#55338 - 06/01/11 01:12 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Mr_Lament]
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Pizgatti
stranger
Registered: 05/27/11
Posts: 33
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I brew my own mead in gallon batches currently. I've recently been experimenting with a "Mr.Beer" home brew kit as well, but I'm not sure if it's turning out amazing or not. Mead is pretty tasty though.
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#55362 - 06/01/11 08:34 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Pizgatti]
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paolo sette
member
Registered: 12/12/08
Posts: 263
Loc: IL, USA
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I brew my own mead in gallon batches currently. I've recently been experimenting with a "Mr.Beer" home brew kit as well, but I'm not sure if it's turning out amazing or not. Mead is pretty tasty though.
I choose an easier path: buying my liquor from a store. Its fast, easy and extremely pleasing even though the liquor taxes have been increased in my state yet, again. However, the govenor may be the "supreme executive", but when it comes to raising taxes on commodities such as liquor, groceries, office supplies, cigarrettes, etc.; the elected representatives don't know the full extent of the 'damage' their are causing to themselves: they're "torched".
Ciao
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#55402 - 06/02/11 02:00 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: paolo sette]
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Pizgatti
stranger
Registered: 05/27/11
Posts: 33
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Mead is expensive to buy, and I like it. Also I'm underage...
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#105515 - 02/12/16 11:33 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Mr_Lament]
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SIN3
stalker
Registered: 05/14/13
Posts: 7180
Loc: Virginia
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I tried beer years ago and it came out terrible the first time but I kept at it until I nailed it. I'm not a big beer drinker, I prefer wine or liquor. BeerSmith has some useful tips. Those beer making kits are garbage. I got one as a gag gift and it was gross.
Having a go at Wine & Kilju, just started that whole process so it will be a while before I can test it.
I didn't want to muck up my personal blog, so I added it here and will post periodic updates.
I'm thinking of moving on to a homemade distiller using a pressure cooker, copper tubing and a bucket. A friend of mine made one and it seems to work just fine. Sampled his shine and it was pretty tasty.
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#105520 - 02/13/16 07:53 AM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Mr_Lament]
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Asmedious
Moderator
senior member
Registered: 09/02/07
Posts: 1785
Loc: New York
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A few months ago one of my new neighbors gave me some home made wine he made out of Pears. It was incredible. He told me how he makes it, and it sounds super easy, so I think that this Spring I'm going to have a go at it.
Bought a few acres of land in Upstate NY and will be moving there once the weather is a bit better. Supposedly the land is very fertile. Most of it used to be farm land before they made it into state forest. It's also on a small mountain. Like the idea of having a few grape vines eventually, and I think the place might be quite good for grapes. Everyone whom I've ever known in Europe who owned even a tiny bit of land would have some grapes. Many would make their own wine as well, and they really know what they're doing over there.
So, I figured I'd give it a shot, even though I don't know much about growing things other then, stick seed in ground, put dirt over seed, water it, and hope for the best.
Basically what my neighbor told me about making wine is squash fruit, add sugar, add yeast, wait til it ferments and strain.
I know there's a bit more to it, like venting it, but unless you're trying to make an award winning batch, it's not rocket science.
I'm not much of a beer drinker, but would like to try to make it, but if I do it would have to be from scratch. Using a kit doesn't make any sense to me.
I think beer would be trickier then wine, but heck, people have been making it for thousands of years so it can't be rocket science. You know, cause they didn't have rocket science thousands of years ago.
Just want to add, that if anyone is considering making any kind of home brew, please be careful, it can be dangerous if you have no idea as to what you are doing. My mother tried to make fig wine once in what must have been a 5 gallon glass jar. She didn't realize it had to be vented, and one night the thing exploded. Not only was it messy but there were shards of glass embedded in the kitchen wall. It still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck when I realize that our kitchen table was right next to the jar, and how lucky we were that it exploded in the middle of the night, when there was no one in the kitchen.
Edited by Asmedious (02/13/16 07:57 AM)
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#105531 - 02/14/16 03:11 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: antikarmatomic]
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SIN3
stalker
Registered: 05/14/13
Posts: 7180
Loc: Virginia
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I'm doing cherry, cranberry and apricot. The first (3) batches I'm making with Brewer's Yeast. The next (3) will be with Lavlin. I guess it can settle the argument over which yeast brews the superior wine.
Mango & Pear sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll give that a try for the next batch. The 5 gallon jugs take a hell of a lot of sugar. For every one gallon it's 6 cups to 1/4 tsp yeast. I'm using juice concentrate so it's only 2 cans of that. I add fresh fruit also. I saw some bags of pre-cut mango and strawberries in the freezer section of the grocery store. Adding pears to it should be a snap if I use canned.
I've done meade in the past, but I can't stand the taste of the stuff (even if it's flavored). Reminds me of the barefoot crap.
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#105533 - 02/14/16 09:43 PM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: SIN3]
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Czereda
senior member
Registered: 03/14/11
Posts: 2072
Loc: Poland
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My dad used to make wine from dandelions. Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe but I'm sure it can be found somewhere online. It was really good. Once we were sitting in the garden, eating and drinking dandelion wine and I got a little bit drunk, lay down on the bench and fell asleep.
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#105555 - 02/17/16 10:54 AM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Czereda]
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SIN3
stalker
Registered: 05/14/13
Posts: 7180
Loc: Virginia
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All the recipes I could find called for adding slices of citrus fruit to the flowers (and slow boiling). Do you recall a citrus back taste?
The Lavin (K1V-1116) yeast came in over the weekend but the baker's yeast appears to be doing fine.
I didn't notice a 'bready' aroma coming from the tanks, something that other home-brewers stated would be an indication of a bad taste.
Still waiting for the hydrometer but the wine has the potential to be 20% alcohol by volume.
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#105576 - 02/18/16 10:46 AM
Re: Brew your own
[Re: Asmedious]
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SIN3
stalker
Registered: 05/14/13
Posts: 7180
Loc: Virginia
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I still have 5 more gallons to go. I'm going to use the Lavlin for those, to see what difference it makes.
In all of my research, grape skins contain natural yeast so there's really no need to add extra. The quality relies on the grapes you obtain. I did an experiment with it. So instead of using concentrate, water and packaged yeast - just grape varieties. There's natural sugars in the grapes and wild yeast that live on the skins. I filled half the 1 gallon carboy with crushed grapes and after a week, nothing. No bubbling or any sign that yeast was present. I added juice concentrate and a 1/4 tsp of baker's yeast and turned that around rather quickly.
In wine making the biggest culprit in spoiling it, is bacteria. It's been argued that the natural yeast has already been washed off before grapes arrive at your local grocer. So ideally, you want to plant your own vine and pull from that. That's what my uncle does. Living in Florida the grape vines do pretty well. I'd imagine that the climate in VA is workable for growing.
I suspect that the grapes I purchased from the local farmer's market were given a good washing before they were put out for resale. I'm not entirely sure how that batch is going to come out. I added sugar to it and gave it a good stir. It's not doing as well as the other containers that had yeast in them right off.
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Moderator: SkaffenAmtiskaw, fakepropht, Woland, Asmedious, Fist, Diavolo, TV is God
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with brandy and so on, if desired. I recall a particularly powerful strawberry rose that looked as innocuous as a baby's lips. My boss at the time was a blind lawyer; he almost fell off his chair after half a glass full one Friday afternoon and neither of us could answer the phone for laughing. 
