Posted on 11/16/2012 3:33:37 PM PST by Red_Devil 232
Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!
Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew
BEER
Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I did not get to start my 5 gallons of Hard Apple Cider until Tuesday of this week. I used 5.5 Gallons of Musselman’s cider and added 2 lbs of corn sugar along with two cups of raisins that were boiled in 2 cups of water, to soften. The raisins along with the water were then processed in a blender until it was a very fine mush. This mush was added to the 5 gal. of cider as a nutrient for the White Labs WLP715 Champagne yeast I used. Boy did I get a very active ferment after 24 hours! I decided to use a blow off tube. Today it is still bubbling strong with a nice formation of white bubbles at the top of my carboy. The fermentation looked like the Cider was boiling! I am happy with this! How happy am I? As happy as Gallagher smashing grapes at a farmers’ market!
I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.
Pinging to the Homebrewers and Wine Makers list
Mint wine is good for summer. It's also good on fruit deserts.
Yum!!!
I used a gallon of honey - four gallons of spring waster and about 6 Lbs of fresh crushed Cranberries and let them sit and flavor the mead for ten days. Then a month later I racked to a secondary and added an acid blend. let it sit in the secondary for six months then bottled using 5 ounces of priming sugar and used Grolsch-style swing-cap 32 ounce bottles. I wanted it to be a sparkling mead. I have let it sit in the bottles a little under six months. November 30, 2012 will be exactly a year after I started it. Long wait but excellent mead. Did I say Tasty! I still have ten 32 ounce bottles left. It is excellent well chilled!
In case it’s of interest, a nearby (to me) homebrew club has a new website:
Next up will be a spiced wheat. They have become my favs.
Currently sipping upon a Summit Extra Pale Ale or 3. These are the beers that got me to love craft brews and have a special place in my heart, also they are really cheap at Costco =)
Please add me to your beer 30 ping list! thanks.
I forgot I used a Wyeast 4632 slap pack. It seams to have worked well!
Ping, pls
You have been added.
You have been added.
Thanks! I just had to show my wife the pictures of “April - Barrel Brew at Gary’s” and tell her that is what I want for a brewing set up! Damn he has to have many $Ks invested into to that set up! Of course it won’t happen unless I hit the lotto!
Hubby is the brewer in this home. He recently started to grind his own grains and whatever else kinda lingo stuff beer people do. :)
He also brought a ferocious LP burner thingy to use outside because he damn near ruined my lovely new gas range the last time he did a brew indoors.
All I know is that the next over last brew he did got him passed out after five mugs. PASSED OUT. And he can handle his beer and liquor pretty darn well.
I guess that batch was successful.
Yep it sounds like it was successful. I like my brews and I do tend to lay down on the couch, if the dog has not occupied it already, and drift off. Tell him to lighten up his brews, alcohol wise, so he can enjoy their taste and flavors. My first goal when I started out was to really brew up the darnedest and strongest beer I could. But I found out quickly it was taste and flavors I was after. I also like the process of creating a beer, mead or cider at home.
This Sunday I am going to the second annual “Homebrew for Hunger” here in Chapel Hill. Sorry folks, it’s all sold out!
Here is a link to the beer line up: http://homebrewforhunger.com/beer-line-up/
Looks that will be a tasty adventure - stay safe.
At twenty bucks for 3 hrs, I purchased tickets to both sessions.... I feel a headache coming on!!!!!
Oh, Red that is beautiful. Makes me want to learn how to make mead. Another “hobby” and hubby will move to the garden shed. That is lovely.
Thanks.
Meads and Hard Ciders are very easy to make there is no boiling involved. One Gallon batches of both are easy to make all you need is a gallon glass jug, a balloon with a small pin hole in it and large enough to fit over the jugs spout. The balloon acts as an air lock blocking air and dust from interacting with your mead or cider. Some quality wine yeast and a some raisins boiled to soften and then crush or chop up (with the water you boiled them in) using a blender or processor. The raisins are to make sure the yeast you add have a nutrient to aide them to grow and multiply while they ferment the sugars. A cider will need an addition of sugar. 5 to 6 ounces of sugar should be enough for a cider. One gallon jugs of a cider like “Tree Top” or “Musselman’s” sell for 4.98 at WalMart. A gallon of mead will need about 2.5 lbs of honey.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.