Friday, December 21, 2012
How Beer Gets Its Color
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Alcohol Content of Beers and Wines/Meads
One of the things I have been think about as of late with brewing is the levels of alcohol in my brews. How do I get them to the highest levels while keeping the integrity of the brew.
I do rely a great deal on my friend Larri. She is unbelievably knowledgeable about brewing. Here is what she told me about how to raise the levels of alcohol yet keep the integrity of the brews:
For Beer:
For beer, if you want to help raise the levels of alcohol, you need to add extra sugar during the creation of the wort. This will provide an extra boost to the fermentation. You can also add sugar to the secondary fermentation as well. if you would like.
For Wine/Mead:
For Wine and meads you can add sugar directly to the brew just before racking the wine and mead. I have taken a lesson from Larri and rack my wines and meads each month. So this would really give an extra boost each month to the yeast so that the levels of alcohol will rise.
Armed with this knowledge I will be giving some major boosts to my wines and meads during the re-racking in a few weeks.
I do rely a great deal on my friend Larri. She is unbelievably knowledgeable about brewing. Here is what she told me about how to raise the levels of alcohol yet keep the integrity of the brews:
For Beer:
For beer, if you want to help raise the levels of alcohol, you need to add extra sugar during the creation of the wort. This will provide an extra boost to the fermentation. You can also add sugar to the secondary fermentation as well. if you would like.
For Wine/Mead:
For Wine and meads you can add sugar directly to the brew just before racking the wine and mead. I have taken a lesson from Larri and rack my wines and meads each month. So this would really give an extra boost each month to the yeast so that the levels of alcohol will rise.
Armed with this knowledge I will be giving some major boosts to my wines and meads during the re-racking in a few weeks.
Chocolate nibs
I had a beer the other day that I fell in LOVE with. It was a Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. I talked with my friend Larri who is a brew master.
I asked her how she would go about making this kind of beer. She stated that she would first brew the beer and then add chocolate nibs to the secondary fermentation. So I am looking into that. I would really like to be able to add this into the process.
So I started looking into some of the forums for beer brewing. It looks like some of them roast the chocolate nibs at about 300 degrees to help kill off any bad bacteria that might be on them. This seems to also add a bit of roasted flavor to the beer as well. It seems that the time ranges from 1-3 weeks on them in the secondary fermentation process. I would add more sugar at this time as well and perhaps some of the un-fermenting sugar as well.
Just some of the thoughts I am having about new brews. Here is a great article on cocoa and it's use in beer:
I asked her how she would go about making this kind of beer. She stated that she would first brew the beer and then add chocolate nibs to the secondary fermentation. So I am looking into that. I would really like to be able to add this into the process.
So I started looking into some of the forums for beer brewing. It looks like some of them roast the chocolate nibs at about 300 degrees to help kill off any bad bacteria that might be on them. This seems to also add a bit of roasted flavor to the beer as well. It seems that the time ranges from 1-3 weeks on them in the secondary fermentation process. I would add more sugar at this time as well and perhaps some of the un-fermenting sugar as well.
Just some of the thoughts I am having about new brews. Here is a great article on cocoa and it's use in beer:
Brewing With Cocoa
Published January 2010, Volume 30, Number 6Saturday, November 17, 2012
New brew
So we stopped by the brew shop today. We were able to taste two beers. One was the whiskey stout the other a pumpkin spice porter. My next beer will be the whiskey stout for sure but I am thinking a pumpkin spiced cream ale as well. Any thoughts?
11/19/2012
The guys at Anuway actually added unfermentable sugar to this brew. It gave it a slightly sweet taste on the front of the tongue and the familiar bit of a stout on the back of the tongue. It was very nice. I to believe I will be picking this kit up in a week or so to start a brew of this.
11/19/2012
The guys at Anuway actually added unfermentable sugar to this brew. It gave it a slightly sweet taste on the front of the tongue and the familiar bit of a stout on the back of the tongue. It was very nice. I to believe I will be picking this kit up in a week or so to start a brew of this.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Connection between Hops and Marijuana?
 |
| Hops Plant |
Anyone out there in CO or WA who are brewers want to give this a try? Could make a most interesting beer for sure!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Hmmm foamer beer?
BeerSci: How To Make Beer Foamier
This is an article I was
reading on PopSci and thought I would share... thought it was most interesting!
The
article is well worth reading. Take a few minutes and read. I an so betting
into this whole brewing things. Anything I find I will make sure to share
through the blog posts.
New supplies... so excited!!!!
So this evening I am going to pick up two Ball Lock Soda Kegs so I can start using them for some of my beers. Though I will still be bottling some of the beers, I want to get to the point where I have beer ready sooner, especially seasonal type beers. One Saturday I am picking up a small deep freezer. The brewing shop has a device that will allow me to control the temp of the freezer so it will be perfect for my kegs... AND making lagers... that one I am really excited about as I love a good lager.
11/13/2012
I picked up the two 5 gallon ball lock kegs and two liquid connectors. Got them for $90. from all the sites I have been looking on that is pretty darn cheap for the two. They are in great shape... a little scuffed on the outside but all the connection ports and seals are good. The guy even had them cleaned really good. Next week I am going to go ahead and pick up a seasonal beer and a whiskey stout beer (it has chips from a whiskey barrel for flavoring... this should be AWESOME).
11/13/2012
I picked up the two 5 gallon ball lock kegs and two liquid connectors. Got them for $90. from all the sites I have been looking on that is pretty darn cheap for the two. They are in great shape... a little scuffed on the outside but all the connection ports and seals are good. The guy even had them cleaned really good. Next week I am going to go ahead and pick up a seasonal beer and a whiskey stout beer (it has chips from a whiskey barrel for flavoring... this should be AWESOME).
Sunday, October 28, 2012
My brewing name.... who knows I might be the next Sam Adams!
So I hung out with friends in Tulsa yesterday. We went hiking on a 4.4 miles (2.5 hour) backpacking tracking. It was wonderful. I am such a big kid in the woods... especially when there are huge stones around for me to climb. There is just something about those stones... they are the bones of our mother. I feel so close to her when I am near them.
There was a nice big rock I climbed and sat on for a nice little rest. It came to me the name for my brew.... 'Sitting Stone Brew's'. It is a play on the Standing Stones... and because I love nature and sitting on large stones. So there is the name of my brews!
There was a nice big rock I climbed and sat on for a nice little rest. It came to me the name for my brew.... 'Sitting Stone Brew's'. It is a play on the Standing Stones... and because I love nature and sitting on large stones. So there is the name of my brews!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Orange Spiced Agave Wine - started 11/1/2012
When I went to purchase my first around of honey from the local co-op I saw that they had fresh bulk agave nectar. That of course made me wonder what it would be like to brew with agave as the base. I know that agave is the base for Tequila but what would it be like as a wine or even a beer?
So I talked with Larri about what would it take to create a brew using agave. She explained it should be just like doing any other wine or mead. She helped me come up with a really great recipe for making it. Here is the recipe:
TBS (To Be Started)
Ingredients:
Sterilized 2 gallon bucket, lid, and airlock. Boiled half gallon of purified water then dissolved agave nectar and sugar into the water. Once cooled a bit added 1/2 gallon all natural orange juice, pectin enzyme, cinnamon sticks, 1 Campden tablet, and gloves. Placed lid and airlock on bucket. Filled airlock halfway with water. Letting stand for 12 hours before adding yeast and yeast nutrients.
11/2/2012
Added yeast and yeast nutrients. Replaced lib and airlock.
11/17/2012
Moved this wine over for secondary fermentation bucket. Liquid is still very cloudy at this point. I added yeast nutrients, Campden tablet, and pectin enzyme because there was still a lot of orange pulp in the wine. There was still a heavy spell of juice, cinnamon and cloves. The muck was very thin and runny at this point. Replaced lid and filled airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved wine over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The aroma was so slight I could barely smell it. The flavor was a ting bit tangy, sweet, and mild. I really am excited to see where this will be since it is only a few months old.
So I talked with Larri about what would it take to create a brew using agave. She explained it should be just like doing any other wine or mead. She helped me come up with a really great recipe for making it. Here is the recipe:
TBS (To Be Started)
Ingredients:
- 1/2-1 gallon agave nectar (for 2 gallon bucket)
- 1 gallon Purified Water
- 2 lbs of sugar
- 1/2 gallon fresh organic orange juice
- 1/2 lb dried orange peels
- 3 cinnamon sticks (Mexican food aisle has great cinnamon bark sticks)
- 3 whole cloves (Mexican food aisle has great cloves)
- 1/2 teaspoon pectin enzyme
- 1 Campden tablet
- yeast nutrients (1 1/2 teapsons for 4 days)
- mesh bag
- 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
- 1 airlock
- easy clean sterilization solution
Sterilized 2 gallon bucket, lid, and airlock. Boiled half gallon of purified water then dissolved agave nectar and sugar into the water. Once cooled a bit added 1/2 gallon all natural orange juice, pectin enzyme, cinnamon sticks, 1 Campden tablet, and gloves. Placed lid and airlock on bucket. Filled airlock halfway with water. Letting stand for 12 hours before adding yeast and yeast nutrients.
11/2/2012
Added yeast and yeast nutrients. Replaced lib and airlock.
11/17/2012
Moved this wine over for secondary fermentation bucket. Liquid is still very cloudy at this point. I added yeast nutrients, Campden tablet, and pectin enzyme because there was still a lot of orange pulp in the wine. There was still a heavy spell of juice, cinnamon and cloves. The muck was very thin and runny at this point. Replaced lid and filled airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved wine over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The aroma was so slight I could barely smell it. The flavor was a ting bit tangy, sweet, and mild. I really am excited to see where this will be since it is only a few months old.
A name?
OK so I am trying to come up with a name for my brews. I thought about something like 'leaning tree', 'standing tree', or 'druid tree'... heck even 'A Druid's Brew'... what do you all think?
Airlocks
So I was reading through the instructions on the beer brewing kit and noticed that it said to make sure that the airlock was half way filled with water. I was kind of like OK... sure I guess beer needs that? Then I decided to ask Larri about this with my meads... as I just put the airlocks on the buckets and that was it.
Larri informed me, that yes all airlocks need to be half filled with water. She figured instructions would have come with my airlock to explain that... oooops! Well now I know and all airlocks are half filled with water!
Lesson learned. Always fill your airlocks halfway with water once they are in place on your fermentation buckets. That is how they are designed to work. Happy Brewing!!!
Larri informed me, that yes all airlocks need to be half filled with water. She figured instructions would have come with my airlock to explain that... oooops! Well now I know and all airlocks are half filled with water!
Lesson learned. Always fill your airlocks halfway with water once they are in place on your fermentation buckets. That is how they are designed to work. Happy Brewing!!!
American Cream Ale - started 10/21/2012
I have wanted to start brewing beer for sometime now. I know that it has a lot more upfront work than making mead or wine but the payoff happens a lot faster as well. I have also decided to do this first batch of beer in bottles and not a soda keg. This decision was made for a couple of reasons. First I want to be able to transport the beer so people can try it. Second it will take time to get the recycled soda kegs, get them cleaned up, sterilized and ready to go. I also have to get a beverage regulator, hoses, and a source of CO2. Third reason being I have NO way of getting it cold... yet! I am going to look into a Kegerator. Love the name!
So I bought a beer kit from Anuway Hydroponics. The kit I picked up was the Brewer's Best: American Cream Ale. It is described as 'An ale version of the American lager style. Clean, light and simple to brew. Faint malt notes with a hint of corn-like presence. An easy drinker.'
This should be a most interesting experience. I really can't wait to see how this turns out... though the box says it will make up to 53 12oz bottles of beer... HOW ON EARTH am I going to drink 53 bottles of beer? I guess this means I will be gifting some beer to people!
American Cream Ale by Brewers Best
Contents of Kit:
Fermemtables
10/21/2012
So I did a small prayer and blessing over the ingredients to Hestia, Demeter, and the Nature Spirits before starting the brewing process. I followed the instructions contained in the brewing kit. Pretty easy really. Though I wasn't expecting the smell. WOW brewing beer is a little on the nasty smelling side. Once it was cooled off to room temp transferred over to the fermentation bucket, added water up to the 5 gallon mark then added yeast. Closed lid tight then put airlock on adding water to the airlock.
10/23/2012
Well I know the Beer is brewing cause the airlock is dancing like crazy! It is nice to see that the thing is doing what is suppose to be doing.
The other thing I noticed was that my brew kit talked about having a bittering hops and an aroma hops. I only had two packs of aroma hops. So we will see how it turns out.
10/26/2012
I melted 2 cups of brown sugar, let cool to room temp. Sterilized the secondary fermentation bucket and tools. Poured the melted sugar into the secondary fermentation bucket. Then moved the fermenting beer worth over. This caused the sugar base to swirl and mix well into the beer worth. Replaced the lid. Now will sit for two weeks before bottling.
11/10/2012
Bottled my bear today. 48 bottles, a bottling bucket, a filling wand, and priming sugar. It's so cool I was able to get this done today. I had a small taste and WOW it is tasting great. There is a hint of brown sugar but the beer is not sweet.
Learned something about the filling wand... DO NOT leave it in a bottle. If you do it will continue filling, all be it slowly, and you WILL have a huge mess to clean up. Here is one of the boxes that I have filled and capped. I SO LOVE brewing!!!
Now I just have to way the two weeks or so for carbonation to occur.
12/1/2012
So we waited another week to try the beer because at the two week mark it was a bit flat. Though it is much more carbonated I think it still could use a bit longer. However with that said, the beer is super tasty! even at room temp it was great. This very well might become the base for a lot of my flavored beers.
12/8/2012
Tried another of the beers and it has matured greatly. The carbonation is much higher and the taste is much better. I will be using the Cream Ale as a base for many of my flavored beers. I really enjoy it.
12/27/2012
I had one of these last night... still have about 12-13 of them. They have been sitting in the box. So the carbonation has increase majorly and so has the flavor. It tastes like a Blue Moon!!! WOW what a great flavor. Lesson learned here: time is your friend on the flavor and body of beer. Hmmm should I rethink the use of kegs? maybe those will be best used for some beers but not all?
So I bought a beer kit from Anuway Hydroponics. The kit I picked up was the Brewer's Best: American Cream Ale. It is described as 'An ale version of the American lager style. Clean, light and simple to brew. Faint malt notes with a hint of corn-like presence. An easy drinker.'
This should be a most interesting experience. I really can't wait to see how this turns out... though the box says it will make up to 53 12oz bottles of beer... HOW ON EARTH am I going to drink 53 bottles of beer? I guess this means I will be gifting some beer to people!
American Cream Ale by Brewers Best
Contents of Kit:
- Ingredients
- Grain bag(s)
- Priming Sugar
- Bottle caps
- Brewing Procedures
Fermemtables
- 3.3 lbs Light LME
- 2.0 lbs Pilsen DME
- 1 lb Corn Sugar
- 2 oz Willamette
- 2 oz Aroma
- 1 Sachet
- 4 gallon Brewing Pot
- 5 gallon Fermentation bucket and lid
- 1 Air lock
- easy clean sterilization solution
10/21/2012
So I did a small prayer and blessing over the ingredients to Hestia, Demeter, and the Nature Spirits before starting the brewing process. I followed the instructions contained in the brewing kit. Pretty easy really. Though I wasn't expecting the smell. WOW brewing beer is a little on the nasty smelling side. Once it was cooled off to room temp transferred over to the fermentation bucket, added water up to the 5 gallon mark then added yeast. Closed lid tight then put airlock on adding water to the airlock.
10/23/2012
Well I know the Beer is brewing cause the airlock is dancing like crazy! It is nice to see that the thing is doing what is suppose to be doing.
The other thing I noticed was that my brew kit talked about having a bittering hops and an aroma hops. I only had two packs of aroma hops. So we will see how it turns out.
10/26/2012
I melted 2 cups of brown sugar, let cool to room temp. Sterilized the secondary fermentation bucket and tools. Poured the melted sugar into the secondary fermentation bucket. Then moved the fermenting beer worth over. This caused the sugar base to swirl and mix well into the beer worth. Replaced the lid. Now will sit for two weeks before bottling.
11/10/2012
Bottled my bear today. 48 bottles, a bottling bucket, a filling wand, and priming sugar. It's so cool I was able to get this done today. I had a small taste and WOW it is tasting great. There is a hint of brown sugar but the beer is not sweet.
Learned something about the filling wand... DO NOT leave it in a bottle. If you do it will continue filling, all be it slowly, and you WILL have a huge mess to clean up. Here is one of the boxes that I have filled and capped. I SO LOVE brewing!!!
Now I just have to way the two weeks or so for carbonation to occur.
12/1/2012
So we waited another week to try the beer because at the two week mark it was a bit flat. Though it is much more carbonated I think it still could use a bit longer. However with that said, the beer is super tasty! even at room temp it was great. This very well might become the base for a lot of my flavored beers.
12/8/2012
Tried another of the beers and it has matured greatly. The carbonation is much higher and the taste is much better. I will be using the Cream Ale as a base for many of my flavored beers. I really enjoy it.
12/27/2012
I had one of these last night... still have about 12-13 of them. They have been sitting in the box. So the carbonation has increase majorly and so has the flavor. It tastes like a Blue Moon!!! WOW what a great flavor. Lesson learned here: time is your friend on the flavor and body of beer. Hmmm should I rethink the use of kegs? maybe those will be best used for some beers but not all?
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Spiced Apple & Cranberry Wine - started 10/20/2012
I decided I wanted to make a wine this time around. Partly because I am starting the Brewers Guild Study Program in ADF. Partly because I want to try making meads, wines, and beers. Last weekend John and I were at a wine store where we were able to taste a few wines. There was this great Apple Spiced wine I feel in love with. So here is my attempt at making something very similar.
10/20/2012
Ingredients:
Brought 1.5 gallons of water to a boil. Dissolved 10 lbs of sugar into the water. While the water was heating up I sterilized the 5 gallon fermentation bucket, lid, and air lock. I then poured the 1 gallon of Apple Cider into the bucket. Then poured the melted sugar and water into the bucket. I added the 4 dissolved Campden tablets into the mixture then covered tightly with lid.
10/21/2012
Add mesh bag with cranberries into bucket after letting them sit over night in sugar. let them become room temp before adding yeast and 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Made sure lid was tightly placed back on.
10/24/2012
Removed the cranberries from the wine mixture. Added 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrients, cloves, and cinnamon bark. I went with actual raw Mexican cinnamon bark. Replaced lid.
11/17/2012
Moved wine over to clean sterilized bucket. Clarity is beginning to get much better. The smell is amazing. The muck was very thick at this point. I added Campden tablets, yeast nutrients, and pectin enzyme. Replaced the lid and filled the airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved the mead over. It has a very delicate aroma and the cool is a beautiful golden shade. Added 5 cups of sugar to the mixture.
10/20/2012
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon all natural Apple Cider
- 3 lbs fresh cranberries (macerated over night)
- 10 lbs of sugar (figured I would start out sweet)
- 4 Campden tablets
- 1 teaspoon pectin enzymes (using using fruit and fruit juices)
- 2 large fresh cinnamon sticks
- 5 whole cloves
- 5 gallons purified water
- 5 teaspoons yeast nutrients
- 2 packs of wine yeast
- 1 5 gallon fermentation bucket with lid
- 1 air lock
- 1 hops mesh bag
- 3 tablespoons easy clean sterilization solution
Brought 1.5 gallons of water to a boil. Dissolved 10 lbs of sugar into the water. While the water was heating up I sterilized the 5 gallon fermentation bucket, lid, and air lock. I then poured the 1 gallon of Apple Cider into the bucket. Then poured the melted sugar and water into the bucket. I added the 4 dissolved Campden tablets into the mixture then covered tightly with lid.
10/21/2012
Add mesh bag with cranberries into bucket after letting them sit over night in sugar. let them become room temp before adding yeast and 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Made sure lid was tightly placed back on.
10/24/2012
Removed the cranberries from the wine mixture. Added 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrients, cloves, and cinnamon bark. I went with actual raw Mexican cinnamon bark. Replaced lid.
11/17/2012
Moved wine over to clean sterilized bucket. Clarity is beginning to get much better. The smell is amazing. The muck was very thick at this point. I added Campden tablets, yeast nutrients, and pectin enzyme. Replaced the lid and filled the airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved the mead over. It has a very delicate aroma and the cool is a beautiful golden shade. Added 5 cups of sugar to the mixture.
Chi Spice & Hazel Nut Mead - started 9/1/2012
Larri said she once brewed a Sweet Tea mead. Well that got me to thinking... I LOVE Chi tea and John and I had just found a Chi Spice Hazel Nut tea that I thought was amazing. So guess what? It got turned into a mead!!! So here is the recipe and the journey of the Chi Spice Hazel Nut Mead.
9/1/2012
Ingredients:
9/2/2012
Added the yeast and 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
9/3/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
9/4/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
11/17/2012
Moved the mead over to a clean sterilized bucket. Color and clarity have changed dramatically. The color has gone from a hard honey mustard color to a deep grey-ish brown color. The clarity is really amazing compared to what it was a month ago. It has a mild sent of the Chi spices and Hazel Nut. Replaced lid and filled airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved mead over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The mead has an amazing flavor and color. This is for SURE going to become one of the big 5 gallon brews. It is AWESOME so far.
7/6/2013
Tasted the mead. It is outstanding! I will be bottling this batch in a month. The flavor is just truly amazing. The mead has cleared nearly completely. I am truly excited about this mead.
7/13/2013
Mead is now bottled. I can not believe how crystal clear this turned out. It has an amazing aroma, taste and clarity. I am so sorry I didn't make a bigger batch than this! I ended up with three 1 liter bottles. Here is one of the first bottles. This was only a 1 gallon batch.
9/1/2012
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lbs of Arkansas Dark Honey
- 3 Chi Spice Hazel Nut tea bags
- 3 Chi tea bags
- 1.5 gallons purified water
- 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
- 1 air lock
- 1 packet of wine yeast
- 1 Campden tablet
- 2 teaspoons of easy clean sterilization solution
- 2 teaspoons yeast nutrients (4 days straight)
9/2/2012
Added the yeast and 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
9/3/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
9/4/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
9/5/2012
Added 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients. Replaced lid tightly back on the bucket.
10/13/2012
Sterilized aging fermentation bucket. Clarity is not that great at this stage. Smells and taste are pretty good at this point. The color reminds me of honey mustard.11/17/2012
Moved the mead over to a clean sterilized bucket. Color and clarity have changed dramatically. The color has gone from a hard honey mustard color to a deep grey-ish brown color. The clarity is really amazing compared to what it was a month ago. It has a mild sent of the Chi spices and Hazel Nut. Replaced lid and filled airlock.
1/15/2013
Moved mead over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The mead has an amazing flavor and color. This is for SURE going to become one of the big 5 gallon brews. It is AWESOME so far.
7/6/2013
Tasted the mead. It is outstanding! I will be bottling this batch in a month. The flavor is just truly amazing. The mead has cleared nearly completely. I am truly excited about this mead.
7/13/2013
Mead is now bottled. I can not believe how crystal clear this turned out. It has an amazing aroma, taste and clarity. I am so sorry I didn't make a bigger batch than this! I ended up with three 1 liter bottles. Here is one of the first bottles. This was only a 1 gallon batch.
Wild Berry & Oat Mead - started 8/12/2012
So I started brewing for the first time 8/12/2012 by creating my very first mead. I was very inspired by my friend Larri McKnight who is a master at brewing. She is an amazingly talented Pagan woman with so much to teach. She has taught me pretty much everything I know of brewing so far. What she has taught me has not only saved me time but money as well.
I bought all of my basic brewing supplies at Anuway Hydroponics here in Rogers Arkansas. Wonderful helpful people that are filled with a lot of brewing knowledge themselves.
I want to give my basic recipe for creating this mead along with all the changes and additions I have done with this brew until it reaching the bottling stage. I will do all the updates as edits to each post just to keep the page from becoming over crowded. Please follow me so you too can enjoy this great journey I have embarked upon.
8/12/2012
Ingredients:
Once all of this was done I let the mixture with the yeast sit for three days before removing the fruit.
8/16/2012
Removed hops mesh bag containing the fruit. sealed bucket and left to ferment.
8/26/2012
Sterilized second bucket using easy clean sterilization solution. Using easy siphon hose I transferred the mead from the first stage fermentation bucket to the second stage fermentation bucket. Added on dissolved Campden tablet.
9/16/2012
Checked mead. Smell and taste were off. Spoke with Larri and she suggested that I add sugar. I also added some yeast nutrients (1 teaspoon per gallon for 3 days). This seemed to kick start the stalled fermentation process.
10/13/2012
Sterilized aging fermentation bucket. Mead smells and tastes much better. Clarity is amazing at this stage as it is siphoned into the new bucket. Color is a deep rich purplish red hue from the berries. Added Campden tablet to further clarify.
11/17/2012
Moved mead into new sterile bucket. The color is getting very nice. It is a deep rich blue-ish purple and very clear. I added three Campden tablets to help further clarify the mead. Replaced lid and refilled the airlock with purified water.
1/15/2013
Ok so I have been a bad brewer. I haven't moved my meads and wines in a while so doing it tonight. After talking with Larri about alcohol levels I am adding one cup of sugar for gallon to each. I want them to be as tasty as possible while still having a nice high content. So this one got 5 cups of sugar. The rest will be getting their sugar as well.
But I wanted to add that the mead SMELLS GREAT!!! O H M Y G O D S! I can NOT wait to drink this!
7/6/2013
Tasted this mead. It is ready for bottling. Will be doing that next weekend. This has turned out to be an extremely dry mead. The flavor is very subtle and the clarity is amazing. The purple has lighten greatly. I think that it will become better with aging.
7/13/2013
Mead is bottled. I really thought the clarity was good from what I say in the fermentation bucket. But it seems to still be a bit cloudy. The state is good. This brew turned out on the dry side. John loves it. I am hoping now that it has been bottled it might clear a bit more. I ended up with 16 liter bottles.
I bought all of my basic brewing supplies at Anuway Hydroponics here in Rogers Arkansas. Wonderful helpful people that are filled with a lot of brewing knowledge themselves.
I want to give my basic recipe for creating this mead along with all the changes and additions I have done with this brew until it reaching the bottling stage. I will do all the updates as edits to each post just to keep the page from becoming over crowded. Please follow me so you too can enjoy this great journey I have embarked upon.
8/12/2012
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs fresh seasonal wild berries (strawberries, raspberries, black berries, blue berries)
- 1 lb rolled organic oats
- 1.5 gallons of Arkansas Dark Honey
- 5 gallons purified water
- 5 Campden tablets
- 1 teaspoon of pectin enzyme (since I am using fruit)
- 1 5 gallon food grade fermentation bucket
- 1 fermentation bucket lib
- 1 air lock
- 1 hops mesh bag
- 2 packets of wine yeast.
- 3 tablespoons of easy clean sterilization solution
Once all of this was done I let the mixture with the yeast sit for three days before removing the fruit.
8/16/2012
Removed hops mesh bag containing the fruit. sealed bucket and left to ferment.
8/26/2012
Sterilized second bucket using easy clean sterilization solution. Using easy siphon hose I transferred the mead from the first stage fermentation bucket to the second stage fermentation bucket. Added on dissolved Campden tablet.
9/16/2012
Checked mead. Smell and taste were off. Spoke with Larri and she suggested that I add sugar. I also added some yeast nutrients (1 teaspoon per gallon for 3 days). This seemed to kick start the stalled fermentation process.
10/13/2012
Sterilized aging fermentation bucket. Mead smells and tastes much better. Clarity is amazing at this stage as it is siphoned into the new bucket. Color is a deep rich purplish red hue from the berries. Added Campden tablet to further clarify.
11/17/2012
Moved mead into new sterile bucket. The color is getting very nice. It is a deep rich blue-ish purple and very clear. I added three Campden tablets to help further clarify the mead. Replaced lid and refilled the airlock with purified water.
1/15/2013
Ok so I have been a bad brewer. I haven't moved my meads and wines in a while so doing it tonight. After talking with Larri about alcohol levels I am adding one cup of sugar for gallon to each. I want them to be as tasty as possible while still having a nice high content. So this one got 5 cups of sugar. The rest will be getting their sugar as well.
But I wanted to add that the mead SMELLS GREAT!!! O H M Y G O D S! I can NOT wait to drink this!
7/6/2013
Tasted this mead. It is ready for bottling. Will be doing that next weekend. This has turned out to be an extremely dry mead. The flavor is very subtle and the clarity is amazing. The purple has lighten greatly. I think that it will become better with aging.
7/13/2013
Mead is bottled. I really thought the clarity was good from what I say in the fermentation bucket. But it seems to still be a bit cloudy. The state is good. This brew turned out on the dry side. John loves it. I am hoping now that it has been bottled it might clear a bit more. I ended up with 16 liter bottles.
7/20/2013
OK so the Wild Berry & Oat Mead has been bottled for about a week now. It has completely cleared up. I am not sure why it did so in the bottles and not in the bucket.
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