Posted on 10/19/2012 4:47:42 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!
Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew
BEER
Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I brewed up an Irish Stout this past week using a extract kit I had ordered a few weeks ago. It has an Original Gravity (O.G.) of 1.065 and is bubbling the airlock nicely. Yep, I am back to brewing an Ale after a side trip into making a couple of Hard Apple Ciders. I will continue my Hard Cider Brewing as long as I can get the fresh squeezed Mussleman’s Cider I have been using.
I popped the swing top on one of my Grolsch-style swing-cap bottles of Cranberry Mead a couple of days ago and got a big surprise … Wow! It blew like I was uncorking a bottle of Champagne. Spewed all over before I could get the cap back on. I bottled it as sparkling Mead and it sure is! It is a nice tasting bubbly.
Last night I popped the top on the first Hard Cider that I bottled a few weeks ago. Nice carbonation and it has a beautiful very, very clear light yellow color (a #2 on the Lovibond scale).
My wife had helped me make and bottle it, and said, “Oh my, it tastes like a wine, this was way too easy to make.” Yep, and it turned out good! This is the one I made with the frozen apple juice concentrate. It was inexpensive and turned out to be very tasty. It was easy to make and quick from the ferment stage to popping a top and drinking. Not bad for 7.8% ABV - Can’t beat that combination. I think the carbonation makes the hard cider much better. Drink it cold, cold.
I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.
Ping to the homebrewing wine making list
Still waiting to start bottling some wines. The plum wines turned out a bit hazy so we are going to put some fining in them to try to clear them.
I hope to get a big ratchet fruit press for next year. My partner and I are going to go in on it since we ferment the equivalent of $1000+ of wine every year. (if you average $5 a bottle.) We are producing wine at less than $1 a bottle. Nice for the po folk we are. :)
Not home brew but very nice limited qty microbrew.
Had on the other week. Yummo!
http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/oktoberfest.html
Looks mighty tasty!
It was darn fine in a frosted mug, poured from tap.
Yep! Us po folks love anything home made for less! Especially a nice wine or brew.
My batch of Hard Cider is sitting in the Secondary getting mellow. 1 week so far. I think I will let it get happy for a few more weeks before I cold crash it and bottle it in 1 gal. jugs.
Most of my focus is preparing to start Chemo. The next 2 weeks are pretty full with appointments. The Cider is doing it’s job as a pleasant distraction.
In the day we would make the cider then let it freeze in the garage.
Then you get the ice pick out to pour off the apple jack.
Yow!!
Sorry to hear of your woes FRiend.
Just had my first glass of home brewed cider today.
Like you said, 7.5% ABV never tasted so smooth. This stuff is going to be dangerous.
Now that I have some fermenter space free, I’m doing a double batch Monday since it is supposed to be 53 and raining. Perfect brewing weather :)
Cheers,
knewshound
I had some commercial cider I was critical of at first. I figured my disappointment was that it was not carbonated. I have carbonated my brew and it is mighty Tasty stuff! Better than than the Hornbyy’s I had! This is so great!
Now I know one reason for Johnny Appleseed’s mission! Our Forefathers were Hard Cider drinkers. Bet their stuff was good!
I would be very interested in brewing my own wine or even better, a champagne knock-off. I like a glass every now and then and it’s become very expensive. I did a little googling on wine making and it seemed complicated lol
Any advice? TIA
Try making some Hard Apple Cider. It is easy and the ingredients are inexpensive and the results are tasty as heck! You can make it as bubbly as you like!
Well, I’m enjoying a cold glass of my “hooch-style” cider tonight too. Though it tastes like Boone’s Farm apple wine.
I used the cheapest generic “cider” since it was my first try- it was so insipid tasting I couldn’t even drink what I removed to make room for the yeast and sugar . But now that I know I can do it I’ve gotten a much better juice- and got it in bottles that my stoppers fit- and am eager to try again.
Left the apfelwine in the carboy to finish clearing after all. Another week and then I’m siphomimg it off to secondaries and starting again.
Hope to get some really good fresh local juice or cider soon to use.
I don’t think there are any hobbies as rewarding and intriguing that one can get started in for under $25!
I agree!
Yeah but I have 15 gallons of it !!!
I am going to have to bottle some to put away for summer. The aging helps it a lot and I honestly enjoy it more on a hot summer day.
Sad news, just pulled the last pint of Pale Ale from the keg. Good thing I have another !
In the meantime, I will satisfy my urges with a Partigyle of Oktoberfest/Pale Ale.
Excess beer in the fermenter should never be wasted ;0)
Cheers,
knewshound
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