Ping to the list!
We set off a new batch of blackberry wine yesterday, & added the yeast just a little while ago. We’ve done a good job of collecting blackberries this year - 80 lbs! I was very glad to get it started, as our freezer space was all tied up.
Next we’ll set off pears - as soon as our primary fermenters are available again. And then we have our home grown grapes.
Count your blessings, beer-makers. It’ll be two years before we’ll be drinking our wine.
When I racked it, it was still very very cloudy. So I added some pectic enzyme to clarify it and 2 cans of apple concentrate to boost the apple flavors.
Now to let it sit in the secondary for a few weeks and let the happiness develop.
Near the end to backend sweeten it a touch I am going to try a liquid Stevia extract I have on hand. It will not ferment and as a diabetic it does not affect my blood sugar readings. This stuff is very sweet, a little goes a long way.
I hope someone can enjoy my ‘adventures of a totally snakebit newbie screw-up,’. I’m of a divided mind about them myself....
Well, looking at my carboy of ersatz Ed Wort’s Apfelwine I wondered if that big (2 gal) space over the liquid might be a problem. Well, of course! I decide to siphon it into 3 1gallon bottles and find the stoppers I got are too small, and for good measure I can’t find the siphoning hose anyway!
When I find the hose I’m putting it in the bottles and just leave the tops loose with a weight on them.
I’ll start a new batch without any screw-ups. And meanwhile get some stoppers that fit things.
The two week old Apfelwine mix is only bubbling every minute or so now, smells nice, has dime-sized foam islands floating on the top and has started to clear. But that huge headroom worries me to no end.
Meanwhile I found another ‘foolproof’ recipe for hard cider- http://paraglider.hubpages.com/hub/how-to-make-cider-without-special-equipment . Heck it’s ‘hooch’: Open a jar of apple cider or juice, take out a cup of the contents, pour in 1/2c sugar, shake, pour in yeast and set the top on looose.
But I’m gonna use my stoppers and airlocks though right? Heck no these stoppers don’t fit anything in the world but my carboy. So I screw the tops on and then loosen them when there’s bubbling. Seems to have worked. 5days and they are fizzing happily. It’s cooled off here and the fruit flies are gone (they were sure interested in the Apfelwine last week though but the airlock worked like a champ).
I’m learning hard, but cheap. Some day I’ll be ready for quality brewing.
Time to reach beervana!
We plan on bottling our GewÜrztraminer from 2011. (We call it Kraut Wine and have a picture of Colonel Klink on the label.)
Our Cabernet and Chianti for 2012 are fermenting!
We’ve discovered a good bargain in Burgundies: Savigny-les-Beaune Vieilles Vignes, “Maison Roche De Bellene”. Got it for $16.99/bottle from Wines til Sold Out. Malolactic fermentation, very tasty.