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Some starting points for beginners:
Quick and diry guide to fermenting fruit - cider and wine
I just got done with a cyser that didn't come out quite like I wanted. Every bottle a headache, probably bad process on my part.
What I really want to do is make a huge, black, rich big beer, something like a dark Belgian penta.
...But not until I've got my process perfect. In the meantime I might do something warming for the coming spring showers. Maybe a porter?
One of the biggest suspects in this cyser story is metabisulfite treatment that might have happened to apples. I do not know the exact mechanism, but lots of people complained about headache if that was used with apples (and many recipes call for its use, IMO totally unjustified) or in apple juice in factory. Same thing about grapes. Differential is quite clear.
I do hope not - for this batch I couldn't get a lock on locally pressed juice so I went with a cider extract kit from homebrew supply.
The idea was something cheap and cheerful, and it relied on a lot of polish wildflower honey from Aldi that other mead makers had mentioned favourably.
I'm pretty sure it was just brewing too hot and I made some fusels. Hadn't happened to me before but this was during the summer in an untested spot not far from the oven... 😑 This just occurred to me, I am a goon.
I need glass, too. These plastic buckets are convenient but I'm wary.
Well, it's bad news, all those super-processed products almost always are treated with metabisulfite or something close enough, and only wine and a few other products require it to be listed on the label. It's pretty much treated as part of detergent for washing fruits. Completely unjustified as product is sterilized later in turning it into extract, but it is simpler to keep buying this historically accepted mild bleach and treating all fruits with it anyway. Maybe increases their storage time in shipping pipeline. Something I do not wish to think about in great detail, for my first lab in Finland was in a rented fruit storage bunker and I washed it and dismantled control equipment myself. Could have been WW2 nazi camp facility for what it was worth.
Thanks for letting me know, it was my first time using apple juice extract. Probably won't do that again. I've never had this issue with liquid malt extract though, do you suppose that's not treated?
Sure it is not, grain is not fruit after all. I think grain will turn into angry shoggoth if threated with metabisulfite. At least it would be a mess.
Damn it, now I want a shoggoth beer. Eldricht flavours beyond your tongue's comprehension!
Really didn't think so, but you've shaken my faith slightly so I thought I'd better ask. Thanks again.
Got a best bitter almost down to FG in the fermenter. Another couple of days and I'll crash it for a couple of days and then keg it.
I'm doing some experiments with alternative sugars for "mead". I have maple syrup and blue agave syrup batches going right now!
nice. did you add anything to them or just straight up water and yeast?
I used some DAP and fermaid-o (especially because agave is high fructose) but other than that just water and yeast! I plan on fortifying half the blue agave batch with silver tequila as well!
Does anybody know how to make a brew from topinambours aka sunchokes aka 'jerusalem artichokes' (silly name) - that's all i've got too many of at this time of year ?
Not sure about the how, but it appears that in Germany they make some sort of spirit out of them. So they can be fermented at least.
If you usually ferment beer I'd try and substitute some (boiled or baked and mashed) for part of the grain. Just remember that they're like 18% carbs or so, so you'll need quite a lot. And don't forget the rice hulls, to prevent a stuck mash.
Wikipedia also says that when they're stored, inulin converts into fructose, so if you have some lying around from last season maybe try those first.
Thanks for the tips. Indeed i noticed they become gradually more digestible (inulin->frutcose) as spring approaches, but then you can't store them - they grow...
In my childhood, we had these kinds of root vegetables sliced and caved in on one end, and a spoonful of honey was placed on top and in the cavity. Somehow this sped up conversion to overnight, and it was a treat. I guess, similar process could be used to convert them for brewing.
Although the whole idea sounds a bit like potato for vodka. Nothing wrong with that too, but the flavor might me less than interesting in the end. Worth trying I guess. I wish I had some of those now, not unripe ones from the store.
Dear god the farts.
Running out the last of some old still spirits sugar wash packs, planning a tomato paste run later today so i can knock together some hard solo for the hub's b'day.
On the maceration front got some burbon going in barrel chunks as well as some pineapple vinegar
I got my bock to finally attenuate after putting a tsp of amylase enzyme into it, it was stuck at 1.025 and now finished at 1.008 so I just recently kegged that. I'm planning on bottling my wild yeast saison this weekend. It had the same wort as the bock, but the wild yeast did not care about the longer chain dextrins and just fermented everything anyway.
I have a new wild yeast capture that might be promising. And another capture that looks like it's ready for risking a batch of beer on. So I need to get that planned out. I got a bunch of Kernza (perennial grain) so I may try that with it in a saison-like beer.