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It’s Beer Thirty FReepers! Time For The Homebrewing / Wine Making Thread #26 December 28, 2012
Free Republic | Red_Devil 232

Posted on 12/28/2012 3:43:55 PM PST by Red_Devil 232

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1 posted on 12/28/2012 3:44:12 PM PST by Red_Devil 232
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To: Red_Devil 232

Hic!


2 posted on 12/28/2012 3:47:54 PM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Red_Devil 232

No, but seriously...my wife has a 5 gal. carboy of pear wine that she has let sit (after the required initial rackings) for over a year. It is as clear as could be, I can’t wait. She continues to claim that she is going to bottle it soon. I look at it as a 5 gallon bottle.


3 posted on 12/28/2012 3:54:55 PM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Red_Devil 232
Our hops were a bust this year due to the drought...but here is another photo of part of last years bumper crop...Photobucket
4 posted on 12/28/2012 3:59:18 PM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: gorush

Did she use fresh juicy, eat in the bath tub, pears? A pear wine sounds like it would be refreshing!


5 posted on 12/28/2012 4:06:16 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Yup, recently fallen pears from trees to which she was expectantly granted access. I’m very optimistic, even though this is our first wine experiment. We have been brewing delicious beers for almost over a decade. :{)


6 posted on 12/28/2012 4:13:24 PM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Yup, recently fallen pears from trees to which she was unexpectedly granted access. I’m very optimistic, even though this is our first wine experiment. We have been brewing delicious beers for almost over a decade. :{)


7 posted on 12/28/2012 4:14:08 PM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Just stopped by Sam’s Quick Mart in Durham NC. It’s just a little corner gas station, but has 1,400+ different beers for sale. Most Belgians I have seen since Brussels. I highly recommend them if you are in the area.

I live next to a Total Wines & More store that claims 1,500 different beers, but the little Quick Mart has a better selection. No homebrews for this guy tonight. Drinking a Berliner Weiss 1809 and then a Highlander Winter Ale.


8 posted on 12/28/2012 5:42:28 PM PST by tired&retired
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To: Red_Devil 232

If you like an excellent stout recipe, try the Murphy’s Dry Stout recipe from Mark & Tess (forget their last name as it is hard to spell) book “Clonebrews.” It’s an excellent stout that can easily be adapted to flavor additions.

I always keep a keg on hand. I make big batches and then split it into 10 different 5 gallon kegs for variety. Have added fruit to the kegs in a hop bag for flavoring.


9 posted on 12/28/2012 5:56:57 PM PST by tired&retired
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To: Red_Devil 232

At the moment, I am working on a 6 pack of Guinness Stout. Something has told me to steer clear of that Guinness Black Lager, so I have. In general I am partial to ales anyway (with Anchor Steam being an exception).

Here in Tennessee, wine and high gravity beers are sold in liquor stores as opposed the the supermarket. My dear wife made me an advent calendar from different beers she bought at the liquor store. When she checked out with her purchases, the clerk asked if she was hosting a tasting party and was quite amused to learn she was constructing an advent calendar.

My advent calendar was stocked with a variety of bocks, imperial stouts and pale ales, trappist and other belgian ales, and so forth. One advent ale that took me by surprise for its great taste was a Japanese ale (I don’t recall the name) I had never tried before. It was pleasantly and somewhat aggressively hopped. I’d characterize it between an American pale ale and an IPA.

Another favorite was the offerings from Innis and Gunn - particularly (and surprisingly) the rum finish oak aged beer. The oak flavor was smoky and especially pronounced in this beer. I highly recommend it.

I seriously need to get off my butt and resume extract brewing. My hiatus has gone on for too long. Happy New Year y’all!


10 posted on 12/28/2012 6:17:47 PM PST by bluetick (If you're going to err, err on the side of liberty.)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Used to get Guinness on tap at the Plough And Stars back in the seventies- man, that was good stuff. The bottled Guinntss was nothing like it.

Saw a reply on an earlier thread about “lacto fermentation” and tried it with my turnips.
Delicious on the first try! Gave some to a neighbor and they love it too. Sort of like mild suerkraut pickles.

My cider-making has improved but what I made for Christmas was too weak. I cut back to one pound sugar hoping it would be ready quick and it was but it just had no kick at all.


11 posted on 12/28/2012 6:20:10 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: tired&retired

Mark & Tess Szamatulski. I am looking it up now!


12 posted on 12/28/2012 6:45:08 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

That’s the one. It is an excellent recipe book. I adjust the recipes and always use all grain. Another favorite from that book was my first homebrew “Blanc de Bruggs.” A Belgian Wit. I like it better than Hoegarden.


13 posted on 12/28/2012 7:15:00 PM PST by tired&retired
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To: Red_Devil 232

Just went to my bookshelf... It’s gone.

Taught my kids to homebrew. Now I must double check ingredients prior to brewing as supplies just disappear! Same with the good recipe books!


14 posted on 12/28/2012 7:24:02 PM PST by tired&retired
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To: mrsmith

A FReeper posted a couple of weeks ago that he used frozen apple juice concentrate to back sweeten his cider, was that you?


15 posted on 12/28/2012 7:35:35 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Wasn’t me but it’s a popular thing to do.
In fact last trip to the store I got some frozen concentrate to experiment with but haven’t yet.
I’m very, very,very leery of bottle bombs...


16 posted on 12/28/2012 8:11:40 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Three weeks ago I bottled my first and second brews; Northern Brewer’s Caribou Slobber, and Northern Brewer’s Maibock. I ended up a few bottles shy of two cases, each.

However, I gave away two sixers to my neighbor for all the cases of empty bottles he’s supplied me, and I gave away another sixer to a friend who loaned me his 5G glass carboy, and another sixer to a friend who helped me brew and bottle the Maibock.

Between the ones I’ve given away, the ones I’ve drank, and the beer fairies, I’m down to less than a case of each!

Good thing I’ve got two more batches a week away from bottling; Northern Brewer’s Bourbon Barrel Porter, and Northern Brewer’s Grateful Dead Guy.


17 posted on 12/28/2012 8:29:07 PM PST by Monitor ("The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-front for the urge to rule it." - H. L. Mencken)
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To: mrsmith

The FReeper mentioned he mixed three cans of the frozen concentrate with water to make a gallon then mixed it into his five gallons of cider. I wanted to ask why he didn’t just add the defrosted concentrate to his five gallons of cider? I bought some concentrate but am not expecting to add it in for a few months. I will bottle in PET bottles.


18 posted on 12/28/2012 8:30:24 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Monitor

Yeah, I hear ya! My homebrews seem to disappear also!


19 posted on 12/28/2012 8:51:10 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Yeah I ‘d think he’d want to dilute it as little as he could. What I’ve seen referenced is using the straight concentrate.

I bottle my cider in 1/2 gallon jugs it comes in. They’re PET bottles but I don’t think as thick as bottling PET bottles and don’t have as many threads for the cap. Basically they didn’t have pressurized product in them originally and weren’t designed for it.
I’ve used a few Coke 2L bottles but I think they give a ‘plastic’ taste to the cider.

I’ve found that during the winter I can really speed up cider production: cold crash the primary when it’s done, rack, then after another week or so cold crash the secondary and rack again. Takes less than two months from start to finish and the only work is taking it in the house for the ferments and outside for the crashes.


20 posted on 12/28/2012 9:21:45 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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