and such.", but this is stuff you have to know how to consume, or it WILL wreck your head.
I gave Herbert a shot and he looked like someone maced him.
I didn't get tears, but mostly because I think all the fluid in my system rushed to my mouth to put out the fire.
I just noticed that my local grocer has started carrying dried ghost chilies. I want to brew a beer with them. I'm trying to decide on the base beer -- it's going to have to be a powerful beer with a whole lot of flavor of its own to stand up to those chilies, maybe like an imperial IPA, an imperial stout, or an American barleywine. I'm thinking if the base beer isn't at least 14% ABV with a shitload of dextrins and melanoidins, then all you will taste is the chilies.
I have never tasted a ghost chili before, so I will have to do some experimenting with the peppers first, get familiar with them to try to understand what sort of flavors would best complement them.
There is no taste, just numbness and heat.
Really, there's a slightly smoked flavor from the dried chilies (I don't know if they can legally sell them ripe), but then all bets are off. Like I said, a drop of the initial blend (before Richter added the other ingredients, so just the 4 peppers in the Everclear in the food processor) made my tongue go almost instantly numb.
They aren't a pepper, they're a goddamn weapon of mass destruction....and we're going to have so much goddamn fun with this concoction.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on March 08, 2011, 03:58:26 AM
I just noticed that my local grocer has started carrying dried ghost chilies. I want to brew a beer with them. I'm trying to decide on the base beer -- it's going to have to be a powerful beer with a whole lot of flavor of its own to stand up to those chilies, maybe like an imperial IPA, an imperial stout, or an American barleywine. I'm thinking if the base beer isn't at least 14% ABV with a shitload of dextrins and melanoidins, then all you will taste is the chilies.
I have never tasted a ghost chili before, so I will have to do some experimenting with the peppers first, get familiar with them to try to understand what sort of flavors would best complement them.
I bet they'd be good in a braggot
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 08, 2011, 04:29:56 AM
There is no taste, just numbness and heat.
Really, there's a slightly smoked flavor from the dried chilies (I don't know if they can legally sell them ripe), but then all bets are off. Like I said, a drop of the initial blend (before Richter added the other ingredients, so just the 4 peppers in the Everclear in the food processor) made my tongue go almost instantly numb.
They aren't a pepper, they're a goddamn weapon of mass destruction....and we're going to have so much goddamn fun with this concoction.
It seems the Indian military agrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_chilli#As_a_weapon
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on March 08, 2011, 06:48:16 AM
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on March 08, 2011, 03:58:26 AM
I just noticed that my local grocer has started carrying dried ghost chilies. I want to brew a beer with them. I'm trying to decide on the base beer -- it's going to have to be a powerful beer with a whole lot of flavor of its own to stand up to those chilies, maybe like an imperial IPA, an imperial stout, or an American barleywine. I'm thinking if the base beer isn't at least 14% ABV with a shitload of dextrins and melanoidins, then all you will taste is the chilies.
I have never tasted a ghost chili before, so I will have to do some experimenting with the peppers first, get familiar with them to try to understand what sort of flavors would best complement them.
I bet they'd be good in a braggot
That's a good idea, one I hadn't thought of.
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 08, 2011, 04:29:56 AM
There is no taste, just numbness and heat.
Really, there's a slightly smoked flavor from the dried chilies (I don't know if they can legally sell them ripe), but then all bets are off. Like I said, a drop of the initial blend (before Richter added the other ingredients, so just the 4 peppers in the Everclear in the food processor) made my tongue go almost instantly numb.
They aren't a pepper, they're a goddamn weapon of mass destruction....and we're going to have so much goddamn fun with this concoction.
Occasionally my dad will get reminiscing about his college days when he was a bright young engineering student and his roomie was a talented chem major. Apparently the two of them refined alcohol to the point that two or three shots in a a gallon of other liquid constituted a reasonably potent "punch," and if you annoyed them they'd offer you a shot of the shit straight. If you were lucky, your tongue went gray from losing one or two layers of skin, then you fell over. Even adjusted for embellishment, I shudder to think of the parties the two of them must have thrown. And he wonders why I took the "freshman female" survival tips to heart when I got to college.
Quote from: leln on March 09, 2011, 01:09:45 AM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 08, 2011, 04:29:56 AM
There is no taste, just numbness and heat.
Really, there's a slightly smoked flavor from the dried chilies (I don't know if they can legally sell them ripe), but then all bets are off. Like I said, a drop of the initial blend (before Richter added the other ingredients, so just the 4 peppers in the Everclear in the food processor) made my tongue go almost instantly numb.
They aren't a pepper, they're a goddamn weapon of mass destruction....and we're going to have so much goddamn fun with this concoction.
Occasionally my dad will get reminiscing about his college days when he was a bright young engineering student and his roomie was a talented chem major. Apparently the two of them refined alcohol to the point that two or three shots in a a gallon of other liquid constituted a reasonably potent "punch," and if you annoyed them they'd offer you a shot of the shit straight. If you were lucky, your tongue went gray from losing one or two layers of skin, then you fell over. Even adjusted for embellishment, I shudder to think of the parties the two of them must have thrown. And he wonders why I took the "freshman female" survival tips to heart when I got to college.
That's... No, not surprising, actually...
Quote from: Luna on March 09, 2011, 08:06:41 PM
Quote from: leln on March 09, 2011, 01:09:45 AM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 08, 2011, 04:29:56 AM
There is no taste, just numbness and heat.
Really, there's a slightly smoked flavor from the dried chilies (I don't know if they can legally sell them ripe), but then all bets are off. Like I said, a drop of the initial blend (before Richter added the other ingredients, so just the 4 peppers in the Everclear in the food processor) made my tongue go almost instantly numb.
They aren't a pepper, they're a goddamn weapon of mass destruction....and we're going to have so much goddamn fun with this concoction.
Occasionally my dad will get reminiscing about his college days when he was a bright young engineering student and his roomie was a talented chem major. Apparently the two of them refined alcohol to the point that two or three shots in a a gallon of other liquid constituted a reasonably potent "punch," and if you annoyed them they'd offer you a shot of the shit straight. If you were lucky, your tongue went gray from losing one or two layers of skin, then you fell over. Even adjusted for embellishment, I shudder to think of the parties the two of them must have thrown. And he wonders why I took the "freshman female" survival tips to heart when I got to college.
That's... No, not surprising, actually...
Yeah, our clan is like that. Spatial relations of apples to trees, etc. etc. Though we still manage to scare our parents from time to time.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on March 01, 2011, 11:54:11 PM
I'm drinking the first bottle of my chipotle-Kahlua stout now. When I tasted it straight out of the fermenter, almost all I could taste was the chipotles -- not that I mind the taste of chipotles, but I was hoping the Kahlua and the stout character would shine through a little better. Now that it is bottle conditioned, I get stout and Kahlua up front and in the middle, and I don't get the chipotles until the finish. But when I get them, boy do I ever get them, like a kick in the teeth blast of chipotle.
I LOVE this beer.
If anyone can make it to Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC on Saturday, March 12 between 2-6 PM, I'll be serving this beer on cask at this event: http://www.partylikealeprechaun.info/
That event was a lot of fun even though my beer didn't place in the competition. I think I came in around 4th or 5th out of 11. I knew going in that this beer wasn't for everybody. Many people absolutely loved it, but there weren't enough of them, and there were too many people who thought it was "too spicy" or some such nonsense.
I watched several people read the description, make a yuck face, and keep on walking. Good for them -- I don't want to waste awesome beer on people who aren't worthy of it. I have another batch of this beer fermenting now, and I refuse to dumb it down for the masses. I don't care if nobody else likes it -- that's more for me.
PMZ,
is the Howard Roark of brewing.
You sir, are a first class beer pervert!
This I would love to try.
My kitchen is starting to take on the aroma of lime booze.
Oh god, what have I done?!
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 15, 2011, 01:52:15 AM
My kitchen is starting to take on the aroma of lime booze.
Oh god, what have I done?!
Probably gotten us all pretty spectacularly messed up, at some point in the future.
Quote from: Luna on March 15, 2011, 02:13:57 AM
Quote from: Princess Suu the Apostate on March 15, 2011, 01:52:15 AM
My kitchen is starting to take on the aroma of lime booze.
Oh god, what have I done?!
Probably gotten us all pretty spectacularly messed up, at some point in the future.
Vinland Raids. ;)
Maybe a sampling on Memorial Day, but VR definitely. Once I'm ready to bottle this fucker I'll start the 2nd (larger) batch for war.
What have you done?
Obviously you've followed instructions! Good for you, human.
Now, you should be able to bottle it by the the last week of April. Don't forget your priming sugar*.
If all goes well it will be carbonated in 2-3 weeks. Fully soda-like in a month.
*1 cup corn sugar+1 cup water heated to nearly a boil, added to bottom of bottling bucket. Make sure to get a good swirl going with your hose to properly mix.
Ok so here's what we did--
We brewed a batch of grains for a Belgian dubbel. We were given the wrong yeast packet (Saison) so we pitched that anyway. After 2 weeks of slow fermentation we pitched some trappist yeast (for shits n giggles)
For the secondary we threw in some sugar and strawberries. Well needless to say that got the yeast all excited again so after a few more weeks we finally bottled it on 3/15.
We of course checked the gravity and drank the un-carbonated beer from the tube and I gotta say. I'm really impressed with this.
It's a tart saison with the sweetness from the dubbel recipe and quite strong.
CAN'T WAIT!
We're calling it Saison Du B'tard
OH HELL. I WANNA TASTE ALL THESE! TEASERS!!!!!
Anybody who's done a cider... It's been in there for over two weeks, and still blurping happily away every 8-10 seconds or so. How long do I leave it in there, anyway?
Try a taste maybe? Doesn't matter as much until after it's jacked how it tastes, but at least get a sense for how it's starting.
Quote from: Richter on March 17, 2011, 07:01:18 PM
Try a taste maybe? Doesn't matter as much until after it's jacked how it tastes, but at least get a sense for how it's starting.
This is doable... I think I can find something to use for a siphon.
ETA: Taste test results: Doesn't suck at all.
Also, the stuff has responded to being lightly tapped by speeding up, it's bubbling every six or seven seconds again.
Strawberry Saison is huge success.
Little tart, little sweet, berries really come through.
This may be my favorite yet.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110326_084237.jpg)
Strawberry cordial, bottled and tasty. First project, in the bottle...
Hm. Save it 'til the May Meatup, or demolish it and make more.
Decisions, decisions...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110327_063616.jpg)
Since the strawberry appears to be a success, let's give blackberry a try.
Note to self, do not buy these jars again. The seal... well, it doesn't. Every time I shake this, I wind up with vodka all over my hands.
Quote from: Richter on March 17, 2011, 07:01:18 PM
Try a taste maybe? Doesn't matter as much until after it's jacked how it tastes, but at least get a sense for how it's starting.
Jacked? What's that? I'm probably doing it, but I am unfamiliar with the term.
Quote from: Luna on March 17, 2011, 07:04:09 PM
Also, the stuff has responded to being lightly tapped by speeding up, it's bubbling every six or seven seconds again.
Isn't that just the CO2 that's already in the liquid, coming loose by tapping? I don't think it's the yeast suddenly being jarred awake or so.
This pineapple/strawberry/apple mead stuff I described a few pages back, I finally got enough of it keeping on bubbling. I tasted it, it wasn't awfully sweet (which was what I was afraid of, if I didn't let it ferment out). Tonight it's probably one of the last nights we'll have below zero celsius (freezing) temperature, so I put it outside on the balcony, hopefully putting the yeast to sleep, speeding up the settling process. Hope I'll be able to clear it up somewhat.
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 27, 2011, 10:54:53 PM
Quote from: Richter on March 17, 2011, 07:01:18 PM
Try a taste maybe? Doesn't matter as much until after it's jacked how it tastes, but at least get a sense for how it's starting.
Jacked? What's that? I'm probably doing it, but I am unfamiliar with the term.
Jacked = frozen until stuff stops freezing out. It concentrates the alcohol considerably. Traditional applejack was, essentially, just cider tossed into a barrel and left in the barn, tap off the alcohol once it mostly freezes. As it's warmer, and I have no barn, I'll be tossing this into smaller containers and shoving it into the freezer, and skimming off the ice every few days.
Quote
Quote from: Luna on March 17, 2011, 07:04:09 PM
Also, the stuff has responded to being lightly tapped by speeding up, it's bubbling every six or seven seconds again.
Isn't that just the CO2 that's already in the liquid, coming loose by tapping? I don't think it's the yeast suddenly being jarred awake or so.
This pineapple/strawberry/apple mead stuff I described a few pages back, I finally got enough of it keeping on bubbling. I tasted it, it wasn't awfully sweet (which was what I was afraid of, if I didn't let it ferment out). Tonight it's probably one of the last nights we'll have below zero celsius (freezing) temperature, so I put it outside on the balcony, hopefully putting the yeast to sleep, speeding up the settling process. Hope I'll be able to clear it up somewhat.
I'm guessing it was just the fresh air. It's slowing down to around every 12 to 15 seconds, now, I've gotta decide if I want to siphon it off into another carboy and secondary it, or just go right to the freezer.
Quote from: Luna on March 28, 2011, 12:34:48 AM
Jacked = frozen until stuff stops freezing out. It concentrates the alcohol considerably. Traditional applejack was, essentially, just cider tossed into a barrel and left in the barn, tap off the alcohol once it mostly freezes. As it's warmer, and I have no barn, I'll be tossing this into smaller containers and shoving it into the freezer, and skimming off the ice every few days.
Ah right, I know the principle.
Good idea, I might try that if the 8L batch of stuff doesn't work out very well.
Although I think I'll do a test run with some ultra cheap wine first, just to get the hang of jacking in my freezer. Tried it before but it didn't really work.
Indeed too bad it's no longer really freezing outside :)
I'm very happy it's no longer freezing out... (Don't kill him, Suu!) I don't have anywhere outside to leave it, anyway.
I'll cope with the freezer.
Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes with the skimming of the ice... ?
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 28, 2011, 08:23:01 PM
Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes with the skimming of the ice... ?
Will do. How did you do it, and what problems did you run into (just so I can try to dodge those).
Racked the cider last night to secondary it. My first time doing that.
We pause here for a girly-squeamish moment:
QuoteGood god, is that sludge NORMAL? :vom:
End squeam.
It smells awesome. Gonna let it sit for a bit longer, see if the yeast is done playing. If so, it goes into the freezer next week sometime.
Quote from: Luna on March 28, 2011, 08:25:24 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 28, 2011, 08:23:01 PM
Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes with the skimming of the ice... ?
Will do. How did you do it, and what problems did you run into (just so I can try to dodge those).
Well I took a bottle of cheap white wine, put it in a plastic bottle and froze it. Then I had what looked like wine slushpuppy, which I put in a strainer/sieve, and sort of moshed it about. It didn't seem to do very much and the bit of liquid that dripped out didn't taste particularly stronger than before.
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 02, 2011, 12:08:50 AM
Quote from: Luna on March 28, 2011, 08:25:24 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 28, 2011, 08:23:01 PM
Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes with the skimming of the ice... ?
Will do. How did you do it, and what problems did you run into (just so I can try to dodge those).
Well I took a bottle of cheap white wine, put it in a plastic bottle and froze it. Then I had what looked like wine slushpuppy, which I put in a strainer/sieve, and sort of moshed it about. It didn't seem to do very much and the bit of liquid that dripped out didn't taste particularly stronger than before.
We'll see what happens... If it doesn't work, at least I'll have a decent cider.
Quote from: Luna on April 02, 2011, 12:46:04 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 02, 2011, 12:08:50 AM
Quote from: Luna on March 28, 2011, 08:25:24 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on March 28, 2011, 08:23:01 PM
Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes with the skimming of the ice... ?
Will do. How did you do it, and what problems did you run into (just so I can try to dodge those).
Well I took a bottle of cheap white wine, put it in a plastic bottle and froze it. Then I had what looked like wine slushpuppy, which I put in a strainer/sieve, and sort of moshed it about. It didn't seem to do very much and the bit of liquid that dripped out didn't taste particularly stronger than before.
We'll see what happens... If it doesn't work, at least I'll have a decent cider.
Slushpuppy is about accurate. From 4 gallons, I got out about 1 gallon of liquid. I'm debating putting that back in to see if it'll freeze again.
Protip, do not freeze in plastic gallon jugs, it's a pain in the ass to get anything OUT of the jug. It required a knife.
Okay. I figured out the best way to jack my brew.
SALAD SPINNER
You want to cover the sides of the inner bowl of the lettuce spinner with something cause the holes are too big. I used paper kitchen towels, but cloth is probably better. Then scoop the slushpuppy into the spinner. I found the heavy ice puts quite a bit more strain on the device than lettuce would, and some parts came close to almost breaking. I suppose the solution is to just not fill it entirely.
IT WORKS FUCKING PERFECTLY
At first I tried with the sieve and shit, but I had to not let the stuff freeze entirely, because it would turn to slush, and because of capillary effect all the concentrated booze would sit nicely between the ice grains and stay there. But even letting it freeze only partially, I still had the idea I was throwing away booze with the ice. The centrifuge solves this very well.
If you used paper towels, you probably want to sieve it, cause I got a few paper towel fibres in it. Hence the suggestion to use cloth.
I got the idea from a discussion about applejack on some brewing forum, but I don't think anyone there actually tried it out because they were all too busy arguing about not discussing it because apparently, freeze distilling is equally illegal as doing it with heat. Even though you're just freezing the stuff. Apparently in the USA if you remove water from an alcoholic liquid so the end result is less than 95% of the original volume, it's illegal regardless of the method :|
Additionally, I'm not sure about methanol, cause with the boiling/heat kind of distilling you can throw away the first bit, to remove a good part of the methanol and be reasonably safe. With freeze distillation, no such luck. Then on some other site I read someone actually considered freeze distilling more safe than heat/boiling distilling, but I can't really remember what their reasoning was.
The max alcohol percentage you can get with freeze distilling is determined only by the temperature of the freezer. You can apply the process multiple times but at some point it won't freeze anymore, and you get a maximum strength booze. At -12 degrees Celsius (10.4F) you can attain max 20% ABV. At least, that's what some website says. They're probably right, though. You can find tables for it online, anyway.
I think I'm gonna convert my entire batch to jacked stuff (small freezer, I can do just 1L at a time :) ), cause I'd rather have about 2-3 L of strong booze that actually tastes pretty good (freeze distilling also concentrates the flavours), than 7L of stuff that didn't turn out very good at all ... :) [it's odd, apple/pineapple/strawberry/honey ... sounds like it should be awesome. dunno what went wrong]
TL;DR: USE A SALAD SPINNER
(http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-scared-smileys-306.gif)
That's brilliant.
If I had a salad spinner.
Yeah, I've got several gallons of slush that I can still smell the alcohol in, trying to figure how to get it out.
And I've got one gallon of stuff that's not as strong as I'd like, going to throw it back in the freezer this weekend.
And, yeah, freezing it to concentrate it is not legal. Which is bloody stupid.
So my fridge goin wonky and freezing the cider on the top shelf is illegal? Great, my appliances are commiting crimes now. They'll be addicted to drugs next.
Quote from: Richter on April 08, 2011, 02:01:38 PM
So my fridge goin wonky and freezing the cider on the top shelf is illegal? Great, my appliances are commiting crimes now. They'll be addicted to drugs next.
I DID see your stove sniffing at the Weapon X bottle, last time I was over. You might wanna watch that...
Reporting on salad spinner usage:
I have indeed found that if I fill the spinner only halfway it doesn't nearly break the poor plastic device because of the weight of the ice slush.
And it makes the ice very white! And the booze very smooth and syrupy.
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 08, 2011, 04:10:52 PM
Reporting on salad spinner usage:
I have indeed found that if I fill the spinner only halfway it doesn't nearly break the poor plastic device because of the weight of the ice slush.
And it makes the ice very white! And the booze very smooth and syrupy.
Thanks. :) I'll be going to find one this weekend.
Quote from: Luna on April 08, 2011, 02:05:17 PM
Quote from: Richter on April 08, 2011, 02:01:38 PM
So my fridge goin wonky and freezing the cider on the top shelf is illegal? Great, my appliances are commiting crimes now. They'll be addicted to drugs next.
I DID see your stove sniffing at the Weapon X bottle, last time I was over. You might wanna watch that...
That's Amelia for ya. This is why the pilot is always out.
I am brewing up Imperial Molasses Stout tomorrow. My first batch was super yummy so now I get to see if i can replicate it.
RE freeze distilling. heat distillation is legal in some states, so long as you don't make more than a certain amount, I figure the same applies to freeze distillation. I guess it depends on where you are brewing.
I also checked around a bit and according to my (admittedly relatively brief) research so long as it is not distilled to have more than 24% ABV it's still considered wine/beer in the state of Ohio
Then the people on homebrewtalk.com are a bunch of sissy cunts for shutting the discussion on freeze distilling cause you need a freezer that goes below -16 Celsius (3.2F) in order to be able to reach 24% ABV:
(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/6928/abv.png)
( source: http://eckraus.com/wine-making-applejack.html gives four data points, I just drew the lines, seems pretty linear in this range )
My graph just shows the absolute limit you can attain, if you repeatedly distill and filter until it no longer freezes at that temp. Doing the process one or two times is going to yield a slightly lower ABV.
I don't think my freezer goes to -16, probably -12 or so. I know, I'll just stick my kitchen thermometer in the slush I have freezing right now. BRB.
huh, seems I was wrong, thermometer says -19.8 degrees Celsius. That means I can make nearly 27% ABV!!! :banana:
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM this jacked shit is good :D
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 10, 2011, 05:03:41 PM
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM this jacked shit is good :D
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110410_164416.jpg)
You, Trip, are a genius.
Got an extra 2 pints. :D
The limeade is ready to bottle.
...and you can't taste much alcohol...and then...BOOM.
GODDAMNIT SQUID. YOU MAKE ME DRUNK. :argh!:
Suu and Luna have made tasty things which will certainly have good results.
Quote from: Richter on April 12, 2011, 12:58:09 AM
Suu and Luna have made tasty things which will certainly have good results.
I'll have the apple for the Meatup... The strawberry cordial is bottled, and the peach and blackberry cordials SHOULD be about ready by then, I'm just out of bottles...
I desperately need to go to the brew store this week for bottles and priming sugar. Though I think this shit has a fizzy of it's own already.
Damn limeade is some good shit, huh?
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on April 12, 2011, 06:04:30 PM
Damn limeade is some good shit, huh?
Good god! Even flat and warm with a little parfum d'yeast! It's not like, super high in alcohol, but it'll get you buzzed good and proper. Once I get this stuff out of the carboy I'm making another batch for Pennsic, because this 4 gallons is gonna go fast.
Quote from: Luna on April 10, 2011, 10:39:34 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 10, 2011, 05:03:41 PM
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM this jacked shit is good :D
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110410_164416.jpg)
You, Trip, are a genius.
Got an extra 2 pints. :D
Make sure you save the receipt on your salad spinner, though. I just broke the pull-cord on mine. I suppose lettuce is quite a bit lighter than ice :(
Gonna take it back to the store this weekend. It wasn't a very cheapo one (12 euros iirc), and on my first ice spinning, the plastic grip on the other end of the cord partially split open. That can't have had anything to do with the weight of the ice, but just shitty construction. I fixed it with duct tape, but now that the other side came loose, I can't fix it and the thing is broken, and I think it even had a two year warranty ...
If the manual doesn't say you can't spin ice in it, and it
looks sturdy/quality enough to hold itself, that means I can take it back.
This one's pretty tank, didn't give us any trouble. We actually had to move to the floor from the table, it was shaking the whole table. :D
Just in case, tonight's insomnia project:
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110416_053212.jpg)
Hope y'all like strawberry... They had 'em on buy a quart, get a quart free, so I figured, what the hell... Should be ready for the meatup in May!
I found another suggestion for freeze distillation, probably gonna try it when I get to that point.
That is, freeze it in a plastic 2-liter bottle, cut slits in the bottle, attach to a power drill and spin like that (in a bucket)
So, I'm thinking to myself... Why the hell did I buy a five pound bag of oranges? There's no way in hell I'm going to eat them all before they go bad...
What can I do with all these oranges...
Hm...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110425_204038.jpg)
Never mind.
God damn it.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110425_212619.jpg)
I'm going to bed.
Quote from: Luna on April 26, 2011, 02:38:35 AM
Never mind.
God damn it.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110425_212619.jpg)
I'm going to bed.
:sadbanana:
:eek: :x
Anybody want a cat? Cheap?
Little bitch knocked it off the counter.
I really liked that jar, too. :cry:
Quote from: Luna on April 26, 2011, 01:44:55 AM
So, I'm thinking to myself... Why the hell did I buy a cat? There's no way in hell I'm going to eat it before it goes bad...
What can I do with this cat here...
Hm...
(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5416/littlebitchbonsai.jpg)
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 26, 2011, 01:26:19 PM
Quote from: Luna on April 26, 2011, 01:44:55 AM
So, I'm thinking to myself... Why the hell did I buy a cat? There's no way in hell I'm going to eat it before it goes bad...
What can I do with this cat here...
Hm...
(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5416/littlebitchbonsai.jpg)
:spittake:
Trip, your first beer when we go out Friday night for the Meatup is on me.
Quote from: Triple Zero on April 26, 2011, 01:26:19 PM
Quote from: Luna on April 26, 2011, 01:44:55 AM
So, I'm thinking to myself... Why the hell did I buy a cat? There's no way in hell I'm going to eat it before it goes bad...
What can I do with this cat here...
Hm...
(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5416/littlebitchbonsai.jpg)
:lulz:
Have mopped the floor twice, and it's still sticky. Anybody got any hints on getting a quart of vodka and sugar cleaned up? :x Luna is SKEEVED.
Quote from: Luna on April 26, 2011, 01:35:55 PM
Have mopped the floor twice, and it's still sticky. Anybody got any hints on getting a quart of vodka and sugar cleaned up? :x Luna is SKEEVED.
Hot water and dish soap, is the best I can offer.
Use the cat.
No offense, good thing that tanked anyway. Oranges don't cordial very well, and you only need sugar if you're doing it with berries.
However...I'd still have punted Artemis across the house.
Moving on, I need to bottle the limeade. I let it go that extra 2 weeks and fermentation is at a stand still. Enzo will be over sometime within the next few days to help me get it primed and capped, since he has more bottles and a capper. Then I start on batch #2 which I'm thinking of adding actual fruit pieces to for added yeast food.
Quote from: Suu the Infallible on April 28, 2011, 03:26:16 PM
No offense, good thing that tanked anyway. Oranges don't cordial very well, and you only need sugar if you're doing it with berries.
However...I'd still have punted Artemis across the house.
It's a good thing for her she hid until I calmed down. And, hey, experiments happen, I was having fun with it.
QuoteMoving on, I need to bottle the limeade. I let it go that extra 2 weeks and fermentation is at a stand still. Enzo will be over sometime within the next few days to help me get it primed and capped, since he has more bottles and a capper. Then I start on batch #2 which I'm thinking of adding actual fruit pieces to for added yeast food.
I'm toying with the idea of starting another batch of applejack, just gotta find the cider and hit the store. Need yeast, and can't keep tying up Richter's carboy... and I've gotta get more bottles for when the blackberry and peach cordials are done.
My housemates and I are going to start brewing our own beer, probably starting this weekend with a stout (it being autumn over here and all). Any tips for beginners?
Decisions, decisions...
Another batch of applejack next, or a mead?
Hrm...
mead!
Quote from: Rumckle on May 03, 2011, 11:53:54 AM
My housemates and I are going to start brewing our own beer, probably starting this weekend with a stout (it being autumn over here and all). Any tips for beginners?
Good sanitation is crucial. If you can keep it clean and you are working from a good recipe, it's easy to make good beer.
My homebrew shop carries Cooper's Sparkling Ale yeast, and I bet that yeast would make a good Australian stout.
So, we went to the local brew store last night, and had a nice long chat with the owner. Bought some stuff (Blue Mountains Lager) and put it all together this morning, so now I just play the waiting game.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 07, 2011, 02:43:46 AM
Good sanitation is crucial. If you can keep it clean and you are working from a good recipe, it's easy to make good beer.
Yeah, that's what everybody has been saying, hopfully everything should turn out fine then, I'll just have to wait and see.
Good luck, hope it comes out great.
I just dropped off 9 entries to my club's sponsored homebrew competition -- an American wheat, a Scottish export, a chipotle Kahlua stout*, a Russian imperial stout, a Belgian golden strong ale with strawberries, a double rye IPA, a cider, an English barleywine, and a Belgian dubbel.
So, I basically traded away 18 bottles of good-to-awesome beer and $45 of hard-earned cash in entry fees for a chance to win a few ribbons.
----
*Yes Squid, I brewed another batch and have plenty now -- do you still have any of your Turkish coffee stout left?
Per Pixie's demand (since I'm fairly sure she can kill me from across an ocean), supplies for mead are gotten. Starting. If I blow up, is all Pixie's fault.
Quote from: Luna on May 07, 2011, 06:45:02 PM
Per Pixie's demand (since I'm fairly sure she can kill me from across an ocean), supplies for mead are gotten. Starting. If I blow up, is all Pixie's fault.
No explosions. Not even a toxic spill. I must be doing this shit wrong.
Orange clove mead, in the carboy, once it cools a little more, the yeast goes in, and I get to wait months to see if I did it right.
ETA:
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/IMG_20110507_172633.jpg)
Looks promising... It's going "blurp" at me every 5-6 seconds, which has to be a good sign. :D
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 07, 2011, 03:50:56 AM
Good luck, hope it comes out great.
I just dropped off 9 entries to my club's sponsored homebrew competition -- an American wheat, a Scottish export, a chipotle Kahlua stout*, a Russian imperial stout, a Belgian golden strong ale with strawberries, a double rye IPA, a cider, an English barleywine, and a Belgian dubbel.
So, I basically traded away 18 bottles of good-to-awesome beer and $45 of hard-earned cash in entry fees for a chance to win a few ribbons.
----
*Yes Squid, I brewed another batch and have plenty now -- do you still have any of your Turkish coffee stout left?
Do I ever! It's still carbonating in the beer closet. It has a weak head that disappears pretty quick right now, but by fall I think it will be perfect. Tastes good though.
I have a lot of this stuff
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on May 11, 2011, 04:03:36 PM
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 07, 2011, 03:50:56 AM
Good luck, hope it comes out great.
I just dropped off 9 entries to my club's sponsored homebrew competition -- an American wheat, a Scottish export, a chipotle Kahlua stout*, a Russian imperial stout, a Belgian golden strong ale with strawberries, a double rye IPA, a cider, an English barleywine, and a Belgian dubbel.
So, I basically traded away 18 bottles of good-to-awesome beer and $45 of hard-earned cash in entry fees for a chance to win a few ribbons.
----
*Yes Squid, I brewed another batch and have plenty now -- do you still have any of your Turkish coffee stout left?
Do I ever! It's still carbonating in the beer closet. It has a weak head that disappears pretty quick right now, but by fall I think it will be perfect. Tastes good though.
I have a lot of this stuff
The head on my Chipotle Kahlua stout disappears quickly too, and the carbonation is really fizzy. I'm not sure what's up with that. The first batch didn't do that.
It seems like the longer it ages, the better the pepper flavor melds with the other flavors. It's very spicy now, but it doesn't hit me until the finish. I get roast, coffee, chocolate, and alcohol up front. I hope whoever judges the herb/vegetable/spice beer category on Saturday likes heat, otherwise I'm certain to lose points for being "unbalanced".
In this new batch, I used more Kahlua, and I also added a pint of Creme de Cacao. A fifth of Kahlua plus a pint of Creme de Cacao in a five gallon roughly equals a half-shot of liquor in every 12 ounce bottle, or enough to bump the base beer up from 8% ABV to 8.8%.
A five-ounce taster glass of this beer is awesome, but a pint glass is more than I want unless I have a complementary food like grilled sausage to pair it with.
It sounds spectacular. I'm all jealous that it's not in my house.
Our stout turned out tasting exactly how I wanted it to. Like a tiny cup of turkish coffee with the cardamom and everything. The coffee flavor is a little more muted than I wanted, but that may change with time. I'm quite pleased with it.
Quote from: Luna on May 11, 2011, 03:16:21 AM
Looks promising... It's going "blurp" at me every 5-6 seconds, which has to be a good sign. :D
That's perfect for a mead, they typically don't need a blowoff tube or anything.
PS- the pomegranate and blueberry juice stuff we made ended up fermenting all of the sugar out so it tastes like a pink champagne. A very dry one at 15%. Not sure I like it so I'm gonna let it sit for a year or 10 and see what happens.
(I may have mentioned this before, can't remember, sorry if repeat)
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 11, 2011, 11:52:26 PMThe head on my Chipotle Kahlua stout disappears quickly too, and the carbonation is really fizzy. I'm not sure what's up with that. The first batch didn't do that.
It seems like the longer it ages, the better the pepper flavor melds with the other flavors. It's very spicy now, but it doesn't hit me until the finish. I get roast, coffee, chocolate, and alcohol up front. I hope whoever judges the herb/vegetable/spice beer category on Saturday likes heat, otherwise I'm certain to lose points for being "unbalanced".
Heh.
Quote from: Judge 1... Hot spicy peppers dominate, YEOW! Peppers dominate this beer hard to discern other flavors. Background is roasty, chocolatey. ... Hot pepper sensation on tongue all the day down the throat. ... Not a pleasant sensation for a beer. The peppers dominate this beer to a level that does not feel well balanced for the style. Special ingredients should add complexity, not dominate. Try again as the base beer seems solid, just back off the peppers.
Quote from: Judge 2... Very hot peppery. Too dominant in flavor. Lose the stout in hot pepper flavor. ... Too overwhelming with hot pepper. Not able to taste base beer. Need to greatly reduce peppers to make beer drinkable. Would make great base for chili.
I took second in the Russian Imperial Stout category. The RIS that beat mine went on to take 2nd in the overall best of show.
Oh yeah, the competition organizers trolled some of the judges. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) sells flavor kits (http://www.bjcp.org/cep/kits.php) for wannabe beer judges so they can doctor beers and taste them to learn to recognize various off flavors. So the organizers used one of those kits to doctor the ever living fuck out of a beer and then submitted it in the name of a guy who is a prominent member of our homebrew club despite the fact that he rarely brews any beer.
The scores officially range from 0-50, but as a courtesy we typically don't go below 13. One of the judges was telling me about it before I knew anything, said it was by far the worst beer he had ever had, and couldn't understand why anyone would submit it to a competition. He gave this beer a 4.
Quote from: Rumckle on May 03, 2011, 11:53:54 AM
My housemates and I are going to start brewing our own beer, probably starting this weekend with a stout (it being autumn over here and all). Any tips for beginners?
stouts are good to start with, they're pretty easy and the full dark flavor will cover up accidental off flavors. The main things to watch out for are to be patient, if you think it might be done leave it a few more days. don't open your fermenter.
Can't offer anythign else without having some idea of what sort of setup you have.
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 16, 2011, 12:37:52 AM
Quote from: Pastor Miskatonic Zappathruster on May 11, 2011, 11:52:26 PMThe head on my Chipotle Kahlua stout disappears quickly too, and the carbonation is really fizzy. I'm not sure what's up with that. The first batch didn't do that.
It seems like the longer it ages, the better the pepper flavor melds with the other flavors. It's very spicy now, but it doesn't hit me until the finish. I get roast, coffee, chocolate, and alcohol up front. I hope whoever judges the herb/vegetable/spice beer category on Saturday likes heat, otherwise I'm certain to lose points for being "unbalanced".
Heh.
Quote from: Judge 1... Hot spicy peppers dominate, YEOW! Peppers dominate this beer hard to discern other flavors. Background is roasty, chocolatey. ... Hot pepper sensation on tongue all the day down the throat. ... Not a pleasant sensation for a beer. The peppers dominate this beer to a level that does not feel well balanced for the style. Special ingredients should add complexity, not dominate. Try again as the base beer seems solid, just back off the peppers.
Quote from: Judge 2... Very hot peppery. Too dominant in flavor. Lose the stout in hot pepper flavor. ... Too overwhelming with hot pepper. Not able to taste base beer. Need to greatly reduce peppers to make beer drinkable. Would make great base for chili.
I took second in the Russian Imperial Stout category. The RIS that beat mine went on to take 2nd in the overall best of show.
Now I REALLY wanna try it. Did you bottle any 12oz? We could uh.. "trade homemade sodas", wink wink nudge nudge...
Sure. Any idea how much it costs to ship a 12oz "live yeast sample"?
I think it's like 8 bucks or so if you find the right sized box. I recommend bubble wrap and lots of paper stuffing.
I shipped 2 of them for 8 bucks via UPS. I am lucky enough to have a local winery that will sell me shipping boxes made specifically for beer and wine bottles.
Just don't tell them it has any alcohol or they won't ship it.
It's "soda. soda they can't get there"
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on May 25, 2011, 07:12:55 AM
Just don't tell them it has any alcohol or they won't ship it.
It's "soda. soda they can't get there"
or home made soda.
Last night, Enzo and I added tequila to the hard limeade.
Oh. My. God.
strongest margarita evar?
It was delicious. I made alcoholic sour mix!
I'm having a glass now. Still a wee bit green. I have some bottles warm and some in the fridge, this was a cold one.
Oh. God. This is like...twice as strong as Mike's. Fuck.
I mixed it with Cruzan Black Strap.
...Um. Sweet tea, anyone? :fap:
PRIMED.
THIS SHIT IS PRIMED.
OH. MY. GOD.
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:33:15 PM
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Oh, my... Let me know how that goes, it sounds interesting!
Quote from: Luna on June 15, 2011, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:33:15 PM
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Oh, my... Let me know how that goes, it sounds interesting!
Will do. It's my first serious attempt at a mead. I made some years ago, but I did it in 2 liter bottles, this is going to be in a proper carboy and taken much more careful care of.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:49:15 PM
Quote from: Luna on June 15, 2011, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:33:15 PM
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Oh, my... Let me know how that goes, it sounds interesting!
Will do. It's my first serious attempt at a mead. I made some years ago, but I did it in 2 liter bottles, this is going to be in a proper carboy and taken much more careful care of.
My first attempt with mead is still fermenting... Another month or so to go, I think.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:33:15 PM
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Be careful with those sharp herbs, they can make something very bitter. I would recommend putting them in the primary OR secondary, but not both. The smell also gets into everything, especially if you get fresh.
My former housemates and I made an anisette, which, although delicious when it was done, made me sick after the smell of star anise permeated everything in the kitchen, my downstairs workroom and their office. It got into EVERYTHING and made us nauseous, so use sparingly. It took about 2 weeks for the smell to go away after we used up all the anise and the liqueur was contained in a jar.
Quote from: Your Evil Stepmother on June 15, 2011, 03:41:18 PM
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on June 15, 2011, 02:33:15 PM
My plan for my next project is a methlegin (herbed mead) herbed with licorice, or possibly fennel or anise.
Be careful with those sharp herbs, they can make something very bitter. I would recommend putting them in the primary OR secondary, but not both. The smell also gets into everything, especially if you get fresh.
My former housemates and I made an anisette, which, although delicious when it was done, made me sick after the smell of star anise permeated everything in the kitchen, my downstairs workroom and their office. It got into EVERYTHING and made us nauseous, so use sparingly. It took about 2 weeks for the smell to go away after we used up all the anise and the liqueur was contained in a jar.
I'd like everything smelling like anise, but my wife would not so thanks for the warning.
I'll probably put it in the primary.
How good is summertime for making booze, y'all? I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?
Quote from: Jenne on June 16, 2011, 03:15:18 AM
How good is summertime for making booze, y'all? I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?
Depends on what you're brewing and where you keep your fermenter. English, American, and German style beers do better when it's colder. Belgian and French style beers do better when it's warmer. All kinds of beer prefer steady or gradually changing temps to fluctuating temps.
Summertime is great for making Saisons. Saison yeasts like to be in the 80's or even 90's. Start it at room temperature, and let it build up to the higher temps.
Quote from: Jenne on June 16, 2011, 03:15:18 AM
How good is summertime for making booze, y'all? I will have time and $ to do so (finally), but I wanted to know if it's best to brew when it's colder or warmer?
California summertime (at elast Southern California) is hot enough that you are gonna need to cool down the beer or wine a bit or you'll get all sorts of off flavors. Even in a Saison. On the other hand if it is in your house in your air conditioning it should be fine.
Ok, what's the max temp then? Summers in San Diego are actually DAMN mild...it's our FALL/AUTUMN season that tends to be hotter than hell. September/October temps here are in the 80's and 90's...
Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?
BOOZE, MAN!
In all seriousness, I've been MEANING to brew something for a while now, but haven't had the time. I will shortly have some. But I was worried about the temps that I'd be dealing with in the near future. I'm thinking if I start say this weekend and giter bubbling by the end of the month, I'd beat the onslaught of summer heat coming at the end of July and August.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on June 17, 2011, 05:26:11 AM
Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?
so probably beer and mead :D
Different yeast strains have different preferred temperature ranges. You can see a chart of the most common homebrewer beer yeasts here:
http://byo.com/resources/yeast
Coopers Ale yeast is a dry yeast that is pretty versatile and has a wide temperature range, 68-80F. I have used that yeast in several kinds of beer, and also in cider.
If your house is air conditioned, then any dark place inside your house should be good enough for most ale yeasts. You could also keep your fermenter in a wash-tub or large bucket with water and wrap a towel around it. As the towel wicks up the water and the water evaporates, it will cool your fermenter down. This works even better if you can keep a fan blowing on it.
Quote from: Jenne on June 17, 2011, 07:29:49 PM
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on June 17, 2011, 05:26:11 AM
Max temp for what?
Whatcha thinkin of making?
so probably beer and mead :D
What kind of beer makes a big difference. If you are making a Saison, or a Belgian farmhouse ale it can tolerate a good bit of heat, you could have the ambient temp in the 80's and probably be fine. If you are making a pale ale you need to keep it considerably lower (down in the low 60's if I remember right, but I don't brew Pale Ale's so I may be wrong) If you are doing a lager it's gotta be even colder and needs a period of "lagering" where it is down in the 30's.
THANKS GUYS!!!!
If any of you spags can be in Charlotte NC on October 8, I'll be here (http://www.charlotteoktoberfest.com/). Tickets will go on sale Friday morning at 11:00 EDT. I get in "free" because I did the website.
Last year, there were over 400 different beers available for sampling, including commercial and homebrews. My homebrew club was serving double IPA's through a hop randall, and we should be doing that again this year.
I love the randall.
One year at Redlight Redlight they put smoked pumpkin soaked in FL whiskey in the randall and ran DFH punkin ale.
my latest imperial stout, which was made on the dregs of my mocha stout and thus has some coffee and chocolate in it, plus a little bit of a brett infection (not intentional, but not a bad thing) is siphoning into the bottling bucket right now. I'll be starting my mead tomorrow or soon therafter, I think I am going to go with a berry mead rather than a licorice one, after getting input from all my friends.
Cloved orange mead is bottled. It certainly does not suck as it is, and a little time to settle in the bottles may make it awesome. Keeping that recipe.
Quote from: Luna on July 16, 2011, 11:14:51 PM
Cloved orange mead is bottled. It certainly does not suck as it is, and a little time to settle in the bottles may make it awesome. Keeping that recipe.
sounds tasty
Dudes, I've decided because of the variable temps and humidity, that I'm going to do this project of mine in my bro's wine fridge.
Thoughts? (mead, poss. cider with orange infusion and also heff or other ale)
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on November 05, 2010, 04:47:02 PM
We had done a gallon of something called "Joe's Ancient Mead" with raisins, orange, cinnamon and junk and just moved it into the secondary last night.
Smells like friggin gasoline.
It should be better after some bottle aging.
Huh. Went back to the beginning of this thread to poke around, and found this. Googled "Joe's Ancient Mead." Got the recipe I just used for the cloved orange mead, darn near exactly.
I replaced the yeast (it says use dried bread yeast, :vom:, I used the liquid English Cider yeast instead), and followed pretty exactly. Came out of the carboy tasting pretty good, without even letting it settle in the bottles.
Quote from: Jenne on July 18, 2011, 04:28:25 AM
Dudes, I've decided because of the variable temps and humidity, that I'm going to do this project of mine in my bro's wine fridge.
Thoughts? (mead, poss. cider with orange infusion and also heff or other ale)
If you are gonna do an ale make sure the wine fridge isn't set too cold. most Ale yeasts are best around 60 degrees, too cold and they don't give much flavor to the beer.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on July 18, 2011, 06:12:12 AM
Quote from: Jenne on July 18, 2011, 04:28:25 AM
Dudes, I've decided because of the variable temps and humidity, that I'm going to do this project of mine in my bro's wine fridge.
Thoughts? (mead, poss. cider with orange infusion and also heff or other ale)
If you are gonna do an ale make sure the wine fridge isn't set too cold. most Ale yeasts are best around 60 degrees, too cold and they don't give much flavor to the beer.
DANG. Ok. I'm also thinking of just BUYING the damned thing off of him.
Quote from: Jenne on July 19, 2011, 04:04:44 AM
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on July 18, 2011, 06:12:12 AM
Quote from: Jenne on July 18, 2011, 04:28:25 AM
Dudes, I've decided because of the variable temps and humidity, that I'm going to do this project of mine in my bro's wine fridge.
Thoughts? (mead, poss. cider with orange infusion and also heff or other ale)
If you are gonna do an ale make sure the wine fridge isn't set too cold. most Ale yeasts are best around 60 degrees, too cold and they don't give much flavor to the beer.
DANG. Ok. I'm also thinking of just BUYING the damned thing off of him.
Lagers like cold, down in the low 40's is good. A wine storage fridge should easily do mid to high 50's which is great for a mead, or a cider, or a fairly light ale.
They're gonna take away my license to cordial...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/Food/IMG_20110720_222025.jpg)
Quote from: Luna on July 21, 2011, 03:25:47 AM
They're gonna take away my license to cordial...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/Food/IMG_20110720_222025.jpg)
THAT'S...JUST...hmm. I'll get back to you on how I feel about this.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on July 21, 2011, 03:31:43 AM
Quote from: Luna on July 21, 2011, 03:25:47 AM
They're gonna take away my license to cordial...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/Food/IMG_20110720_222025.jpg)
THAT'S...JUST...hmm. I'll get back to you on how I feel about this.
The swedish fish cordial came out pretty darned tasty...
What is it?
Quote from: Jenkem and SPACE/TIME on July 21, 2011, 04:27:59 AM
What is it?
Erm... Well, I had this vodka, you see... And no fruit, once I had the blueberries in...
There was this big bag of those candy spearmint leaves...
So I did science to them.
Quote from: Luna on July 21, 2011, 04:34:24 AM
Quote from: Jenkem and SPACE/TIME on July 21, 2011, 04:27:59 AM
What is it?
Erm... Well, I had this vodka, you see... And no fruit, once I had the blueberries in...
There was this big bag of those candy spearmint leaves...
So I did science to them.
NICE.
Quote from: Jenkem and SPACE/TIME on July 21, 2011, 04:44:40 AM
Quote from: Luna on July 21, 2011, 04:34:24 AM
Quote from: Jenkem and SPACE/TIME on July 21, 2011, 04:27:59 AM
What is it?
Erm... Well, I had this vodka, you see... And no fruit, once I had the blueberries in...
There was this big bag of those candy spearmint leaves...
So I did science to them.
NICE.
It already smells pretty awesome. If the time runs like the swedish fish (another science experiment... Hey, they're fruit flavored, and I was out of fruit), should only be a couple weeks, I should have it in time for Pennsic.
Oooooh... now that gives me an idea for what else we could do with the nine million pounds of blueberries that the bushes in our backyard are producing.
And golly gee whiz, I'll be old enough to buy the supplies on my own by Monday! :lulz:
HABBY BIRFDAY
:mrgreen:
ALSO YOU ARE A BANANA ROBOT WITH CARROT HAIR. YOU ARE ADORABLE.
STOP THAT SHIT.
Quote from: Cainad on July 21, 2011, 06:40:58 AM
Oooooh... now that gives me an idea for what else we could do with the nine million pounds of blueberries that the bushes in our backyard are producing.
And golly gee whiz, I'll be old enough to buy the supplies on my own by Monday! :lulz:
You can buy supplies to brew at any age. They aren't selling you alcohol, just supplies to make it.
Quote from: Jenkem and SPACE/TIME on July 21, 2011, 06:43:28 AM
ALSO YOU ARE A BANANA ROBOT WITH CARROT HAIR. YOU ARE ADORABLE.
STOP THAT SHIT.
Nevar!
Quote from: Her Royal Suuness on July 21, 2011, 12:57:10 PM
Quote from: Cainad on July 21, 2011, 06:40:58 AM
Oooooh... now that gives me an idea for what else we could do with the nine million pounds of blueberries that the bushes in our backyard are producing.
And golly gee whiz, I'll be old enough to buy the supplies on my own by Monday! :lulz:
You can buy supplies to brew at any age. They aren't selling you alcohol, just supplies to make it.
Oh, we've got beer making stuff here already, and part of the plan is to use blueberries in the process. I was referring to the cordials.
Yep, will have to hold off on the vodka. I am having a ball playing with the cordials, will report on the blueberry when it's done.
I bet Blueberry would be delicious in a lice light wheat ale, or something soured a bit.
A friend of mine is making a blueberry mead, not fresh blueberries unfortunatelty, but it should still be good.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on July 21, 2011, 05:37:05 PM
I bet Blueberry would be delicious in a lice light wheat ale, or something soured a bit.
A friend of mine is making a blueberry mead, not fresh blueberries unfortunatelty, but it should still be good.
I need to do another batch of strawberry, I'm nearly out.
Tomorrow, I'm taking a vacation day from work and using it to make much beer.
I'll be bottling my Orval clone, and will be racking a Belgian IPA onto the leftover Brett. I'll be brewing the Sam Adams Noble Pils clone recipe from last month's Zymurgy, only I'll be adding 2lbs of cane sugar and using a saison yeast, so it will be a noble saison rather than a noble pilsner. I'll also be brewing a strong Belgian brown ale, which starts from the recipe for my super-caramelly American brown ale but uses a trappist yeast and adds 2 more pounds of base malt, a 20oz block of panela, and a little bit more hops to keep the balance right.
I also have a Hennepin clone that I'll be racking to secondary sometime before I make the noble saison, because I'm going to need that yeast cake. The other beer is going on the cake from the Belgian IPA.
So bottling one batch, transferring two batches, and brewing two batches.
:cheers:
my mead, which ended up being blackberry cherry, has been in the carboy bubbling for 2 weeks. I guess that is what I get for using 15 lbs of honey in 5 gallons of mead. Beer is usually done bubbling after 3-4 days.
Anyways it's the end of peach season, which means it is time to make my sour peach wheat. I have made a gallon of wort with 2 lbs of 2 row and thrown in a handful of grain and it is in the basement sitting to sour, in a few days I am gonna go see if I can find peaches and brew up the powdered malt and mix it all together. Last year I put the peaches in secondary, but I misjudged when peach season is, so this year they're going in primary.
Are you using the naturally occurring bugs on the grain to sour it, or did you use a bacteria culture?
Quote from: Precious Moments Zalgo on August 12, 2011, 03:29:08 AM
Are you using the naturally occurring bugs on the grain to sour it, or did you use a bacteria culture?
the bugs on the grain. I threw a handful into the jug.
Started a new cordial... this one, trying brandy instead of vodka. Working, now, I have the strawberry/brandy, and, with vodka, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry. I need more bottles...
I really want to try brewing beer. The caveat is that I am so poor at the moment, making rent is priority one. So, what I'm asking is...
What stuff do I need to begin? And by need, I mean bare-bones. And by bare-bones, I mean that each dollar spent is a dedication of my precious, if-ever-exists spending money.
Thanks.
Icey
Saturday I threw together
- 6L (1.6 gal) apple juice (100%, from concentrate, no preservatives)
- 1.8kg (4 lbs) cheap honey
- 3g BIOFERM KILLER yeast
it's bubbling very happily!
the yeast goes up to 16% ABV and is supposed to kill wild yeasts, which is good.
it smells much better than when I use bread yeast, hehehe :)
It said to use 3g on 10L, which is less than half the packet, which is also good because the shit is about 5x more expensive than bread yeast.
I wonder if I got the amounts of sugar right ... Usually I go with 3L apple juice, 1L water, 1.25kg honey. Now I have 1.5x the amount of liquid, which would be 1.88kg honey, but no water, so relatively more sweet apple juice ... sounds about right, no? What do you guys think? Add more honey, water, apple juice or leave it as it is?
Icey: brewing wine/mead is both cheaper and simpler than brewing beer. but then, I never brewed beer. currently I used the most bare bones approach, as outlined above. The container is an 8L (2.1gal) plastic water jug (glass is better). And instead of a waterlock I used two sheets of plastic with four tiny holes in them and a rubber band. If, in addition, you make sure everything is clean (and rinsed out properly (3x) so there is no cleaning stuff left to kill the yeast (NONE)), then this is pretty much the most bare bonesest way to approach it.
Estimate costs:
- 4x1.5L apple juice = 4 x EUR 0.89 = EUR 3.56
- 4x450g honey = 4 x EUR 1.18 = EUR 4.72
- 0.5x7.5g BIOFERM KILLER YEAST = 0.5 x EUR 2.00 = EUR 1.00 (~estimate, I forgot how much I paid for the yeast)
================== +++ TOTAL
EUR 9.28 = $13.50
I can convert this to dollars, except it makes no sense because the prices in supermarkets are completely different in the US.
Quote from: Icey on August 29, 2011, 07:23:03 AM
I really want to try brewing beer. The caveat is that I am so poor at the moment, making rent is priority one. So, what I'm asking is...
What stuff do I need to begin? And by need, I mean bare-bones. And by bare-bones, I mean that each dollar spent is a dedication of my precious, if-ever-exists spending money.
Thanks.
Icey
If you are doing extract rather than all-grain, you will save money on equipment, but your ingredients will cost a little more.
You will need a boil kettle. This will be the most expensive thing. Check Craigslist and look for deals. Your boil kettle needs to be at least 5 gallons if you are doing extract, or at least 8 gallons (10 would be better -- you will have to watch a smaller kettle like a hawk to keep it from boiling over) if you are doing all-grain. If you have an electric stove, it will struggle to boil the all-grain size. You would want to use an outdoor propane cooker instead.
If will be doing all-grain, you will also need a mash-tun, which you can build yourself with a cooler and some CPVC.
You will need a fermenter. You can use a 5-gallon plastic water bottle ($7 + $6 deposit), and all you will need is a drilled #10 stopper ($2) and an airlock ($1). You can use the water to make your beer, and then turn the thing back in for the deposit when you're done.
You will need a bottling bucket ($15), or some kind of vessel with a spigot on the bottom. If your boil kettle has a spigot, you could probably use that. You will need a racking tube ($3) and a 6 foot section of vinyl tubing to siphon the beer from the fermenter to the bucket. You will also need a bottle filler ($3) and 4 foot section of vinyl tubing to fill your bottles.
You will need two cases worth of clean pry-off beer bottles, and about that many new bottle caps. You can sanitize them by running them through the rinse cycle in your dishwasher (poor-man's autoclave). You will need a bottle capper ($15) to apply the bottle caps.
Nice-to-haves are a lab thermometer and a hydrometer.
As far as ingredient costs, the cost depends almost entirely on how strong of a beer you want to brew. Most normal-strength beers will cost $30-$40 per batch including the malt extract and specialty grains, hops, and yeast. An equivalent all-grain recipe might be $5 less.
Quote from: Icey on August 29, 2011, 07:23:03 AM
I really want to try brewing beer. The caveat is that I am so poor at the moment, making rent is priority one. So, what I'm asking is...
What stuff do I need to begin? And by need, I mean bare-bones. And by bare-bones, I mean that each dollar spent is a dedication of my precious, if-ever-exists spending money.
Thanks.
Icey
A gallon jug, a balloon, some malt, some hops and some yeast. Oh and a decent pot to boil it all in.
you want roughly 1 lb of malt per gallon of beer for a reasonably light beer. hops are a matter of taste. Making beer one gallon at a time isn't something I could do because I'd be frustrated at not having more beer, but it is certainly doable. The balloon acts as a super cheap airlock, you put it over the mouth of the jar to keep outside air from getting in, you will probably need to let the air out of it periodically.
Authentic New Zealand beer recipe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=399160634):
QuoteBrewing barley beer on your own can save you a significant amount of money over time and can be a fun experience that you may want to repeat for years to come. Brewing your own beer not only allows you the satisfaction of saving money from buying beer at the store, but also allows you to experiment with different types of beer to determine which you like the best. While brewing your own barley beer may sound difficult, it is actually quite simple with the proper instructions.
# 1
Clean all of your equipment thoroughly with lukewarm soap and water before using it. This ensures optimal conditions during the brewing process and ensures the beer is safe to drink.
# 2
Place a pot on the stove and add 7 liters of water to it. Bring the water to a boil.
# 3
Pour 10 liters of water into a plastic bucket and let it sit until the pot of water has boiled. Add one 8 ounce packet of malt extract to the water once it is boiling and stir the pot. Allow this mixture to cook on the stove for about 20 minutes.
# 4
Pour 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of dried barley into the boiling water and stir the pot until the ingredients completely dissolve. Once dissolved, pour the mixture into the bucket containing 10 liters of water. Continue by adding tap water to the top of the mixture until the bucket reaches approximate room temperature. Sprinkle in 4 teaspoons of yeast so that it reaches all parts of the brew.
# 5
Cover the bucket and let the mixture sit in place for six to 10 days. Only tighten the lid to the bucket a little bit. If the top is tightened too much, the mixture could explode because of the carbon dioxide that is being produced as the beer ferments. After six to 10 days, place the hydrometer into the beer to determine if it is ready to drink. A barley beer should have a hydrometer reading around 1.000 when the fermentation process is complete.
this recipe looks like it's mostly water? is it a joke?
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 03, 2011, 01:10:54 PM
this recipe looks like it's mostly water? is it a joke?
I don't think it was
intended as a joke, but it's funny nevertheless.
It says the hydrometer reading will be about 1.000 when the fermentation is finished, but I'm pretty sure the hydrometer reading will be pretty darn close to 1.000 before it even starts.
I also wasn't aware that "dried barley" dissolves in boiling water.
2 teaspoons of barley! :lulz: What? You're supposed to stir the pot until the barley completely dissolves. And what's with the half a pound of malt?
I'm feeling inspired. Let's see how this works...
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/PeeDee/IMG_20110910_193948.jpg)
Spiced apple cider.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/PeeDee/IMG_20110910_202716.jpg)
Where did you get the cider? Is the good stuff already out?
Quote from: Suu on September 11, 2011, 03:21:01 PM
Where did you get the cider? Is the good stuff already out?
Not yet, kosher apple juice.
My saison that I started on July 4th weekend is finally done.
I'm going to pick up a bottle of Saison DuPont today to compare it side by side.
So far it's fucking delicious, clean and simple as it should be.
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f45/Squidoid667/saison.jpg)
Mine is on the left.
The colors are very similar though the head retention on DuPont is WAY better than mine, in that their bubbles are smaller and stiffer.
The smell is almost there, but not quite. Mine still has a lot of young funk and slight sulfuric twang.
The taste is really really close, but mine still has a funkier taste where theirs is sweeter.
Mine is stronger.
All in all, it was very close, but theirs is really difficult to duplicate in that they have a mineral build up in their fermenters that I will never have, they bottle for 8 weeks so mine is younger and they speak french which has to make a difference somehow.
My opinion- thought I love Saison DuPont, I really love mine too. On a different level, but it's really really good!
hey I recently read about that you can harvest the yeast of a commercial beer by adding some apple juice (or sugarwater) into the bottle after you poured the glass, on top of the tiny yeast layer in the bottom. Shake vigorously and create a yeast starter that way.
I did this with the leftover bit from yesterday's quadrupel. It smelled like yeast today. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a brew with it. I think I'll just do a 1.5L (0.4 gallon) bottle and just my regular apple honey mead, I don't want any other unknowns, to see how it works out.
HA! Awesome tip, Trip.
I'm going to convince my bro to let me brew at his place. He knows the drill and has brewed cider, guinness-type stuff, etc. I'll front a lot of the shit because I wanna get started but don't trust myself to do it right yet.
Will post results when I has them...but I'm gonna start off with a cider and an IPA-type to begin with.
Quote from: Triple Zero on August 29, 2011, 11:05:02 AM
Saturday I threw together
- 6L (1.6 gal) apple juice (100%, from concentrate, no preservatives)
- 1.8kg (4 lbs) cheap honey
- 3g BIOFERM KILLER yeast
it's bubbling very happily!
the yeast goes up to 16% ABV and is supposed to kill wild yeasts, which is good.
it smells much better than when I use bread yeast, hehehe :)
It said to use 3g on 10L, which is less than half the packet, which is also good because the shit is about 5x more expensive than bread yeast.
I wonder if I got the amounts of sugar right ... Usually I go with 3L apple juice, 1L water, 1.25kg honey. Now I have 1.5x the amount of liquid, which would be 1.88kg honey, but no water, so relatively more sweet apple juice ... sounds about right, no? What do you guys think? Add more honey, water, apple juice or leave it as it is?
Icey: brewing wine/mead is both cheaper and simpler than brewing beer. but then, I never brewed beer. currently I used the most bare bones approach, as outlined above. The container is an 8L (2.1gal) plastic water jug (glass is better). And instead of a waterlock I used two sheets of plastic with four tiny holes in them and a rubber band. If, in addition, you make sure everything is clean (and rinsed out properly (3x) so there is no cleaning stuff left to kill the yeast (NONE)), then this is pretty much the most bare bonesest way to approach it.
Estimate costs:
- 4x1.5L apple juice = 4 x EUR 0.89 = EUR 3.56
- 4x450g honey = 4 x EUR 1.18 = EUR 4.72
- 0.5x7.5g BIOFERM KILLER YEAST = 0.5 x EUR 2.00 = EUR 1.00 (~estimate, I forgot how much I paid for the yeast)
================== +++ TOTAL
EUR 9.28 = $13.50
I can convert this to dollars, except it makes no sense because the prices in supermarkets are completely different in the US.
BTW I poured off 2L of this brew today and while I thought I had used too much honey, it's too little. I'm going to add 2-3 more jars (@450g) to it, and top it off with apple juice. I'm assuming the yeast will start up again by itself.
The 2L I put in the freezer for jacking, which improved it somewhat, but isn't as good as the previous time.
Of course I'm impatient and didn't crash the brew or anything (it's not cold enough outside and the container doesn't fit in my fridge) to make it settle. It'd probably be fine if I let it age for a while but it would turn out very dry.
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 25, 2011, 09:20:40 PM
hey I recently read about that you can harvest the yeast of a commercial beer by adding some apple juice (or sugarwater) into the bottle after you poured the glass, on top of the tiny yeast layer in the bottom. Shake vigorously and create a yeast starter that way.
I did this with the leftover bit from yesterday's quadrupel. It smelled like yeast today. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a brew with it. I think I'll just do a 1.5L (0.4 gallon) bottle and just my regular apple honey mead, I don't want any other unknowns, to see how it works out.
We propagate yeast by adding a drink called Malta to the yeast cake in the bottom of a bottle. But we put it in a flask with a stir bar and all that. Yeast LOVE Malta, since it's basically malty wort with no hops or yeast. And it doesn't mess with the flavor of your beer.
I'm thinking of trying to do an infused brandy of some sort. I need to figure out with what, though. I'll hit the liquor store this weekend, then head to Whole Paycheck and see what kind of crazy ass fruit I can shove in there.
Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on September 27, 2011, 02:55:56 PM
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 25, 2011, 09:20:40 PM
hey I recently read about that you can harvest the yeast of a commercial beer by adding some apple juice (or sugarwater) into the bottle after you poured the glass, on top of the tiny yeast layer in the bottom. Shake vigorously and create a yeast starter that way.
I did this with the leftover bit from yesterday's quadrupel. It smelled like yeast today. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a brew with it. I think I'll just do a 1.5L (0.4 gallon) bottle and just my regular apple honey mead, I don't want any other unknowns, to see how it works out.
We propagate yeast by adding a drink called Malta to the yeast cake in the bottom of a bottle. But we put it in a flask with a stir bar and all that. Yeast LOVE Malta, since it's basically malty wort with no hops or yeast. And it doesn't mess with the flavor of your beer.
Well I just put all that crap into a bottle with honey and apple juice and SHOOK IT
and NOW
it's being foamy and doing FUCK ALL!
it's going to be
AWESOME
Now it stopped being foamy and it's bubbling! IT WORKS
MY STOLEN YEAST
IT IS ALIIIIIVE
Just the foam seems to have scummed up into some brown scummy bits sticking to the bottle (above the liquid level), I could either try to get them out, or I could just leave it and assume it'll be fine.
It'll be fine
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 25, 2011, 09:20:40 PM
hey I recently read about that you can harvest the yeast of a commercial beer by adding some apple juice (or sugarwater) into the bottle after you poured the glass, on top of the tiny yeast layer in the bottom. Shake vigorously and create a yeast starter that way.
I did this with the leftover bit from yesterday's quadrupel. It smelled like yeast today. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a brew with it. I think I'll just do a 1.5L (0.4 gallon) bottle and just my regular apple honey mead, I don't want any other unknowns, to see how it works out.
This works only on bottle conditioned beer, force carbed stuff is pasteurized and the yeast is all dead.
As you can read, mine worked!
Quote from: Triple Zero on September 25, 2011, 09:20:40 PM
hey I recently read about that you can harvest the yeast of a commercial beer by adding some apple juice (or sugarwater) into the bottle after you poured the glass, on top of the tiny yeast layer in the bottom. Shake vigorously and create a yeast starter that way.
I did this with the leftover bit from yesterday's quadrupel. It smelled like yeast today. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a brew with it. I think I'll just do a 1.5L (0.4 gallon) bottle and just my regular apple honey mead, I don't want any other unknowns, to see how it works out.
Quote from: Triple Zero on October 06, 2011, 10:53:06 PM
As you can read, mine worked!
Trying this out with two bottles of lager and a bottle of mead.
I wouldn't expect lager to be the sort of beer that has a layer of sunken yeast in it?
Also the quadrupel is a 10% beer so I know the yeast can at least make that much alcohol.
But you'll find out as you add a littlebit of fruit juice and it smells like yeast the next day.
In other news, the big apple-mead batch I wrote about on the previous page, that I added extra honey to and raisins, it's BUBBLING LIKE CRAZY!! Already for a whole week ... seriously unexpected. Maybe it's the raisins, I normally never add yeast nutrient (which is what the raisins are).
It'll be fucking strong when it's done, really curious how it'll turn out.
BTW I found out you don't need to pulp the raisins or anything, they'll go all squishy and soggy with time, and I suspect they release enough nutrients that way. Makes them easier to filter out later, too.
Oh and an easy way to disinfect them is to let them sit in boiling water for a bit. I believe 2 minutes at 100C is enough to kill most micro organisms. Best drain them and pour boiling water a second time to make sure, because it cools off.
Quote from: Triple Zero on October 08, 2011, 04:21:18 PM
I wouldn't expect lager to be the sort of beer that has a layer of sunken yeast in it?
Also the quadrupel is a 10% beer so I know the yeast can at least make that much alcohol.
But you'll find out as you add a littlebit of fruit juice and it smells like yeast the next day.
Aren't the yeast used in lagers bottom fermenting? If you salvaged yeast from a quadrupel, I think I have a strong chance to salvage some from some lager.
Quote from: Triple Zero on October 08, 2011, 04:21:18 PM
In other news, the big apple-mead batch I wrote about on the previous page, that I added extra honey to and raisins, it's BUBBLING LIKE CRAZY!! Already for a whole week ... seriously unexpected. Maybe it's the raisins, I normally never add yeast nutrient (which is what the raisins are).
It'll be fucking strong when it's done, really curious how it'll turn out.
BTW I found out you don't need to pulp the raisins or anything, they'll go all squishy and soggy with time, and I suspect they release enough nutrients that way. Makes them easier to filter out later, too.
Oh and an easy way to disinfect them is to let them sit in boiling water for a bit. I believe 2 minutes at 100C is enough to kill most micro organisms. Best drain them and pour boiling water a second time to make sure, because it cools off.
Awesome
Quote from: Donald Coyote on October 08, 2011, 05:13:06 PM
Aren't the yeast used in lagers bottom fermenting? If you salvaged yeast from a quadrupel, I think I have a strong chance to salvage some from some lager.
I dunno about bottom/top fermenting, TBH.
But when you say "lager" I'm thinking of the bright yellow sparkly beer that usually doesn't have any yeast at the bottom of the bottle, most probably because it's been filtered.
But you can just see, it's those beers that you don't want to pour the last few drops in your glass because you'll get all the murky cloudy yeast in your glass (unless you happen to like that sort of thing, which some folks do).
Most stronger beers are bottle-fermented, which means they have that.
But you can always just try!
However if the bottle doesn't have a cloudy residue at the bottom, there's probably no yeast.
Quote from: Triple Zero on October 08, 2011, 06:29:31 PM
Quote from: Donald Coyote on October 08, 2011, 05:13:06 PM
Aren't the yeast used in lagers bottom fermenting? If you salvaged yeast from a quadrupel, I think I have a strong chance to salvage some from some lager.
I dunno about bottom/top fermenting, TBH.
But when you say "lager" I'm thinking of the bright yellow sparkly beer that usually doesn't have any yeast at the bottom of the bottle, most probably because it's been filtered.
But you can just see, it's those beers that you don't want to pour the last few drops in your glass because you'll get all the murky cloudy yeast in your glass (unless you happen to like that sort of thing, which some folks do).
Most stronger beers are bottle-fermented, which means they have that.
But you can always just try!
However if the bottle doesn't have a cloudy residue at the bottom, there's probably no yeast.
That makes sense, and if my attempts fail, I will simply get some different beer next week.
I just put a bunch of spices and fruit into brandy. Let's see what it tastes like in 2 months. K? K.
Anyways, here it is:
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/brandy.jpg)
Spiced plum brandy. Essentially I cut up 4 black plums, added 3 teaspoons-ish of ground saigon cinnamon, and a cup-ish of mixed cider mulling spices with includes cassia chips, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, coriander and orange peel, then added about that much brandy it took to fill the Carlo jug as shown.
So far, it smells like Christmas, I assume in 2 months it will taste like it too.
I have enough for another bottle too, so I need to get on that.
YUMMM!
That Saigon cinnamon is the SHIT. It's soooo flavorful!
My friend in Rochester, NY works at a speciality food store, and she sent me a ton of goodies to brew with, including the Saigon cinnamon, which is ground, a full pound of regular cinnamon sticks, another pound of the mulling spices, and a thing of pumpkin pie spice I want to put in a beer.
Should I maybe dump a cinnamon stick or two in that apple mead that's bubbling like crazy now?
I have a lot of cinnamon sticks in my spices cupboard, even chunks that look like genuine tree bark (kinda tasty/hot to nibble on), that I never use for anything.
how much sticks should I use on 2.1 gal?
There is no such thing as too much cinnamon.
Except on a pizza Napolitana.
That would just taste weird.
Apple cider is out of the carboy, and tasty.
I put it in the freezer, for safekeeping. Yeah. Because I have to wash the bottles, should've thought of that before I took it out of the carboy. I'll get to that in a few days...
I left a jug of apple cider in my fridge on LI on Friday, and it had already started getting fizzy and the jug was all swollen. Out of curiosity, I left it there.
Now I get to see the SCIENCY results today :lulz:
We had one of those last year at the brewing contest. Just a, "We left this unpasteurized cider in the back of the fridge for a year, let's see what happened!"
It was vinegar.
Quote from: Cainad on November 01, 2011, 03:48:45 PM
I left a jug of apple cider in my fridge on LI on Friday, and it had already started getting fizzy and the jug was all swollen. Out of curiosity, I left it there.
Now I get to see the SCIENCY results today :lulz:
Be sure to leave the cap slightly ajar so the CO2 can escape otherwise it'll EXPLODE!! Seriously you don't want that mess. Waterlocks are nice, but slightly opened cap also works fine.
Quote from: Suu on November 01, 2011, 05:18:55 PM
We had one of those last year at the brewing contest. Just a, "We left this unpasteurized cider in the back of the fridge for a year, let's see what happened!"
It was vinegar.
Apple vinegar is good too, right? I mean, for cooking or salad dressing etc.
Yeah apple vinegar is good, but when entered as a cider in a brewing competition it usually gets a low score.
Cap was sealed, and the bottle was hard as a rock by the time I got back to rescue it, but it hadn't burst.
It's definitely alcohol, but probably not for too much longer.
Quote from: Cainad on November 01, 2011, 06:41:09 PM
Cap was sealed, and the bottle was hard as a rock by the time I got back to rescue it, but it hadn't burst.
It's definitely alcohol, but probably not for too much longer.
You mean you're drinking it, or assuming it'll end up spoiling?
If the latter, it probably won't. Trust your smell. Then your taste. Then drink and enjoy! (Hell you survived a FUCKING ORANGE EATING CONTEST, it's not like you're not invincible or anything)
Apple cider vinegar is also a potent laxative.
-Suu
had to clean her pipes with it on several occasions.
Quote from: Triple Zero on November 02, 2011, 12:00:00 AM
Quote from: Cainad on November 01, 2011, 06:41:09 PM
Cap was sealed, and the bottle was hard as a rock by the time I got back to rescue it, but it hadn't burst.
It's definitely alcohol, but probably not for too much longer.
You mean you're drinking it, or assuming it'll end up spoiling?
If the latter, it probably won't. Trust your smell. Then your taste. Then drink and enjoy! (Hell you survived a FUCKING ORANGE EATING CONTEST, it's not like you're not invincible or anything)
The latter, but I might change my mind because that's an awfully good point.
*tasting*
It's pretty weak, but definitely alcoholic. Might as well polish it off, there's not much left.
Hard rootbeer coming up as soon as my friend with the sassafras trees gets me some bark. it's gonna have molasses, honey, sassafras, and licorice.
That sounds yummy.
I haven't brewed shit, been too busy. Sigh.
I haven't even tried the bottle of homebrew sent by Zappathruster.
ugh. i need a break.
Applejack Mark 2 did not come out quite as expected. Heavier on the clove than I would have liked, but not bad.
my shit's still bubbling! it's been more than 2.5 months now, what the fuck
FUCKING YEAST SHOULD GET ON WITH IT
but at least the temps outside are now cold enough that I can "crash" the brew, but I really was intending to just let it ferment out completely, cause I read somewhere that after it's completely done, a lot of yeast sort of cleans up after itself and starts breaking down some unwanted by products? know anything about that?
also I tried another bottle with yeast harvested from a Westmalle Tripel, but that didn't really seem to work. Maybe it's because tripel yeast is top fermenting? So I added a bit of that bioferm killer yeast into it and now it's going. Except there's some spotty cloudy stuff in the bottle, I don't quite trust, but then, not much to do but wait and see.
Quote from: Triple Zero on November 10, 2011, 11:57:48 AM
my shit's still bubbling! it's been more than 2.5 months now, what the fuck
FUCKING YEAST SHOULD GET ON WITH IT
but at least the temps outside are now cold enough that I can "crash" the brew, but I really was intending to just let it ferment out completely, cause I read somewhere that after it's completely done, a lot of yeast sort of cleans up after itself and starts breaking down some unwanted by products? know anything about that?
also I tried another bottle with yeast harvested from a Westmalle Tripel, but that didn't really seem to work. Maybe it's because tripel yeast is top fermenting? So I added a bit of that bioferm killer yeast into it and now it's going. Except there's some spotty cloudy stuff in the bottle, I don't quite trust, but then, not much to do but wait and see.
yeast will clean up after itself, especcially lager yeast which really has to do that. A long slow ferment is going to give you a cleaner tasting drink at the end, so that 2 and a half months might be worth it if you like drinking something really smooth.
By letting it settle, it may take a lot of the yeasty flavor out.
That spotty cloudy stuff may be an infection, which is what gives sour beers and geuzes their tart funk.
(http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Luna0219/PeeDee/IMG_20111211_085753.jpg)
Newest experiment: cinnamon mead.
That's about the exact same colour as my usual applemead concoctions :)
Speaking of, since I'm still at my parents' with my knee in a cast (fixing their computers etc :) ) my wine/mead brewings are still fermenting back at home, since I can't really rack em like this anyway.
I do hope it won't get too cold that it just stops fermenting though, since I've turned the central heating off to save energy/gas while I'm not there, last week it was about 14C (57F) in the living room, and I fear the back room where the brewings are sitting might even get a littlebit colder ...
[It won't get colder than 6C (43F), that's when the heating kicks in again to keep my plumbings from freezing, but I don't see that happening very quickly, it's 5C outside now here, in the city it's even warmer, and I got neighbours up/down/left/right that probably do use their heating]
I know it's nothing bad, the yeast just goes to sleep, but it would be nice if I could use these weeks that I have to wait anyway, so my patience is rewarded instead of the process just going "on hold" :) On the other hand, I'm planning to return back home this Thursday already.
It looks like the mead is about done. Went quick... but the bubbling has all but stopped, and there's like an inch of crap on the bottom.
Wow, really? That's only 2 weeks.
Quote from: Suu on December 11, 2011, 04:20:10 PM
Wow, really? That's only 2 weeks.
I know... I'll check it again tonight, if it's determined to be done, I'll rack it tonight.
Quote from: Luna on December 11, 2011, 04:32:32 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 11, 2011, 04:20:10 PM
Wow, really? That's only 2 weeks.
I know... I'll check it again tonight, if it's determined to be done, I'll rack it tonight.
Hm, it
can get done this quickly, but unless your fermentation was really really wild and you used very awesome yeast ...
How much honey did you use? And the rest is cinnamon+water?
I usually use 1250g honey plus 3L apple juice + 1L water. That's 2.76lb on 1.06gal. That recipe is a bit on the sweet+strong side, though. [based on the idea that 1.25kg honey equivs 1kg sugar]
But on the other hand without apple juice it's even less sugar.
I wonder what it'll taste like, if it's too dry I'd suggest add moar honeys!
I mades a mead.
Here's my must, 2 ozs of dried rosehips and 15 bags of peppermint tea.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/must.jpg)
Thar she goes...we'll see how we do for the next 2 months or so before I secondary. I want this one to get nice and clear and sparkly.
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/theonlyang/mintmead.jpg)
I am fermenting Skittles.
That is all.
New projects: Elderberry mead:
(https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/223394_10151243060044935_1988209289_n.jpg)
And ginger/nutmeg mead:
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/398442_10151243060234935_946389740_n.jpg)
The elderberry has already decided to announce that being stopped up in the carboy is for the birds, and attempt an escape all over my bedroom. Oops.
Luna's brew tried to shoot the cats.
Quote from: Richter, Baron von on October 09, 2012, 02:31:15 AM
Luna's brew tried to shoot the cats.
Sounds like this concoction has its shit together.
Does it have an e-mail list I can sign up for?
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on October 09, 2012, 03:38:18 AM
Quote from: Richter, Baron von on October 09, 2012, 02:31:15 AM
Luna's brew tried to shoot the cats.
Sounds like this concoction has its shit together.
Does it have an e-mail list I can sign up for?
You think I'm letting that fucker anywhere near the internet? It'd go VIRAL...
Awesome awesome awesome. As soon as I saw this thread I grinned; I was sure some fellow Discordians would also be homebrewers, but I would never have guessed so many. Wicked!
I just bottled my second batch of mead, this one in question was a cyser with some banana, vanilla and cinnamon with a lager yeast, backsweetened with a little honey water. I've called it my "Golden Apple Mead," in honor of Goddess and because vacuumous consumption of the stuff will swiftly induce powerful Eristic episodes.
Sounds interesting, let us know how it comes out.
Last night, rather than going to the range and blowing the hell out of paper targets, we decided to brew, instead.
For shits and giggles, we decided to get CREATIVE.
We pulled the top off a pumpkin, emptied it out, poured in a mead must, tipped in the yeast, sealed the puppy up with wax (with an airlock installed via a hole drilled with a corkscrew), and are now hoping it doesn't explode in the kitchen.
That's very cool, I can only imagine how a punkin-fermented mead would taste... Sounds like the CO2 should vent without any problems, but don't quote me on that because for all I know you may be cleaning it off your walls by tomorrow :P
Quote from: Able Kane on October 15, 2012, 06:32:12 PM
That's very cool, I can only imagine how a punkin-fermented mead would taste... Sounds like the CO2 should vent without any problems, but don't quote me on that because for all I know you may be cleaning it off your walls by tomorrow :P
It's sitting down in a big-ass plastic tote, with a garbage bag over it (with a hole for the airlock to poke up through). Hopefully it won't blow, and, if it DOES, it'll just pop the wax holding the lid down.
So I decided to try to make beer. I picked up a kit, and asked the ever helpful local homebrew hippies how to kick it up a bit, and fire off the resulting frankenbrew.
That was yesterday. Today it blew the vapor lock clear off my fermenter, and I'm still working on containing it. Should be some kickass beer.
Apparently my last cider attempt tried to kill Richter and he didn't tell me about it.
Navyguy and I decided to take some good ol' fashioned unpasteurized local cider, pop the tops, and let it sit for a week. Then threw it in a carboy and let it sit for another week. It turned into almost-vinegar to my tastes, but everyone seems to like it but us, so we've been giving bottles out on the pretense that A: Yes, this shit is almost vinegar and B: this shit is explosive and went off in my brewery like a gunshot, so keep it refrigerated.
Richter apparently liked it so much he took the bottle on a scenic drive past a police cruiser when the bottle decided to pop the cork and coat the inside of his vehicle with cider. :lulz: