The Official Brewing Thread (part deux)

[OpusX]

Kegged some New England Cider tonight. She hit about 11.4% abv.

[OpusX]

OG 1.085, FG 0.998. 5 gal of fresh press cider plus 5lbs of honey, Safale US-04 yeast. A cider Ben Franklin would love.

[BLachance75]

Does it taste like it’s 11%?

For my hard cider I only use apple juice and it ends up in the 6.5-7% range. You can’t taste the alcohol and it goes down smooth.

[OpusX]

This one tastes of crisp, tart, green apples, with a very faint honey wax late finish. It hides every bit of that 22 proof 😎

[blitz121]

This cyser has been going for a little over a week now, first ever mead. I didn't get a SG of it when I started (I'll probably start using my hydrometer on the next go around.)

2.5 LBs of local sourced honey
1 gallon of local cider
D47 Lalavin yeast

I had a few blowouts the first 3 days of brewing(Going to start going to buckets for primary fermentation going forward.)

Plan is to throw a few cinnamon sticks into the carboy on the last week before bottling for a little spice.

Debating on nabbing some buckets soon to start the next batch! and maybe another carboy or two!

[Alexndl]

At my home depot they have food grad 5 gallo bucket. You can drill a hole in the cap to install your airlock.

I also have a 3 gallon fermonster and I really like it. They are easy to clean and last long.
See link for product reference but I did not bough it there as I used a Canadian distributor
https://www.brewhardware.com/product...fermonster.htm

[zinger565]

So GotMead.com does have a calculator that can be manipulated to figure out a sort of "expected" OG. Assuming your local cider was the average 1.055 SG (based on various brewing books and my own personal experience), adding 2.5lbs of honey gets you in the neighborhood of 1.145

[blitz121]

Hopefully bottling this bad boy tonight! It cleared up quite a bit!

[OpusX]

Been brewing a bunch, but this one is just fun. Tepache, a naturally fermented beverage from the wild microbes on the skin of the pineapple. Typically low abv like kombucha, this one has a bit of extra sugar and some Sav Blanc yeast added in.

[Jonnydread]

I'll have to pick your brain about this one. I tried making it last year and it didn't ferment properly.

[OpusX]

Throwing a pouch of wine yeast (QA23) and some pectic enzyme to break down the fruit helps.

[BLachance75]

Been brewing a bunch, but this one is just fun. Tepache, a naturally fermented beverage from the wild microbes on the skin of the pineapple. Typically low abv like kombucha, this one has a bit of extra sugar and some Sav Blanc yeast added in.

The tepache I made ended up at 5%. I didn't calculate any of the sugar from the pineapple so it was probably a little over that. It makes a nice refreshing summer drink.

[blitz121]

Gotter done, first brew done and in the bag final gravity came to about 1.000! going to probably start a new couple gallons this weekend.

[OpusX]

Making me thirsty

[OpusX]

Found some "hot honey" at Costco so I said "why not" and thought I'd roll a gallon mini batch of capsicumel.

[OpusX]

Dropped a German Helles on tap yesterday. This was a room temp 34/70 lager. Who says you need a fridge to make good lager

[netsurferdude2]

I have never made any mead in my life before but I picked a bunch of wineberries today and I'd like to try it out.


My friend who has made it a few times recommend this kit: https://craftabrew.com/products/mead-making-kit
Any suggestions of where to start?

One Hippo's worth of wineberries. (1 Hippo height, not volume)

[BLachance75]

I have never made any mead in my life before but I picked a bunch of wineberries today and I'd like to try it out.


My friend who has made it a few times recommend this kit: https://craftabrew.com/products/mead-making-kit
Any suggestions of where to start?

One Hippo's worth of wineberries. (1 Hippo height, not volume)

I prefer to use wide mouth containers for fermenting. They are easier to get stuff in/out and a lot easier to clean.

If I’m trying to get 1 gallon of finished mead/cider I will use a 2 gallon plastic bucket with an airlock. I start with 1.25-1.5 gallons. If I want 5 gallons I use a 7 gallon bucket and start with 6ish gallons.

I use the 3 piece airlocks because they are easier to clean.
https://www.homebrewohio.com/home-br...lock-set-of-3/

Then you’ll need a grommet. https://www.homebrewohio.com/grommet-for-bucket-lids/

Or you can buy a bucket with lid, airlock and grommet ready to go. https://www.homebrewohio.com/home-br...enting-bucket/

I like Lalvin yeast, D47 is a good all around yeast.

Other than that you’ll want a siphon and bottling wand, sanitizer, bottles, caps/corks.

[OpusX]

D47 amd 71B are my go to cider yeasts.

[netsurferdude2]

I am getting this all together this weekend.

I have seen it done two ways. Putting the fruit all in at the beginning frozen then at the end you just siphon out the liquid.

Or you have the mead fermenting for about 2-3 weeks and then you puree, strain and boil the fruit and let it sit for another 3 weeks.

Which route should I go for my first run?

[OpusX]

Put it all in there at the start. You will also want to add Pectic Enzyme to break down the fruit and clarify it by causing the fruit pectin to drop out.

[OpusX]

The Tepache turned out great. A smooth kombucha like funk and crisp pineapple flavor.

[OpusX]

Me and a buddy snagged some metals this week for, Bock, Belgian Strong and Mead.

[Alexndl]

Well done!

[OpusX]

Sampling some beerfest giveaway brews to make sure they're good to go. A Dark Czech Lager and Citrus Ginger (with Butterdly Pea Berry tea) seltzer. Both crowd pleasers.

[Blackmagic71]

Brewing beer is a lot of fun, it’s the cleaning, scrubbing and sanitizing that I don’t like.

I got a few kits last Christmas, maybe it’s about time to do another.

[RhoXi]

Just started this batch of mead a week ago. 1 gallon traditional with 3.61lbs of local honey and a packet of Lalavin D47. Went too dry with my last batch. Hoping this one will be strong and sweet.

[OpusX]

A fun odd ball brew, bochet belgian braggot. Bochet being a technique for making dark candi honey, braggot being basically mead and beer, while the belgian aspect being trippel yeast. Tasty bev.