It’s Beer Thirty FReepers! Time For The Homebrewing/Wine Making Thread #14 September 21, 2012

Free Republic | 9-21-2012 | Red_Devil 232

[Dan Cooper]

I’m making my third batch of mead right now. I used some of our Spring honey which is very light and fruity. We made a batch with it last year that was very good, but had too much acid tang in the end. This time we added some Dark French Oak chips for three days in the secondary and then racked it off to another carboy. I think it is going to be a lot smoother this time. It looks like it’s going to have to sit for awhile to let the yeast settle out before we bottle it. The coolest thing was when the oak chips were in the carboy you could see the currents that the fermenting yeast cause to circulate from the top to the bottom.

My wife got me a eight gallon kettle for my birthday and so we brewed out first porter this summer. I’ve been worried since bottling it that it was still kind of flat after three weeks, but it looks like it was just taking longer. We tried a couple of bottles last night (4 1/2 weeks) and it was much better. I’m still trying to decide what to brew next, a chocolate stout or a braggot (beer with honey).

[Dan Cooper]

I completed my first ever 5 gallon batch of blackberry wine with fresh berries from my garden.

Wow, how do you do that? I've got tons (to many by far) wild blackberries growing around here. It's been a bumper year for them. How much blackberry do you use? What kind of yeast?

[Red_Devil 232]

I have had at least one problem with a porter not wanting to carbonate. I have no idea why but after 8 weeks it was still flat. My guess is I left it in the secondary to long and there were not enough viable yeast left to do the carbonation - still not convinced that was the cause.

[Dan Cooper]

Last week I gave each bottle a swirl to try to reactivate the yeast. The recipe I followed allowed for 3 weeks to carbonate after bottling, but I read that some beers take a lot longer than that. I was worried that the iodine solution that I used to sterilize the bottles might have been too strong or did not dry out enough. Now I think that I just need to be more patient. I’m thinking that might be the ultimate skill to learn when home brewing.

8 weeks and still flat? What did you use for priming? Were you able to fix it?

[knews_hound]

I’m sitting here in the shop looking at 20 gallons I brewed last weekend. 10 of Octoberfest and 10 of hoppy pale ale using homegrown hops.

I played hookey from work today and spent the afternoon installing the pumps and doing the wiring on the brew stand. I now have a 2 pump system and am itching to use it. All I need is 5/8 hose which I have to mail order! Grrrrrrr

I’m prepping for lager/Pilsener season. I am going to be a brewing machine this winter.

Cheers,

knewshound.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I just finished bottling a batch of Belgian abbey-style dubbel. I used Grand Marnier and cherry chips soaked in Amontillado for two weeks; ABV is 9 percent. I cracked a bottle of an earlier batch last week, and the stuff is really potent, as well as being exceptionally good-tasting with the crystal malt and all the little “hint” flavors. Not the kind of thing for everyday use, but for those special occasions it should hit the spot.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I have had at least one problem with a porter not wanting to carbonate. I have no idea why but after 8 weeks it was still flat. My guess is I left it in the secondary to long and there were not enough viable yeast left to do the carbonation - still not convinced that was the cause.

I had that problem too, with my last batch of stout. In my case, however, I added dry yeast before bottling, and still the carbonation is very poor, after several months.

[Red_Devil 232]

You have been added.

[wyowolf]

Brewing a smashing pumpkin ale tomorrow. Started in on my Moose Drool clone, beer you make sure goes down smooth... ;-) makes it hard to wait on the next batch!

[Jayster]

I saw this and thought that I would post it on here:

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/09/20/top-10-oktoberfest-beers/

[o_zarkman44]

My recipe used 18 pounds of crushed blackberries, 12 pounds of sugar total, two crushed campden tablets, and I forget the kind of yeast except it is a regular wine yeast and it took two packets. This is for a five gallon recipe. I am told blackberries have a lot of natural yeast but because the sources of the starter are questionable (animal urine for example) it is best to use the campden tablets to purify. Here is the site for the recipe I used. http://www.familyherbalremedies.com/blackberry_wine_recipe.html

[nanetteclaret]

We are making wine from Muscadine grapes growing wild on our property. It will be ready to decant on Oct. 3.

Interestingly enough, after I read Fr. Z’s post on the Blessing of Grapes for the Feast of the Transfiguration (Aug.6),

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/08/transfiguration-special-blessing-of-grapes/

I went out and checked our grapes and they were ready to be picked! (Of course, this is Texas, so YMMV.) This is the first time we have tried this, so we are anxious to see how it does. It sure smelled good - like port - the first week while we were stirring it!

[Dan Cooper]

Thank you for the information and the link. I bet 18 lbs. of blackberries takes awhile to pick. I’m not sure that I can get that many this late in the year, although we’ve picked a bunch this year. Something to try in the future for sure.