4chanarchive

fuck yes another tepache thread

>>672352
tepache is alcohol guru.

Here are photos of mixing the yeast into the must. The blackberries are inside the sanitized cloth pouch (sewed from a piece of bedsheet.) Then I place plastic wrap over the top and tape the lid down tight. I’ll allow this to ferment for 2 full days. On the 3rd day, I will take the pouch out and strain and mash all the juice I can out of the berries inside it. All the must will go into a 1 gallon glass jug with a blow off tube-style airlock. There is will ferment until it starts to clear.

You have to wait years to drink this stuff?

>>672407
You can technically drink it after 3 days, but its best to wait a year after you bottle it.

Here are the country wines I've made, how much I've made, and how soon you can 'recommendedly' drink them after bottling,

Banana Wine - 44, 750mL bottles bottled and 1.5 gallons needing bottled - 6 months
Elderberry Wine - 3 gallons clearing - 10-20 years
Mulberry Wine - 12, 375mL bottles bottled - 2 years
Dandelion Wine - 1 gallon needing bottled - 1 year
Spiced Mead - 1 gallon still in secondary - 1 year
Blackberry Mead - 1 gallon in primary - 1 year
Queen Anne's Lace Wine 1 gallon needing bottled - 1 year
Staghorn Sumac Wine - 1 gallon in secondary - 2 years
Orange Wine - 2 gallons needing to be cleared - 1-2 years
Pumpkin Wine - 2 gallons needing to be cleared - 1 year
Pineapple Wine - 2 gallons needing to be bottled - 1 year
Tepache (pineapple wine 5%ABV) – 6 gallons completely consumed – 3 days

Basically, if it's a dark red wine it'll take no less than 2 years to age and mature. Let them go as mush as 5 years and they will be even better. Elderberry is one of the few that needs decades to age and mature to a drinkable form.

I've made a lot of banana wine the past year and most of it is ready to drink. I think I have something like 38 bottles left. The first few bottles I made are really starting to shine. They are mellow even though they are mostly dry, have a high alcohol content, and tasty fruity.

Pic is of my mini wine cellar. 4 cases of banana wine and 7.5 gallons of wine in those foil-covered bottles.

>>672437

So you're going to be really fucking drunk in a year's time.

>>672461
>>672461
lrn2read >"I've made a lot of banana wine the past year and most of it is ready to drink. I think I have something like 38 bottles left."

>>672517
>lrn2read >"I've made a lot of banana wine the past year and most of it is ready to drink. I think I have something like 38 bottles left."

lrn2quote

meadbump

>>672437
>Elderberry Wine - 3 gallons clearing - 10-20 years
wow, why such a long wait?

>>672963
Elderberries have a ton of tannins in them. Much more so than grapes do. They need a long time to mellow out. Otherwise, the wine will make your mouth feel very dry.

>>672979
bitter don't forget tannins taste bitter

bread yeast

>>673098
lol newfag anon need to lurk moar

So, does anyone have the saved links of all the Tepache threads?

Needed as many blackberries as you can lay your hands on, enough spirit to cover (I use Vodka but if you can buy cooking alcohol spirit that will do). Place in an air tight container an put in a dark cupboard for at least 2 months.

I make this in 10 litre container, I freeze the blackberries till I have enough then defrost and cover in alcohol.

After 2 months you mash the mix then strain through muslin (very messy and stains and will smell like paint thinner).
This is then mixed with a spiced apple mix for my ten litre container I mix with the following apple mix.

4 litres apple juice
2 kg sugar
Cinnamon sticks and Cloves to your liking.

Put all above in a large pot bring to boil and boil 5 min, cool and remove cinnamon and cloves, add blackberry mix, stir and bottle, consume chilled.

This never lasts long as the taste is incredible, the smell often is only tolerable, if the seal is broken while in the cupboard the alcohol will evaporate, if it goes mouldy there was not enough grog in the mix so chuck and start again. And be warned the alcohol content often increases and can get you sossled very quickly

>>673567
I have 10 /ck/ home brewing threads, 5 are Tepache threads, not including the thread we are posting in. I'll upload them, but I'm on dial-up and it's like 2.73megs so it'll take a while for me to upload it...

>>673567
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=plbwrfv7

>>673567
>>673586

10 /ck/ home brewing threads - Nov. 11th, 2008
Threads.7z [2.73 MB]
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H1VQNMP9

A few of the threads contain large-sized images. That's why it's a much larger file.

>>673595
That link only has 7 of the threads. They are included in the above link as well as 3 more.

pic lists threads included.

>>673619

Sweet. Anon delivers.

I finally have my own place, and I'll be here for more than a year, so I'm considering doing this.

>>673586
>I'm on dial-up

Do you wear beaver pelts and use stone tools as well?

>>673658
heheheheheh beaver pelt.

>>673658
No, but my house is off the grid, I hunt, fish, trap, built my own house and barn, make my own electricity, and masturbate on my front porch all the time in the summer because I live 10 miles from the nearest neighbor.

>>673851
dial up = phone line = on the grid, motherfucker.

>>673903
There are several types of, "off the grid". When it comes to homes that usually means no utility company for electricity.

>>673658
>>673851
>>673903
>>674306
gb2/k/

So, how is everyone's mead coming along now? Mine's doing very well. But the yeast at the bottom is starting to turn a darker color along with the fruit. it's been like 43 days in the jug

>>674989
Mine is staring to turn a darker colour too. It's only a slightly noticeable change in hue. Mine was started on October 1st. I am thinking it should be okay for the final 2 weeks or so until December 1st.

I've had the lees turn a very dark gray before with no adverse affects to the brew's flavour or colour.

Here's a couple photos of mine with flash and without flash.

>>673619
I really wish I had all the old Tepache threads from earlier in the year. :o/

bump4homebrewing!

Tepache, question...

Since this thread is here I'll just ask here instead of starting a new one. I'm thinking of making a ginger-esque recipe based off of the mead recipe posted here a while back.

So far, I'm thinking of mincing some ginger, cutting up a lemon and using a thing of white grape concentrate along side of some sugar in it.

Now, with the "ancient mead" it was ok to leave all of the stuff in there over the entire cycle, would it be ok to leave ginger and whatnot in as well or should I just leave it in and then filter it out into a secondary fermenter?

Here's a pic of some olive oil bottles that someone gave me. I only just finished cleaning them up and sanitizing them. I'll be using them for wine bottling as soon as I figure out how much they can hold. I'll most likely put one of my floral wines in it; Queen Anne's Lace or Dandelion. The corks will need to be #11 maybe because the necks are pretty thick and a #9 can be pushed in with no real trouble with my thumb. They look interesting.

------

>>675882
This is a recipe for ginger wine:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques41.asp

From what I read there it seems that you would normally strain out the ginger after the specific gravity (S.G.) lowers or 1.020. That means there's about 5% more alcohol possible to be made. I'm thinking it would be in primary fermentation anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. That's a big margin if you don't have a hydrometer to check the S.G.

However, since it seems there's no pectic enzyme in the recipe and you can squeeze the bag pretty heavily then there's no concern for a pectin haze from the ginger. It is my guess that you can leave everything in there for 2 weeks tops. By then the mad bubbling should have slowed down or completely stopped depending on how much sugar you used. You should be able to strain the pulp out, squeeze out all the must, and put the remaining must in a new container. There it can finish fermenting completely until it clears.

Read the above recipe thoroughly. The tannins can come from your grape juice, raisins, or a cup of black tea. The acid blend would come form the lemon juice (1/4th cup = 1 squeezed lemon usually.) Don’t worry about the yeast nutrient.

Are you making this to drink right away or to bottle, age, and drink later?

>>675926

Probably be drank relatively quickly. Ok, thanks for the tips - I'll probably just end up leaving it for about 2 weeks and then strain / transfer it. What do you use to strain in between transferring? Am I going to need a special net?

>>675945
>>675945
>Am I going to need a special net?

YES, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED AN ALCOHOL NET TO CATCH ONLY THE ALCOHOL AND ALLOW EVERYTHING ELSE TO PASS THROUGH.

>>675945
It is preferred to put your solid matter into a sanitize cloth bag. You can use a pillow case or smaller, similar, sewn pouch. Place it in boiling water for a few minutes to sanitize it. Place it into your container if you can then pour all your ingredients into it. When fermentation is complete all you'd need to do is lift the bag up and squeeze all the juice out. Then allow that to clear over the course of a few weeks.

If you don't use a bag like that you can use anything you want to strain the pulp out. A screen will work. The lees will be more difficult to strain out. Once the pulp is out you can use drip coffee filters to help filter the lees.

Find a 2 liter pop bottle. Cut the bottom off about 2 inches up. Turn it upside down so it looks like a funnel. Carefully place 2 coffee filters at the bottom. Place this above or on the top of your new container. Then carefully pour the must onto the filters and adjust their sides if they start to fold over. Simply fill up the 2 liter bottle with must and wait until it all drains through leaving the lees behind. Replace the coffee filters each time you do this. Place a paper towel over the top to keep anything else out. You'll do best to go off and do something else while it filters slowly.

Once you've filtered you should allow a week or two for it to clear again. Then siphon it (racking) into a new container. The cloudier it is the more of a chance it'll give you the runs and really bad gas.

Pic fully related. More recently, I've purchased a very large automotive funnel for this type of thing.

>>675945
>>675972
Here is the cloth sack I made from a bit of bed sheet. I use it to keep all the solid matter inside and out of the must. Depending on the recipe, I will either squeeze all the must out or hang it up and allow it to drip out as in this photo. With some fruits like pears you can't squeeze the bag. Doing so would create far too many pectins in the must that would cause it to be very difficult to clear properly.

To clean this sack I simply rinse it out and toss it in with some towels. Then I boil it a few minutes directly prior to using it in wine making.

>>673576
SPOILERS: that's not mead

sounds tasty...i think

>>675957
hurr durr

I'm a bit confused sorry Tepache. Once my mead (Ancient Orange) is done fermenting what process should I use to bottle it/get it ready for drinking?

- Siphon it from the fermenting bottle (not tip/pour) into another container.
- When siphoning do it from near the bottom of the container but above the sediment at the bottom?
- Use the funnel/filter method you mentioned here >>675972 to get rid of the excess sediment, changing filter with each funnel full.
- Then pour from this into bottles and cap/cork?

>>676727
1) If you want to drink it right away:

Siphon all the clear liquid out and drink it. Dump everything else out.

2) If you want to bottle it quickly:

Siphon all the clear liquid into another container (racking). Allow it to sit for 2 weeks to see if more dead yeast (lees) will fall to the bottom and it will get clearer.

3) If you want to bottle it correctly and have all the time in the world:

Rack the clear liquid out. Filter the lees using a drip coffee filter. Keep the now cloudy mead in a second container until it clears (might take a week to 2 months). Rack it again; leave the lees behind this time. Allow it to sit for 2 weeks to see if more dead yeast (lees) will fall to the bottom and it will get clearer.

4) Caution:

If the fruit is still floating, when you rack the clear liquid out, it may cloud the liquid as the level drops. This is because there will be lees sitting on top of some of the fruit. As it gets disturbed it will make everything cloudy. Hopefully, the fruit will have dropped to the bottom after 2 months.

5) Main point:

If after you rack it, it’s cloudy you had better allow it to clear. If you don’t then it might muck up the taste and/or give you the runs and bad gas. The longer you age it the better it should taste.

Doing multiple rackings is the best way to get a crystal clear brew.

6)

> - Siphon it from the fermenting bottle (not tip/pour) into another container.
Correct
> - When siphoning do it from near the bottom of the container but above the sediment at the bottom?
Correct
> - Use the funnel/filter method you mentioned here >>675972 to get rid of the excess sediment, changing filter with each funnel full.
Only if you want every last drop of mead.
> - Then pour from this into bottles and cap/cork? - Siphon it from the fermenting bottle (not tip/pour) into another container.
Not if you used the filter method or if the mead is cloudy again after siphoning. Bottle only crystal clear liquid.

Here is a photo of my Blackberry Mead in its secondary fermentation vessel. I allowed it to ferment only 3 days in the primary fermentation vessel. I then squeezed as much must out of the cloth sack as I could while crushing the berries inside. I then used a funnel and screen to filter and big piece of berry that escaped the cloth sack. I had a single cinnamon stick in the primary fermentation vessel and placed it in the secondary fermentation vessel as well. I will leave it there until the first racking.

As you can see in this photo, I have attached a blow off tube instead of a 3-piece water air lock like I normally do. The container that the tube leads into is full of a bleach solution (2TB bleach per gallon of water).

This stuff smells awesome, (no vinegar smell!!!) It’s bubbling very well. The colour looks like it will be beautiful when it clears. The wine bottle with the balloon is the extra must I had in this batch. If that turns out well I will use it to top off the main gallon batch every time I rack it. That is what I did with my Mulberry Wine.

>>676740
Many, many thanks good sir!

A great thread. Truly makes me want to get into this home brewing business.

What's the easiest thing for a first timer? I have absolutely zero experience.

>>676751
The color of that mead is amazing

>>677322
No problem.

>>677353
Indeed. It should make for a rich colour when it finally clears. I was hypnotized by the bubbles only moments ago. It's like watching a fish tank or camp fire.

>>677338
>What's the easiest thing for a first timer?

For alcohol only: kilju
For taste and alcohol: country wine

Kilju is water, sugar, and yeast. It usually won't taste good because it's consumed before the yeast has cleared. It's all about getting drink very cheaply and very quickly.

Country wine is pretty much any alcohol that's made with water, sugar, yeast, and flavouring. The flavouring can be fruit juice instead of water or fresh fruit/vegetables. A true wine is made from grape juice with no added sugar, since it does not need any.

I recommend making some sort of country wine. Or try that mead in a jug recipe:

http://www.moremead.com/mead_logs/Ancient_OCC.html

As far as country wines go, I started making something called “tepache” which is a slightly alcoholic and fizzy drink made from a single pineapple. You could call it a pineapple beer, but only because it has low alcohol content:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/tepache.htm

It’s good to start out with because it only takes about 2-4 days to make it depending on the recipe you use. I loved it. But, fresh pineapple is expensive. So, I started making banana wine. Bananas are very cheap and after googling a few recipe I was able to make some pretty good banana wine. It’s a white wine takes only 6 months to age and you can make it as weak or as strong as you like up to 16%-19% depending on the yeast and it’s environment.

Just posting because this is a homebrewing thread.

Jesus, I've picked a lot of berries before, and 19 pounds is a lot of berries. Wow.

I'm too impatient to make anything that takes more than a month to be drinkable, personally. Though I might try making some Mead and letting it sit while I make other things this year.

In the past I've made Beer (terrible kit), and Cider (natural yeast!). In a few days, when the yeast arrives, I'm going to make a few gallons of Apple cider for my housemates and I.
However, thanks to this thread, I think I might try making some Kilju tomorrow!

bump of tepache

>>677792
>Jesus, I've picked a lot of berries before, and 19 pounds is a lot of berries.

Actually, 19lbs isn't all that much if you have a good patch. When I was a kid, I, my mom, and my grandmother would pick 8-10 five gallon buckets worth of blackberries each year. That's 40-50 gallons of berries. That was easy picking in a nice flat field.

Although, where I live now is extremely hilly and steep. The berries were scattered everywhere over a 1 square mile area of steep hillside to get a mere 19lbs of berries I had to pick them 4 hours a day for about 10 days. Around the 5th day I was pretty damn sore. By the time I'd decided I'd had enough my hips were out of alignment because I was standing on an extreme slope 4 hours a day. I felt like a mountain goat.

>I'm too impatient to make anything that takes more than a month to be drinkable

Do what I do. Start at least one 1-gallon batch of brew each month. You can pretty much forget past batches until they are ready. Then suddenly you have a drinkable batch of brew ready for bottling every month like clock work.

Eventually, I'd like to have 13 six-gallon carboys. That way I could make a 6-gallon batch of wine every month and later be bottling 30 bottles of wine every month.

i love these threads, they've inspired me to look into making my own ciders and mead but for the moment i have only done a 2ltr bottle of kilju that should be ready soon. its been sitting there, quietly bubbling away for 5 days now, waiting until 8days have passed before i filter it, do an ice-extraction on it.

when shall we see you using a 13-15 gallon demijohn/carboy for anything? i would like to see that done.

(btw, does anyone have links for n.ireland homebrew retailers? its always horrible trying to start hobbies here, never any places to get anything)

>>678153
I did a gallon of kilju. It smelled horrid (too much sulfur), tasted fine, and was nearly 19% alcohol. It was extremely sweet too. Far too sweet. I think I used 8 cups of sugar for one gallon. lol It didn't matter since I was simply experimenting to see how high ABV bread yeast could ferment to.

pic related

>when shall we see you using a 13-15 gallon demijohn/carboy for anything?

As soon as I have money to buy two. They are expensive. The ingredients to make that much wine is even more expensive. I would have to buy some other things to be able to properly take care of that much brew. I would need to be perfect with sanitation. Having that much brew go bad would be rather expensive.

I estimate I would need to spend about $200 just on the equipment and about $40 on the ingredients to make 15 gallons; if making banana wine.

>>678153
>links for n.ireland homebrew retailers
Try these posts:

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?threadid=11730

I'll let you do the reading.

unrelated pic (15 gallon Demi-John)

>>678153
>i love these threads

it's all the pics

bump!!

I keep reading about people making cider in these threads. It makes me want to make cider too. I've no access to fresh squeezed apple juice. So, what commercial brand of apple juice should I get in the USA?

Hey tepache. I want to make some Banana wine but don't know which recipe to use. I want a fairly light, summery flavor. Nothing too heavy or overally alcoholic.

I'm thinking of either using this recipe
http://homebrewwinery.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html

or the medium bodied banana wine recipe on Jack Keller's site. Which would you recommend?

Also, did you use bread yeast when making your banana wine?

Thanks.

>>672351

>>679327
I used this recipe for most of my banana wines:

---

Deiscorides’ Banana Wine

3lbs Bananas (with peels) [or 1 large bunch of bananas]
15oz Raisins
2 Gallons Water (minus 1 cup)
10 Cups Sugar
1 Packet Active Dry Yeast

Add sugar to water, stir until sugar is dissolved, and bring water to a boil. Wash the outside of the bananas with soap and water then rinse them. Chop and puree the bananas and their peelings. Add banana puree and raisins to hot water. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add yeast packet and stir until yeast is dissolved. Cover and allow it to ferment for 7 days. Strain all pulp out and allow it to ferment 7 more days. Rack once at this point. Then rack once 3 months later then again 3 months after that. You can bottle or drink at this point but it would be better if you aged it 6 months in the carboy and rack into bottles.

Notes:
Banana Wines are extremely active while fermenting. Make sure to leave enough head room for the floating mass of bubbles and pulp that will be created in less than 8 hours. After 16 hours you should know how thick the head of foam will be as it should stabilize and not get larger. Very high alcohol contents can be quickly achieved with banana wines.

---

Note the, “10 Cups Sugar”. That’s 5 cups per gallon of water. That will make about 12%ABV. Use only 2.5 cups of sugar per gallon if you want around 6%ABV. Only 3lbs of bananas will make a very light bodied banana wine that will taste fruity. I must say that 12%ABV is much better than 6%ABV for this recipe.

Racking this wine so soon will ensure old lees won’t get old and adversely affect the flavour or colour.

If you don’t like this recipe then use the Jack Keller one.

pic is related

i brew all-grain beer and will probably try making a batch of banana wine soon.

>>679320
>So, what commercial brand of apple juice should I get in the USA?

seconding

Went shopping today, got a couple more 1 gal jugs and some fancy 1L bottles. Saved the fruit from a bottle of umeshu a few days ago, got a second bottle today, planning to experiment with the dozen ume in a gallon of kilju.

Also, a pound each of buckwheat and orange blossom honey (wanted 2 of the orange, but I'll keep it on the shelf and hope they stock more next week), plus 32 oz of maple syrup and 2 lbs blackberries.

Started the blackberry wine batch tonight, smashed up 2 lbs real good.

Added 5 1/2 cups sugar to ~3/4 gal water to get an SG of 1.09, and tossed in the blackberries. Was only aiming for about 160F but I wasn't paying attention so it went up to almost 200F. Waiting for it to cool now, then take another SG reading and toss in some nutrient, pectic enzyme, and yeast, shouldn't need campden since I almost boiled it.

HALP HALP!!!
I am making Kilju current reciepe
5 cups o' sugar
1 gallon of water
4 cloves during heating
2 cinnamon sticks during heating

2 new cloves post heating in container
2 new sticks " "

HOWEVER! I am using Flieschmans bread yeast that I found as a cube that I had to mush to get into the container. Is this an ok thing folks, that I used this type of Flieschmans?

YOU MUST MAIL ME SOME OF THIS DELICIOUS BREW!

Head on down to 4chanarchive and get this thread archived, brothers and sisters.

>>680392
You'll know if you see bubbles within 3 hours, if not go buy some fresh yeast. Adding more is fine.

been making all sorts of variants of kilju lately, and they dont taste/ smell half bad

problem is, they cant be more than 8% abv (i dont have any way to measure, other than taste and how drunk i get)
how does one make a brew ferment as strong as possible?

>>680738
What yeast are you using?

I've been making mine with Lalvin EC-1118 which can do 18+%, plus some nutrient just because I have it. Use a plastic bucket and cover using a cloth with a rubber band around it for the first couple days. The first stage of fermentation needs oxygen, after it slows down then put it into a container with an airlock , or drink it depending on how impatient you are.

>>680749
fleischmann's super yeast (the fast rising stuff)

i guess what i missed was the oxygen at the start, since as soon as i started it, i put a balloon over the top with the pinholes in it

tomorrow i shall start a batch and use a cloth for a few days, and see how this compares

>>680412
No. As you can see, >>673619 anons are quite capable of archiving threads themselves. 4chanarchive hardly ever archives /ck/ threads. Surprisingly, they archived one of the brewing threads last I checked.

>>680916

Surely an extra backup wouldn't hurt?

>>680150
>>680156
>>680176
Wow, that looks like it will be interesting. Keep us posted on how it goes.

>>680392
I recommend that everyone for any recipe use the yeast activating method as in this photo >>672351 to ensure their yeast works before putting it into the brew. I sometimes don't do that. When I don't the yeast takes much longer to get going; sometimes as long as 12 hours. When in doubt, wait 24 hours. If nothing it bubbling or foaming them try more yeast.

>>680738
See this pic >>678291 I was using Fleischmann's active dry yeast, 8 cups of sugar, with water. It attained something like 18.7% alcohol by volume.

To help you calculate possible alcohol amounts without a hydrometer, you can use this online alcohol calculator:

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=745&Itemid=16

Basically, the more fermentable sugars you use the higher the alcohol content up to about 18%-19%ABV depending on the type of yeast you are using.

>>680752
>>680749
The oxygen is technically not needed if you oxygenated the water first. That can be done by simply half filling the jug with water and shaking it like crazy for 2-5 minutes. Then proceeding as normal with the recipe. The only big difference you have is time; more oxygen the faster it'll ferment at the beginning. There's also risk of contamination during those first 2-3 days using the cloth method. If you use campden (potassium metabisulphite) then I recommend you use the cloth method so that the remaining sulfur will escape a little easier.

With my 1-gallon and 3-gallon brews, I've begun to oxygenate the water using the shaking method inside the carboys. Before, I was using a covered bucket as the primary. For the 6-gallon carboy, I put the water in a gallon jug and shake it before putting it into the big carboy.

This is only personal preference. I mention it only as an alternative.

Hopefully one of the good anons here will help me?

I made 2 batches of kilju a few weeks ago. They turned out fine, but this time, I wanted to make some mead.

So I've got 2 pounds of honey, a banana, some blackberries, and some spices in a 3 liter plastic jug when I drop the yeast in. 10 minutes later I facepalm and realize that I forgot to heat the mixture first. There is a great amount of honey just sitting at the bottom of the container. Will the yeast be able to get this honey, or should I boil the mixture then break out a new packet of yeast? Thanks.

Imagine this, but a little lighter, and with a layer of dark golden honey at the bottom.

>>680943
Don't worry. Simply pour the liquid and as much honey out of the container as you can (let it sit upside down for an hour with the lid on before pouring it out). Put it into something you can heat it up in. Remove any fruit or big pieces of stuff and put those back into the jug. Boil the water and honey and stir it constantly. As soon as it boils let it cool off enough so you can pour it back in the jug (it should still be hot but not over 175F or the plastic could start to melt.). Then let it sit until it's room temperature. Add more yeast to it and continue as normal.

OR forget all that, pick up the jug, hold you hand over the top, and shake the ever-loving-crap out of it until the honey is dissolved. Then continue as normal. Hope that nothing like wild yeasts or bacteria cause a problem.

I would use the first method but only because honey is expensive and losing the entire batch because of this would be a shame.

>>680953
Oh, I forgot. If the yeast if bubbling like crazy, then don't turn it upside down for an hour. Just pour it out first into the pot you'll use to boil everything, then let the jug sit upside down for an hour in a 3rd pot. Otherwise, you'd end up with some explosive fun.

1: Ingredients; 64oz Grape Juice, 64oz Cranberry Grape Juice, 1 packet bread yeast, 3 cups sugar, sanitized 1-gallon jug.
2: Pour in all sugar.
3-3a: Pour in 1 container of juice.
4: Seal jug and shake until sugar is dissolved.
5: Pour the entire yeast packet in. Notice I didn’t activate the yeast first? That means it’ll take several hours for it to really get to bubbling.
6-7: Pour some of the juice from the second container; leave some room for foam and foam expansion. (Note how much juice is left over, this will be used to top off between future rackings.)
8: Attach stopper and airlock (pin-pricked balloon, 3-piece water airlock, S-shaped water airlock blow-out tube, etc). [Blow-out tube pictured.]

Ferment for 7 days. Top off with left over juice if possible without it foaming over. Replace air lock and ferment for 2 months. Rack and top off remaining juice, if none is left then do not top off. Allow to ferment an additional month. Rack into bottles or drink.

It is estimated there is 1 cup of sugar in a 64oz jug of grape juice. This recipe should have an equivalent amount of 5 cups fermentable sugars. If allowed to ferment dry this should be about 12%ABV.

9: This is what happens when you fill the jug up too far before the yeast has activated or has yet to stop foaming strongly. Had I been using a balloon, it would have filled up with foam, either split or come detached from the jug top, and splattered sticky staining foam all over the place. Had I been using either kind of water airlock, the foam would have filled the airlock and oozed out the top creating a mess. Had the brew used fruit pulp, the pulp would have clogged the airlock and caused a blow-out thus causing another explosive mess. However, I opted for the blow-out tube airlock. The tube is wide enough to not get clogged and it vents into a container with water. The foam simply gets discharged into the container and does not create a mess.

>>680964
...It should be noted that I still set the entire thing in the bath tub over night incase something really bad happened. Better safe than sorry. If I had fruit pulp in the brew, I would have used a lid instead of a stopper. The lid would have 2 places to connect either an airlock and a blow-out tube, or two blow-out tubes. I would opt for two blow-out tubes.

>>680953

Thanks, I'm gonna boil it. Shaking didn't help much.

>>680392
Update update!
Checked it just now as I got up and i do have bubbles, but nothing that shows a high amount of fermentation activity.
This may be because the Must/Wort did not go completely to room temperature during placement into the primary fermenter, or it is because of the yeast, I do not know.

Will Update as day goes along.

>>680987
>but nothing that shows a high amount of fermentation activity

That only means it'll take a bit longer to ferment than normal. At least that's been my experience.

Ingredients:

1 packet active dry yeast (I use Fleischmann’s bread yeast)
6 large cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp potassium metabisulphite (or 1 crushed Campden tablet)
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
3 tsp yeast nutrient
7.5 cups dark brown sugar
7.5 cups raw white sugar
1 large ripe pineapple (removed top, scrubbed in soapy water, fully rinsed, chopped, and fully pureed)
Enough boiled water to fill up to 3 gallons.
1 three-gallon glass carboy
1 twelve-quart stainless steel or enameled stock pot

Keep the water boiling while preparing everything. Use some boiled water to help puree the pineapple. Place all ingredients, except the yeast and yeast nutrient, into the stock pot and pour boiling water over it. Leave room for foam, stirring, and yeast activity (about 3 inches.) Stir no less than 2 minutes with a large metal spoon (not a wooden spoon!) to ensure the sugar has dissolved. Cover for 24 hours. After 24 hours, activate the yeast in a tall glass, in 8oz of water that has been boiled and cool to about 80º F with 1 tablespoon of sugar dissolved. After 15 minutes, thick foam should have formed; if not try again with different yeast. Pour the activated yeast and yeast nutrient into the stock pot. Cover the stock pot and place it somewhere easy to clean (bath tub, kitchen sink) for the first 24 hours. After that, you can place it anywhere so long as it is not still making a mess. Allow the brew to ferment for no longer than 3 full days. After 3 full days, strain out as much pulp as you can (something as simple as a colander might work. Screen would be better.) Get as much liquid out of the pulp as possible. Place all the strained liquid into the 3-gallon glass carboy. Attach an airlock of your choice to the carboy. Ferment for 1 month. Rack, ferment 3 more months. Rack, ferment 3 more months. Rack into bottles when completely cleared and no longer dropping lees. Top off each racking with cooled, boiled water.

>>681144
Here is the recipe for a quick, fizzy, and slightly alcoholic beverage made with pineapple called, “tepache”:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/tepache.htm

I took this recipe and obviously modified it to my needs. I wanted a 12%-15%ABV pineapple wine that tasted like tepache. The recipe in >>681144 is a recipe I made off the top of my head this morning. I wrote it down incase it is awesome. If it turns out horrible then I’m only out about $17. I thought I would share.

I’ve yet to wait 24 hours before putting the yeast and yeast nutrient in. So, tomorrow another photo should show up relating to that.

so...liek when do we get a /brew/ board?

>>680987
I have an update!
Added yeast nutrient and I am seeing a bit more activity, but nothing that pleases me. I could call it a "carbonation" level of bubbles.

>>681257
That is interesting to know. I've often wondered how much the yeast nutrient helps. I want to do a single recipe in two jugs. One with yeast nutrient and one without. Then see how they are different.

>I could call it a "carbonation" level of bubbles.

Sounds perfectly normal.

>>681253
Not /brew/.

Call it /sg/ for Specific Gravity.

here here

God fucking damn, bump this shit.

>>681257
Yet another update!
The same as before!

Today's ume kilju batch, 7 1/2 cups of sugar in a little less than 1 gal water, SG 1.136. Sliced 12 ume around the pit, and simmered at just over 160F for about 10 min. Not sure how much flavor I'll get out of it, need to take a sip once it's cooled down.

>>681144
Oops, I forgot to list the raisins and add them the recipe!!!

>45oz raisins, pureed with the pineapple (three 15oz boxes)

Good thing I remember those. They provide tannins, body, and of course some flavour.

pic is brand i use

>>681662
You might need to crush those to get more flavour out of them.

>>681768
It's down to about 110F now, so I'm getting the yeast prepped and took a little taste sample. Not nearly as strongly flavored as Choya umeshu, not that I was expecting it to be, but I can definitely taste it, should be pretty good.

Think I'm going to start tripping for these threads, so have some Wonky.

I'm bored, starting up a mix of this. (Can you tell I live in Wisconsin?)

Any beekeepers done this with their own honey yet? I'm probably gonna set up some of mine this winter, using this summer's harvest, though it'll be my first time brewing anything. I'd guess it's primarily clover honey, but there's probably a really high portion of blueberry and raspberry too. I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

2 3/4 lbs maple syrup, 1 1/4 lbs clover honey, ~1/2 gallon warm water, SG 1.110 temp corrected (I'll top it with plain water for the secondary stage to take it down a percent or two). Shake the hell out of it.

>>682035
Oh man, Maple Syrup alcohol? That sounds so fucking good...

about 6 weeks back, I made a cider, stuck it in the jug and watched it like a hawk every day. Occasionally, well after vigorous fermentation had ended, i'd take a whiff of it and it smelled wondrously apple-y.

Last weekend, i did the bottling thing after it had cleared to an unmistakable degree, and it doesn't taste at all what I would think it should.

It tastes pretty good, don't get me wrong, but it somehow turned into a pretty dry white wine. The taste of apple isn't even really there anymore, either. Again, not bad, but not what I was going for either.

My question now is, what went wrong? It was my first batch of anything, so i'm sure it was human error along the way somewhere, but I followed directions pretty well and used what was described to me by the brew store guy as "a yeast for making cider." I've got a gallon of mead going right now, about 80% of the way to clear, and if it's a problem with my methods, i'd like to nip it asap.

Also, having made something dry and not particularly sweet, I need a recipe that walks the line between quick and quality in time for Xmas. I want something sweet (and maybe a little off the beaten path) that'll be ready in about a month's time to serve to family. ABV isn't really a priority high or low, i just want to create and share.

>>682100
Sounds like you did a good batch, the final product is often is nothing like what you started with.

Here’s a photo of my Tepache Wine. I had to dump it into a larger container in order to add all the raisins I forgot to add before.

>>682100
Actually, that sounds very normal. The final product is nearly always weaker in flavour than what you start out with. The big difference is....ALCOHOL!

Some people add extra syrup flavourings to the finished brew. Just make sure you stabilize the brew before doing something like that or the fermentation might start up again inside your bottles. If that happens one of two things are assured. 1, you get the most awesome sparkling brew ever. 2, they explode like grenades and injure or kill people nearby.

>>682033
I plan on starting an apiary next year. Even if it's only a single box it'll be a start. I know of a guy near here that kept bees for about 25 years. He made mead with his honey exclusively.

>>682106
>I need a recipe that walks the line between quick and quality in time for Xmas

Try making tepache a few days prior to Xmas. The recipe is in the link in this post >>681147 If you ferment it for 4-5 days it will increase in alcohol content 3-4 times. Keep smelling it as it brews. If it ever has a smell of vinegar, then stop brewing it, strain out the pulp, and put it in the fridge until Xmas. Though it would be better to freeze it then thaw it out in the fridge until Xmas, that should ensure the bacteria or wild yeast causing the vinegar would be dead. The last time I made some, I fermented it for 5 days then placed it in the fridge inside 2 liter, plastic, pop/soda bottles. I checked on it every few hours to make sure they weren't going to explode. I ended up with a super fizzy, 5%-8%ABV, pineapple drink. It was awesome. Since I didn't allow it to clear it gave me a bit of gas, but not that bad. There’s nothing you can make right now that will clear properly before Xmas (I know nothing of beers though). So, make things that don’t need to clear like kilju or tepache.

bump

>>680919
Of course not, but they'll never archive a good non-/b/-style thread. I mean look at what has been archived. 8 threads.

An update on my progress:

I've only got 2 bottles from my first two batches of mead left, I can't seem to keep any cider for more than a month. my friends seem to enjoy it fresh.
I have a gallon of apple wine still actively fermenting, a pyment that is almost clear, and a five gallon batch of malt cider that won't seem to finish fermenting(has been in secondary for a month).

I received 36 more wine bottles today, most with synthetic corks.(one of the benefits of bartending part time) I'm not sure if reusing corks is safe or not, but it hasn't messed anything up yet. I boil them for 10 seconds and then soak them in a strong campden solution for a few days before using.

>>683033
fa/tg/uy here who just started making the branch-over to /ck/. It takes a lot of requests to archive threads, and a lot of call to do it in the thread. Alternatively, do like us and get yourself a wiki like 1d4chan.org.

>>681144
can I substitute a can of crushed pineapple?

I vaguely recall code for the http://archive.easymodo.net/ site was released. Does anybody have the source link?

I was thinking of making some flavoured kilju by boiling the water and sugar with herbal tea or even green tea... could any of you tell me what that might turn out like...whether it'd work or not?

>>683341
my guess is quite weak tasting unless you use alot of tea

check for preservatives in it too

>>683285
it won't be as good, plus you'd have to use at least 3 pounds of canned to equal one pineapple

>>682442
It's been 24 hours now since I put the potassium metabisulphite in this brew. I activated some yeast and poured it and some dissolved yeast nutrient into the brew. Tomorrow, I'll check the activity and see if the container needs stirred up. I'm sure it will.

When I popped the top to pour in the yeast, it stank wonderfully; spices and pineapple. I hat to use a Dremel tool to fit a blow out tube to the lid since this jug doesn't have a standard sized bung.

>>683141
Wow, keep up the good brewing! Post pics if you can.

>I'm not sure if reusing corks is safe or not, but it hasn't messed anything up yet.

I supposed a lot of it depends on how they corks were removed from the bottles, how long they were in those bottles, and how long you plan on using them in your bottles.

>>683285
If you are able. Find a ripe pineapple. I'm sure canned pineapple could be used, but remember to use enough. 1 ripe pineapple is usually 3lbs. Also, the canned pineapple won't give you as good a pineapple taste as fresh pineapple does. It will also add slight a metallic flavour to the brew.

>>683341
Remember to make it as strong as you like to drink your tea. The stronger the alcohol the more overpowering it will be for weaker flavours. Kilju is more about alcohol than anything else. It doesn't have any body to it. Flavouring it will always help but may not turn out the way you planned. If you make a low alcohol kilju (2 cups sugar per gallon; 4%-5%ABV) then any flavouring you put in won't be overpowered.

For me, I'd simply put a lot of flavouring in and max out the alcohol content. Then hope it'll taste okay. If it doesn't then try again with a different ratio.

Since tea contains tannins the brew might turn out a bit bitter. Aging it would help mellow that out. Aging can be done in a sealed jug after the brew has been cleared and racked for up to a year if you need. As long as all the lees is gone, it's clear, and no longer fermenting you can age that way.

>>679790
>>679320
Try to find a brand of apple juice with no preservatives. Some may include ascorbic acidn (vitamin C) which doesn't affect fermentation.

I grabbed Tree Top apple juice to try out a apfelwein recipe I grabbed from homebrewtalk. A friend who had previously tried this said he got Motts all natural or something like that -- again, look at the ingredients! -- and said it turned out nice.

So, my friends and I are going to be making rather large quantities of Cider and stuff, and want to keep it cheap. What sort of containers would you recommend for fermentation? Would, say, large water cooler bottles or gascans work?

>>683915
Try to get food safe plastic containers. Those with a recycling number of #2 "HDPE" (PEHD). Five-gallon buckets are often times "HDPE" (PEHD) and good for primary fermentation. For the secondary a 5 gallon water cooler bottle like in >>683619 should work in a pinch. Mine has a recycling number of #7 "Other". I'm only using it for a few days because I have a little more than 3 gallons that would be able to fit into my 3-gallon glass carboy.

If you have nothing else, then I'd recommend water cooler jugs. NOT fuelcan containers unless they've NEVER been used and have a recycling number of #2 HDPE (PEHD).

"#2 PEHD or HDPE High-density polyethylene" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Universal_Recycling_Codes

I purchased some more wine making supplies this morning.

750ml Cobalt Blue California Hock Bottles - I've wanted to get this since I first saw them. I love the blue colour (see pic). I decided to go with silver bottling wax. I don't know how that will look on the blue bottles, but I can always knock it off and try something else.

45 Bottle Drying Tree - This is something I've needed for a long time.

>>683619
It's been 9-10 hours or so since I put the yeast in this brew. It is only now starting to show signs of fermentation. Bubbles are collecting on the underneath sides of suspended fruit particle clusters.

Bad pic is related; the lines are scratches in the outside of the plastic jug (one more reason it’s better to use glass).

In regards to making tepache, the recipe on gourmetsleuth doesn't actually call for any yeast. Is this a mistake or does it just ferment on its own?

>>682106
There's still enough time to make an ale, although for speed's sake you might have to reduce time in secondary (i personally don't use secondary, and mine turned out pretty good). As long as you get it bottled by the time december starts, you'll have plenty of time.

I'm doing this when our irish red finishes:
http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/406
The allure of spiced beer is impossible for me to ignore.

bump the brewing threads!!

If I wasn't on dial-up, I'd stream a live webcam showing the fermentation bubbles of my latest brew. For no reason other than it's like watching a fish tank or a fire. Chunks of pineapple float to the top then sink to the bottom. It's like watching a really big lava lamp.

So, I've decided to try out this homebrew thing. It sounds fun.

What are some of the places you'd go to learn / books you'd read, etc? And where do you get your supplies?

I'm thinking I'll start with the Ancient orange mead from >>677558 . Do I have to keep that warm? It probably gets down to 60F in the house during the day, while I'm away at work... Is there anything that works good in colder weather?

Thanks, and I love these threads. :)

>>684994
>What are some of the places you'd go to learn / books you'd read, etc? And where do you get your supplies?

Internet for knowledge and the better supplies and utensils. Local stores for fruit, sugar, etc.

>Do I have to keep that warm? It probably gets down to 60F in the house during the day, while I'm away at work...

I have a similar problem at night. All the brews I have going don't seem to mind. Wrap a towel or blanket around it when it will get cold if you want. I keep towels on my stuff just to keep the light out. Set it on something on the top of your fridge at the back, if you can. The heat exchanger coils give off lots of heat and it'll be warmer closer to the ceiling.

>Is there anything that works good in colder weather?

Not really.

Just racked my blackberry wine after 3 days, still has a bit of fruit in it but that's fine. The color is awesome and the berry flavor is quite strong.

<- What I'm currently making.
Bored waiting for my champagne yeast to come in the mail so I bought some Treetop apple juice, added some brown sugar, activated some bread yeast and pitched it in. Pic taken about an hour after it started.

>>685104
The colour does look awesome. I was surprised how great my blackberry mead looks too.

>>685306
I hope that lid is loosely put on. If not that thing will explode. Get a balloon and poke 5-8 holes in it with a needle and stretch it over the top of the hole, minus the lid.

I just finished the 2nd racking for my Queen Anne's Lace wine. It seems to have cleared nicely. It smells...different, especially after making all these berry and fruit wines. It is definitely a floral wine. I was to taste a tiny sip, but decided against it as I wasn't in the mood.

>>685104
Oh my god. That's beautiful.

>>684307

I followed the recipe, putting in a pineapple, brown sugar, cloves, and a cinnamon stick. I also added a packet of yeast. However, i forgot to account for the yeast, and after covering, the bag poofed up (i released air out the side before taking pic). Guess i forgot to take the extra yeast action into account.

Also, it smells like bread. Is the yeast going to affect the taste or does it just smell like that ATM?

>>685765
Too bad it'll lose that bright color when it clears.

>>685912
Remember the raisins!!! See, >>681689 LOL

>Also, it smells like bread. Is the yeast going to affect the taste or does it just smell like that ATM?

i've never used a yeast that didn't smell like bread while fermenting. wut brand did you use?

>>685912
Did you put raisins in? If you have room you can still put them in, pureed or not.

>bread smell

Thus far, I've yet to have a brew stink or taste like bread after the yeast has died and the brew has cleared. No one that's sampled my wines has said anything and I've asked.

>>685958
>i've never used a yeast that didn't smell like bread while fermenting.

Same here.

>>685951
It will still look beautiful. Both >>685104 and >>676751 should have similar colour after clarity.

>>685912
Oh wait, you were using the original gourmetsleuth recipe right? Forget I mentioned raisins then.

>>685982
Yeah, i'm just going for a quickie. So how do you avoid getting the yeast in the final product, or do you?

>>684307

>The first time I made some I followed the recipe explicitly. I ended up with a tasty, slightly fizzy, slightly alcoholic drink. The second time around I added a packet of bread yeast and increased the fermentation by a day or two. That one was super fizzy and much more alcoholic.

going off of this...

Here's another random pic of >>681144 still madly bubbling away.

>>686234
>So how do you avoid getting the yeast in the final product, or do you?

Because the brew is meant to be consumed very soon, it's very difficult to get rid of the yeast. I cold crashed mine in the fridge. I put it into the 2-liter pop bottles and stuck them in the fridge. Every couple of hours, I checked them for tightness by squeezing the sides. If it felt like it was rock then I unscrewed the cap just a tiny bit to let off the pressure for a second. I did that a few times then stopped doing it the next day.

The yeast started falling to the bottom as soon as I put the pop bottles in the fridge. So, as the cold killed them off or made them go dormant they piled up at the bottom. After a few days it slowly became clearer. I was impatient so I started drinking it after 3 days. I poured it carefully as to not disturb the lees.

It would have been much better had I waited say 2 weeks for it to clear. The more the yeast is active and the hazier the clarity, the more it will taste like yeast/bread and the more gas it will give you.

You can try letting the brew sit in the fridge in pop bottles for a few hours then put it in the fridge for about 6 hours to kill the yeast. It'll be ready to put back in the fridge when there's 1/2 an inch of ice forming. It might burst if it could freeze solid.

I'm curious, what do you guys who do lots of brewing use for sanitizer? I've been using 1step, but now that I have 12 batches going it's getting to be a pain. Star San is expensive, but I read that you can make up a big bucket full and keep it around for a while. Seems like it would be handy to be able to dunk stuff as needed.

>>686366
I mix up some bleach water. 2 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water. I keep it in glass jugs/carboys.

What I do is boil tap water, dip and swish item in bleach water for a few seconds, then dip and swish it in the boiling water for a few seconds. I either use the item right away or allow it to air dry completely then put it into a zip lock bag or in a new garbage bag to keep dust from collecting on it.

I will also wet a rag with that bleach water and use it to wipe down items. I do that to the counter, outside of carboys, and tubes prior to racking. That way, no matter what I touch, the surface will be clean and I won't inadvertently contaminate something.

In case anyone is wondering, the FDA recommends only 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.

>>686285
hmm, this wasn't as instant as i was hoping. I guess i'll let it slide because it smells absolutely GODLY

So how much of a yeast/bread taste would it have after a few days? I really don't want to wait a whole week... :(

>>686470
>So how much of a yeast/bread taste would it have after a few days?

It's really not that bad. If it really does have some bread taste to it, you'll stop noticing it after a few drinks anyway. It's not like you're drinking liquid bread. Treat this like a beer and not a wine.

It can be as instant as you want to. Try a sip here and there and you decide when you want to bottoms up.

>it smells absolutely GODLY

I've been sniffing my brewing tepache wine like a crack addict. lol

>>686782
i've been trying not to so i can enjoy it more when it's done.

I think it's on to banana wine next. I'm getting a dedicated (smaller) tepache bucket, and possibly a carboy or two for banana wine. Must ask though, is it really so bad to use plastic buckets? (they're cheaper!)

Does anyone know where to get straight corks larger than size 9? My google-fu is either weak or none are made past #9. I can find tons of tapered corks, but that's not what I need.

>>687079
>is it really so bad to use plastic buckets?

Not at all. Plastic buckets are great. In the kits you buy online they all come with a plastic bucket (#2 HDPE plastic). I sometimes use a 2 gallon horse weight builder supplement bucket and a 5 gallon sheet rock mud bucket. I scrubbed the heck out of them with plastic scouring pads then filled them to the brim with a weak bleach solution for a few days. I keep them in clean garbage bags until I need to use them. I also have a 7.5 gallon, Wine and Beer bucket that came with the wine kit I purchased.

They are best used as primary fermentation vessels and not secondary fermentation vessels.

>>672351
>11/10/08(Mon)11:43

Yeesh, this thread has been here for 10 days and hasn't died yet.

>>684994
lagers. But really, no one wants to wait that long for fermentation... and it needs to be a constant 40-60ish for lagers to work well anyway, so...

>>687158
>But really, no one wants to wait that long for fermentation

lol someone does

>>685912
Do you brew often?

I'm trying an experiment today. I racked my apple wine. Then I used the yeast in the bottom of the primary to start an identical batch.
I'm doing this for a few reasons. To see if it works and to test my sanitizing skills mostly. If it does work, how different will it taste with each "generation" of the same recipe? SCIENCE.

>>680964
I'm thinking about doing this, but I have some questions first.

Can I use an alternative to an air lock? Will the ballon w/poked holes suffice? Do I have to siphon off the yeast for this particular recipe or can I just leave it alone?

Also, can I ferment it for 2 months instead of three and it be perfectly drinkable?

>>687710
>Will the ballon w/poked holes suffice?

Yes. They work well. Make sure to leave room for foam for a few days then top it off when the foam calms down a good bit.

>Do I have to siphon off the yeast for this particular recipe or can I just leave it alone?

You leave the yeast and siphon the clear liquid off. If you have no tubing to siphon with then you can VERY slowly and carefully pour the clear liquid off. That requires much patience and a steady hand. Siphoning is much easier.

>Also, can I ferment it for 2 months instead of three and it be perfectly drinkable?

“perfectly drinkable” That depends a lot on the yeast, environment, amount of sugar, etc. It’s better to allow it to age longer. However, you can drink it whenever you want. It may taste better aged longer. It might taste like liquid ass for 3 months then suddenly age into a delicious beverage. That depends on a lot of factors.

>>687667
I've actually wanted to use the pulp from banana wine to make bread with. It's loaded with live yeast when it's strained out so it should work.

The lees would only work it there are still living yeast cells. I've toyed with the idea of making a "starter" that I can keep in a jar and fed. I would then use it for several batches over the course of however long I'd need it. My grandmother once kept a bread starter the same way for over a year. She made something like 150 loaves of bread from it. It was kept in a quart Mason jar. She'd take a cup out for baking and toss in a cup of flour to feed it.

I would keep it liquid and dilute it with sugar water when I went to use it; instead of using flour to feed it. If I were to use it for brewing that is.

that looks like an excellent batch of jenkem you have there op

>>687766
>145 posts and 41 image replies omitted. Click Reply to view.

What the hell took you so long?

>>687774
sry i had a really huge algebra quiz and if i didnt pass i wasnt gonna graduate high school :(

>>687763

Thanks a bunch mate!

I shall start this batch on saturday. I can't wait.

So I bought one of these things on a whim at the brewing center. I haven't really gotten into homebrew yet, and I'm trying to avoid having a whole bunch of bottling to do during finals, so I thought it'd be a good idea. Anyone tried these?

>>687829
What is that exactly?

>>687832
It's "the big and easy bottle brew." Basically they sell you a 2L pop bottle, and all you do is open it up, toss away the regular cap, drop in the yeast capsule and screw on the pressure relief cap thinger. Leave it until it becomes clear, chill for 12 hours, beer. It's equivalent to a six pack and it cost me $7, but can be found cheaper online.

>>687842
Okay. So it costs about as much as a premium six pack. How does it taste?

It seems like that would take all the fun out of it, and the only reason of buying it would be because it tastes good.

Tepache, where do you buy your carboys?

I was looking to pick up a 6.5 gallon carboy from here
http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/3030

>>687846
I looked at a review, these guys seemed to like it. Keep in mind, this is Canada, so it costs a bit less than a premium six pack. I'll let y'all know how it plays out.

http://www.fermentarium.com/content/view/258/54/

>>687902
I get mine from here:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByCat.aspx?Cat=150

They are cheaper by about $1 on carboys it seems.

>>687797
No problem.

>>687829
>>687842
That's interesting. One would think it'd be cheaper than that though. I guess hops and the pressure valve are where the cost is. It's basically, "Hobo Beer". lol

Compare that to Hobo Wine:
The juice I bought in >>680964 cost $2 per bottle ($4 total). Yeast is $0.96 per single pack. Sugar was $0.82. Any clean, plastic jug and balloon ($0.10) can be used. Total cost using used plastic jug and a balloon $5.88. That makes five 750mL bottles of wine ($1.17 per bottle). Around here the cheapest bottle of wine costs about $3.

>>688324
Honestly, the cap is just a regular plastic bottle cap, hole drilled in the top, rubber membrane with a pinprick put inside. The Canadian dollar is not so strong.

>>688338
Yeah, I realized that after seeing the link and reading >>688312

So, if it's $7CAD then that would be $5.44USD per 2liter bottle. That's close to twice the price of hobo wine by volume.

>>687829
I have not tried those, and i haven't seen them anywhere around here. Otherwise i might have tried one.

If you do decide to get into beer brewing, let me recommend alton brown's good brew recipe. He doesn't mention everything, but if you follow the process he uses, you'll get a pretty good beer at a fairly decent price. (except the bottles he uses are expensive)

With a base-line starter kit and a 5-gallon pot (dollar stores carry them) and the ingredients necessary to get started, you can get your brew going for around 100 bucks, depending on what you use for bottles (tell your friends to save bottles that require a bottle opener; they are perfectly OK for putting brew into)


Also, i got impatient and tried the Tepache. So tasty! It stopped inflating my bag last night, so i went ahead and squeezed out the pulp, and put it into a 2-liter bottle (filled it all the way) and threw it in the freezer for half an hour, then the fridge overnight. hasn't gotten "hard" or anything at all. Seems to be carbonated about half as much as pop generally is. I'm afraid i might have lost some of the fizz in the transport process; it went into a bowl, then into the bucket (it had a spout), then into the bottle. Hope i didn't ruin the fizz...

Second generation cider using lees is bubbling slowly now. Here is a picture what I've got going now in my reorganized brew closet. It's only been in the high 30s here for the last week so I've got a little space heater in there keeping it at about 65 deg.

I bottled my pyment a few days ago into flip top bottles. It tastes alot like manischewitz concord grape only with about %13ABV! I'm hoping for a little carbonation and plan on aging until christmas/new years at least.

Here is the recipe I plan on running out at least 4 generations on this current yeast. I am using the yeast cake left over from the primary, before it dies.

3/$5 store bought apple juice
$1.19 frozen apple juice concentrate
3/4 cup sugar(to bring SG to 1.090) free, since I borrowed a cup from my neighbor. how very Norman Rockwell.
Second generation K1-V1116 yeast - free!
total = $4.53 / 5 bottles = $.90 per 750ml bottle(%12ABV)

To cost out my Dark Cider-
3/$5 apple juice - 5 gallons = $16.70
3lb amber DME = FREE from an old beer kit
Cinnamon. Clove, Nutmeg, Allspice = FREE since any coo/ck/ should have these things in the spice rack.
$0.97 - Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast.
Total = $17.67 / 24 bottles = $0.70 per 750ml bottle(%10ABV)

Since all of my bottling supplies are recycled (upwards of 40 bottles and corks now. pic soon) There is no added cost. My hygrometer, bottle capper, thermometer, airlocks, and fermenters were given to me so no front end cost there either.

I keep telling my friends that the second great depression is coming and I want to corner the market on hobo wine. They laugh and tell me I am crazy, then proceed to drink all of my hooch. Selah.

Whew, I just completed straining all the pulp out of my Tepache Wine. I performed this feat using the technique when I was first making banana wine. I pour the must through a sieve until there's a pile up of pulp. I then press the pulp to remove more liquid. Then I put the pulp into a sack in another bucket. After I had sieved all the pulp out I squeezed as much liquid out of the pulp in the sack as I could before my arms felt like they would fall off. I made sure to locate the cinnamon stick, rinse it with boiled water, and put it into the 3-gallon, glass carboy.

I then poured all the liquid into the 3-gallon, glass carboy and fitted a blow-off tube to it. It's bubbling away madly.

>>688453
lol For a second there I thought something was on fire in the thumbnail.

Those are some good numbers. I wish I could find juice that cheap. I’ve bottled 60 bottles now with 12 more on the way. I think I need something like 88 more bottles for all the brew I’ve yet to bottle.

>>688434
>Hope i didn't ruin the fizz...

Only time will tell. Even if it’s not very fizzy, I’m sure it’s tasty. The cool thing is you can experiment on new batches since the process is so quick and fairly easy. It’s one of those drinks you consume very quickly. Mine never lasted 3 days…even 2 days the last time. I was the only person drinking it that time.

>>688500
That looks delicious. I will have to try to make Tepache before the holidays.
I saved tons of money by using almost %100 recycled/given supplies. MI has a bottle deposit, otherwise I would have tons of beer bottles from work too. Juice was on sale at the regional grocery chain for the last month and seems to be on sale all the time.

Here are my latest three boxes of bottles, and my bottling supplies. 12 green & 12 clear Bordeaux, 12 Burgundy. Since these are cheap bottles they are not punted. I keep my corks in a bag with one campden soaked cork and a crushed up tablet to keep them sanitary. Pic resized and compressed for our friends using dialup.

I'm really a cheap bastard, but I use phrases like "recycling and sustainability as a personal responsibility" or "reduce, reuse, recycle" so people think I'm being enviromentally friendly. HA!

>>688527
Quite impressive.

>Pic resized and compressed for our friends using dialup.

I’m on 28.8Kbs dial-up. I don’t mind images being as big as 500KB so long as they aren’t blurry. If they are blurry, then there’s no sense in having the very large at all. I usually resize mine so much because they are informational and not exhibiting beauty.

>recycled/given supplies

I live in a very rural area. I really need to get out to some places to see if I can get used bottles. Although, I love the ones I’ve been purchasing. I’ve amassed a fair amount of old bottles from the 1960s-1970s from a secret bottle dump near here. The bottles in this photo were a bonus. I was after glass, half-gallon pop/soda bottles of which I found over 50. I had to hike a couple of miles round trip to get them.

>161 posts and 41 image replies omitted
>41 image

How often does that happen in /ck/ when not a food porn thread?

>>688679

homebrew porn is just a food porn fetish.

>>688689
Amatuer homebrew porn > pro food porn

>>688696
OH GOD, YES. SHOW ME YOUR DIRTY BUNG HOLE! HERE'S MINE!

>>688703
*racks quietly*

>>688703
>SHOW ME YOUR DIRTY BUNG HOLE!

Oh okay. I'm more into hardcore S&M. Here's me cauterizing my bung hole.

>>684219
It feels like Christmas came early. I just received this stuff 30 minutes ago. I like the bottles and the 45-bottle, drying tree is going to come in very handy. I think the silver bottle-sealing wax will go good with that colour of blue.

Just put my Treetop-ider in the fridge to (hopefully) settle, and tonight I'm going to strain it and maybe sample some!

>>688742

Hey, cool, you got your stuff! Those are some sexy blue bottles.

Bump.
Also, requesting archive.

>>688742
Is there no easy way to make your own bottling tree? Me and my buddy were thinking about twisting heavy-guaged wire together...

>>689013
I seriously thought about making one. I was thinking of using dowel rods on a small post with a + shaped bottom. I thought wood instead of metal because metal might cause too much of a pressure point somewhere on the rim and chip the bottle. Then I realized I shouldn't use wood because it won't stay properly sanitary like plastic or metal can.

I weighed in the price of needed materials and the time it would take to make one. Then I decided to say screw it and buy one. I have too many other DIY projects I'm doing.

>>688944
That's why I bought them.

>>688939
Post pics if you can!

>>689138
yeah our original plan was to stick wires on a piece of plywood, but sanitation reared its ugly head...

but im thinking find some wire (just saw an ad on craigslist for free wire coat hangers), twisting them into various wire shapes, and calling it good. Trees cost too much, and i'm but a poor college kid :(

If we do, i will post pics and instructions

Newbie brewer here, I've got a question.

I'm making a 5 gallon batch of Apfelwein. I found this really system recipe on one of the popular home brew websites, that basically just involves 5 gallons of apple juice, two pounds of dextrose (corn sugar), and yeast. It should ferment for about 4 weeks before it's ready for bottling.

I bought a 5 gallon Better Bottle carboy, an airlock and a stopper. Once my yeast gets here, I'm going to start brewing.

I am just wondering if it's even going to be possible to brew at this current temperature. I'm in Massachusetts, and it's already approaching 20 degrees. My house is quite cold even with the heat on full blast. Are fluctuations in heat going to fuck with the brew, and could the brew ferment at 50-60 degrees?

>>688742
I am so jealous right now. I've been lining the bottoms of my cases with foil after washing bottles and flipping upside down.

Hey Doddykins, I gather we are both from around grand rapids. We should arrange a bottle swap some time.

>>689196
Fluctuations in temp will mess with your hooch more than a constant lower temp. I dressed up my 5 gallon carboy in a sweater during the last few weeks.
What kind of yeast are you getting? Low temps can cause sluggish fermentation depending on your yeast.

>>688939
This stuff is pretty rank. Any ideas as to making it taste better? Just let it sit longer?

>>>/b/98286913

>>689250
The yeast will be Montrachet dry wine yeast; 1 gram per gallon.

That brings up another question. I ordered it online... Will the yeast be fine in the mail, and the below freezing temps?

ITT: Booze.

>>689196
>My house is quite cold even with the heat on full blast. Are fluctuations in heat going to fuck with the brew, and could the brew ferment at 50-60 degrees?

It's 15F-20F with snow on the ground. My house temps are about 58F in the morning and goes up to 72F during the day. I keep all my carboys covered with towels, both to keep the light out and give them a little protection from temperature swings.

My Blackberry Mead seems to have stopped fermentation. This might be because of the temperature swings or because it's finished fermenting. If it is stuck then I'll need to start it again. I'll use the hydrometer to see how much sugar has fermented.

>>689243
I was sitting them on the counter on top of a paper towel. I used hot boiled water to rinse them so they dried a little faster.

>>689290
>Will the yeast be fine in the mail, and the below freezing temps?

I don't think so. Every single packet of mail-ordered yeast I bought has failed to activate. I ordered 3 different brands and a total of 5 packets. So, I'm sticking to bread yeast. I noticed that when this shipment of stuff >>688742 that the bottles were ice cold.

Had I a place locally to buy live brew yeasts I'd get some once or twice.

>>689266
>Any ideas as to making it taste better? Just let it sit longer?

Let it sit and age (3 months). It should taste better over time after it's cleared.

>>689278
What was it? /b/ threads last about 2 minutes before dying horrible screaming gore-filled deaths.

>>689290
from the winemaking.jackkeller.net website
Montrachet : Perhaps the most popular yeast used. It is available for both red and white wine fermentations and may be called Montrachet Red and Montrachet White. It works especially well in producing Chardonnay in barrel and stainless steel. It also tolerates sulfur dioxide well, but does not work well with high sugar levels (more than 23.5 Brix). It is this ineffectiveness in high sugar levels that is most likely responsible for many stuck fermentations. Temperature range is 59-86°, low flocculation, and alcohol is pretty reliable at 13%.

If it even works you'll have to do something to keep it warm. Get ready for a slow fermentation.

>>689715
I think the real problem is if you order it online. The delivery trucks are very cold in some places.

>>689290
you may have to do something to keep your carboy warm. Keep in mind that yeast does create a little heat due to metabolism, so an old sweater isn't a bad idea. There are a few yeasts that can keep up fermentation down to 50f, like the one I've been using(Lalvin K1-V1116). The datasheet for the yeast says that at those low temperatures it creates floral essences and enhances varietal character, whatever that means. :\

Here's the setup for my next batch of cider. 1 gallon Mott's AJ.($3.52), a can of strawberry-raspberry juice concentrate($2.00), and some left over dark brown sugar.

My new 1-gallon carboy is still full of cheap wine. Carlo Rossi makes great carboys. Luckily I have a week or so until I need the jug. Time to get to work on emptying it. ^_^

>>689960
>floral essences and enhances varietal character, whatever that means. :\

That means hardcore elitism.

Speaking of wine elitism. I was listening to the Splendid Table on NPR the other night. They were talking about a blind wine tasting test with some big name wine tasters. They had several very expensive $100+ wine bottles and several -$15 wine bottles all wrapped in bags so you they couldn't see the labels.

They taste test all the wines and write down their results. Then the bags are removed and the taste testers review the scores they gave to the wines. Guess what? All the cheap wines had won out over all the expensive wines. However, after the taste testers realized what they had done they tried to reverse their scores and they also ended up drinking all the expensive wines leaving the cheap ones alone.

It was pretty typical elitism behavior. I lol'd.

>>672351
I finally got around to testing the S.G of my Blackberry Mead today. It seems the reason it has stopped fermenting is because it's dry! I noted a couple of days ago there were no bubbles. I'm surprised it's completed fermenting in such a short amount of time.

Pic related, the fibers were from a towel I had draped over the jug. I forgot to wipe it down before opening the jug; such an00b mistake. Hopefully, nothing bad got in.

I tasted a little bit of it. It seems kind of weak like there's no alcohol in it at all. It smells good. Then again I just ate some pretty spicy-hot food with tons of garlic, so I don't trust my taste buds at the moment. I double-checked Jack Keller's page on wine problems and only "Flowers of Wine" would render it to coloured water. Luckily, nothing like that has formed.

>>689960
Buying wine in a 1-gallon carboy!? A novel idea. lol

>>689960
>Carlo Rossi

cost?

>>690166
It's jug wine... It is not pricy.

>>690214
>>690166
>>690020
$8.25 on sale. I am a miserly bastard.

To have midwest homebrew supply send me what looks like an identical jug would cost me $12.39. The wine may be shit, but who cares. low-brow jug wine still gets ya drunk and is great as a table wine.

I just started my batch of hobo wine today. Everything went smoothly and I put it in the closet.

Just a curiosity, for this recipe, is campden recommended or do I only need it if there is "bad" bacteria in my wine? For mead, will I always have to put a campden tablet in before letting it ferment?

>>690416
I forgot, I'm drinking Sailor Jerry's and the last glass of cider. I don't mean to ramble on, but I am pretty buzzed off homebrew.
I brought a bottle of my still pyment(without lees or extra sugar) over to a friends house. A grolsch bottle, about one week in bottles. The first thing my buddy said was, "tastes like that joo wine with more tannins, dry." Sometimes I hate hanging out with people with discerning palates. He drank half the bottle, so I'll take it as constructive criticism.
>>690419
The whole idea is to set up a controlled spoilage. You only want your fungus to spoil your must. If you've got campden around and don't mind waiting 24hrs it can only help. The can of unfrozen juice concentrate I bought contains sulfites, so I am going to have to wait and let the sulfur work it's way out on the next batch. This brings up tons of issues with contamination because I plan on using half of the lees from generation two's primary--->secondary racking to start this batch up. It looks like I'll have to make starters because of the timing.I am in essence "wasting" one generation of yeast on making the starters so after these two batches it is time for new yeast. $1 yeast + $2 gasoline to drive to the LHBS and back. pic related.

Selah.

Got 2 Carlo Rossi jugs that I need to empty myself, plus a bunch of blueberries sitting in the freezer waiting.

>>690419
Better to use a campden if you have any doubts about nasties being in it than to end up with a bad batch, or you can pasteurize i.e. heat it up.

>>690461

I don't have much of a doubt since I put it in a dark closet at room temp.

I'm quite new at home brewing, so if I were to pasteurize the wine after racking it, about what temperature is ideal for eliminating any bacteria?

Also, since I don't have a siphon, how can I rack the wine when its done? Could I just pour it out or must I get a hose?

>>690455
>fungus
What are you making, Sauternes?

>>690518
You pasteurize or use campden before adding the yeast, a campden tablet is also good when racking to prevent oxidation. You definitely want to get some tubing (hardware or pet store) again to keep oxygen out, a siphon pump of some sort is good too since your mouth is full of bacteria.

>>690535
>Yeasts are eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with about 1,500 species currently described.
>The yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used in baking and fermenting alcoholic beverages for thousands of years.
yes, fungus.

also progress bump.

>>690539
I stand corrected.

What's the autosage count on this board?

>>690554
whatever it is, i think we have hit it. time to start a new homebrew thread.
ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE?

>>690601
>>690601

I am a bad enough dude.

omg /ck/
you guys made my life complete with these homebrew threads

i can be a cheap jew AND get drunk!

Location of new thread:

>>690601

bump? This can't die already. It's only been two weeks