Vinter thread, brewing and ferminting.

[SecretSquirrel]

Sorry Skunky, I have to respectfully disagree.
Nowhere in the USA is it legal to home distill for personal use.
Still a federal offence. (pun intended. ? )

TTBGov - Penalties for Illegal Distilling

There is no personal use or home distilling exemption for Distilled Spirits. This page describes the penalties for making distilled spirits without a permit.

www.ttb.gov

Missouri says howdy lol

 

[WillieP]

Missouri says howdy lol

Well Howdy to the Show-Me State!

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Moonshining is about the only thing the state differs from the FED on

 

[WillieP]

Moonshining is about the only thing the state differs from the FED on

I did not know this.
I stand corrected on my earlier statement.
Thanks for the nugget of wisdom Squirrel!!

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

We racked 18 gallons of plum wine into 7 gallon carboys to finish off.
We still have a very, very tart raspberry, blackberry and blueberry 3 gallon in a small caboy that is stuck so we'll blend that in with the sweetest plum on the next and final rack.

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

Mama's been busy, I came in from the garden and she had about 3 gallons a Kalua brewed up.

1 for her and 1 for sister lol.

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

Ok, hmm,,, what to do with 36 pints, 551 gms each of delicious sweet ripe blueberries .

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

And 5 gallons of vino it is.

Actually it was enough fruit for 6 gallons but I added roughly to 22lbs of berries, a gallon and a quart of water, 10lbs of sugar and boiled the water till the sugar disolved and then poured over the washed, destemmed and drainded berries.
This boiling sugar water kinda melts the blueberry skins and the water goes dark purple.
This gives about 5 gallons volume.
I'll end up with approximately 3 and a half gallons of full b9died stout wine.
This'll sit until room temp then I'll be adding the other ingredients.
More to follow.

 

[WillieP]

This boiling sugar water kinda melts the blueberry skins and the water goes dark purple.

I knew that pouring the boiling water over you fruit would help to kill off any natural (and un-wanted) yeast, but I have never added the sugar first.
I can see where it would make it easier to dissolve the sugar, for one.
And the "melts the skins" thing has me totally intrigued.
Thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
WillieP

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

I knew that pouring the boiling water over you fruit would help to kill off any natural (and un-wanted) yeast, but I have never added the sugar first.
I can see where it would make it easier to dissolve the sugar, for one.
And the "melts the skins" thing has me totally intrigued.
Thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
WillieP

Blueberry is one of my favorite wines to make, it as full bodied as concord grape juice. And my recipe finishes with a near brandy stoutness.

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

So, to this bucket of water , fruit and sugar that is at room temp now gets amended.
Because theoretically it's a 5 gallon batch with 6 gallons worth of fruit I add 5 crushed campden tablets to kill all bad yeasts.
Then 2 tbs. yeast nutrient to well feed the yeast , 2 tbs. pectic enzymes to help convert remaining sugars, 1-1/2 tbs. acid blend.
Now after adding and stirring it in we wait for 24 hours for the campden tablets which are a sulfur compound to kill alien yeasts is when I'll hydrate and pitch the yeast into the bucket and then alliw to ferment with an airlock for 7 to 10 days.
The bubbles will tell the tell
At that point the fruit will be squeezed and removed, oh did I mention we use 5 gallon PP paint strainers to hold our fruit while fermenting? Makes removal and cleanup golden!
Anywho, more to come.

 

[GthaEnigma]

I love this! You are making me want to try making some.

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

Pitched the yeast this mornin after hydrating in warm water for 15 minutes.

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

I love this! You are making me want to try making some.

Lol , careful what ya lust after bro.
This is just what is goin just on the back porch. This is 21 gallons.

My pastor hit me up about some hard cider so I've got a couple gallons of that goin on the bar lol.
That be a tomato soup cake off to the left.

 

[GthaEnigma]

I have a 7 gal glass carboy that I haven't had the opportunity to use. Bubble locks. Just need yeasts, campden tabs and fruit. Oh and some space to do it all in.

 

[UncleB]

Several old timers down at the gym started bringing in the Meyer Lemons off their trees this week.

I'll squeeze the juice out for my bride, then ferment the rinds along with some ginger in a water kefir base. Adding dried fruit (usually raisins) at the end of things will provide a little sugar for carbonation in the bottle. Chopped up a couple Turkish Apricots today, because they were handy. Will try to remember to post when we're all bottled up and enjoying.

 

[GthaEnigma]

Several old timers down at the gym started bringing in the Meyer Lemons off their trees this week.

I'll squeeze the juice out for my bride, then ferment the rinds along with some ginger in a water kefir base. Adding dried fruit (usually raisins) at the end of things will provide a little sugar for carbonation in the bottle. Chopped up a couple Turkish Apricots today, because they were handy. Will try to remember to post when we're all bottled up and enjoying.

View attachment 142968


View attachment 142969

Have you ever made preserved lemons? Meyers are superb for them.

 

[UncleB]

Have you ever made preserved lemons? Meyers are superb for them.

I have not, but can definitely see why they would excel. Hard to imagine anyone growing any other variety of lemon on purpose these days...

 

[WillieP]

Hey Skunky,
I thought you might be interested in this.
I know a guy that is a beekeeper.
This fall when he harvested, he had some honey that had to high of a moisture content and couldn't be sold.
He knew I brewed and offered it to me to make into mead.
I had done just a little of that a few years back but never really pursued it, partly because of the cost of honey.
I decided to do small one-gallon batches so I can try multiple recipes.
So far, I have a Habanero Mango, a Spiced Metheglin, and an Apple Pie Bochet (caramelized honey).
I will have enough honey to do somewhere in the 10-12 gallons of mead.
It should be a fun winter project for me.

If you ever have more honey that you can use and decide to try your hand at mead making, hit me up and I will send you the link to the Youtube channel that I like on the topic.

Cheers,
WillieP

 

[Skunky Dunk Farms]

Hey Skunky,
I thought you might be interested in this.
I know a guy that is a beekeeper.
This fall when he harvested, he had some honey that had to high of a moisture content and couldn't be sold.
He knew I brewed and offered it to me to make into mead.
I had done just a little of that a few years back but never really pursued it, partly because of the cost of honey.
I decided to do small one-gallon batches so I can try multiple recipes.
So far, I have a Habanero Mango, a Spiced Metheglin, and an Apple Pie Bochet (caramelized honey).
I will have enough honey to do somewhere in the 10-12 gallons of mead.
It should be a fun winter project for me.

If you ever have more honey that you can use and decide to try your hand at mead making, hit me up and I will send you the link to the Youtube channel that I like on the topic.

Cheers,
WillieP

Good morning Willie, I've got acouple friends here that play with the mead method.
They usually only get a couple gallons a year but it's wonderful beverage.
That's a great score for ya as honey is pricey. Have fun this winter.
Buy the way , nectarines make the stoutest ethanol content!