The Home Brewing Thread

[Sloppy Party Bottom]

I have two fermenting right now; a KiwiFarms mead (Apple Juice and Honey) that is bubbling away, and my own creation:

Cobra's Mist
------------
5L Mountain Dew
1L Filtered Water (I didn't buy enough Mountain Dew)
Brooklyn Brew Shop American Wheat kit

Just cooked it last night, and today no bubbles yet. Going to watch it today and maybe add some yeast nutrient. Not out of the question that the yeast I got was dead, so might have to pitch another packet.

 

[beepbopisuckcock]

might have to pitch another packet

Did this ever start bubbling? Try making a starter, even if its just yeast nutrient, honey, yeast, and water. You're fighting sodium benzoate in the Dew.

 

[Sloppy Party Bottom]

Did this ever start bubbling? Try making a starter, even if its just yeast nutrient, honey, yeast, and water. You're fighting sodium benzoate in the Dew.

It did, yeah, about 2 days later strangely enough. I gave it a shook on the second day, and then when I checked the next it had a head forming. Came in last night and it had blown out the bubbler, so seems like it is underway.

If I had given this more thought I would have, but this was kind of a lark. The mead is starting to slow down after about 3 weeks, thinking of giving it a shake a waiting a few days before racking to the secondary to try and clear it up.

 

[eaglesfan665]

I'm currently making wine from dry figs. It's my second batch but I'm making it in tiny less-than-half-a-gallon sized jugs, since I didn't have enough figs for a larger batch. I am not measuring specific gravity, so I can't know the abv for sure. Here's the recipe I'm using:

1.5l water
270g dry figs
360g white sugar
Juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange

Instead of store-bought yeast I am using the lees from my previous batch, which in turn used the lees from a hard cider I made 2 or 3 months ago without adding any yeast besides the naturally occurring yeast that was already present in the apple skins.

I try not to forget to punch the figs down daily, then rack the brew to take it off the figs after 7 days. Then let it sit til bubbling subsides (it was about 3 weeks last time), cold crash, rack again (maybe cold crash and rack again if there's any visible pectin sediment) then bottle.

I tried a bit of the first batch before bottling. It tasted nice and figgy, though a bit acidic, likely due to the lemon and orange juice. I'm hoping it mellows out as it ages in the bottle.

 

[Catgirl Tyranid]

I'm currently making wine from dry figs. It's my second batch but I'm making it in tiny less-than-half-a-gallon sized jugs, since I didn't have enough figs for a larger batch. I am not measuring specific gravity, so I can't know the abv for sure. Here's the recipe I'm using:

1.5l water
270g dry figs
360g white sugar
Juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange

Instead of store-bought yeast I am using the lees from my previous batch, which in turn used the lees from a hard cider I made 2 or 3 months ago without adding any yeast besides the naturally occurring yeast that was already present in the apple skins.

I try not to forget to punch the figs down daily, then rack the brew to take it off the figs after 7 days. Then let it sit til bubbling subsides (it was about 3 weeks last time), cold crash, rack again (maybe cold crash and rack again if there's any visible pectin sediment) then bottle.

I tried a bit of the first batch before bottling. It tasted nice and figgy, though a bit acidic, likely due to the lemon and orange juice. I'm hoping it mellows out as it ages in the bottle.

What was the thought process behind the orange? I've seen recipes call for lemon juice, but as far as I know fermenting orange has a vomit scent that can take a long time to go away. Did you notice anything like that in the smell when it was bubbling?

 

[Sloppy Party Bottom]

1.5l water
270g dry figs
360g white sugar
Juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange

Did you do some sort of calculation for the sugar add or are you just yolo'ing it (e.g. that's how much you had, or how big the package is)? I know it affects the final ABV, and now that I think about it there is probably a calculator somewhere that will do that math for you.

The Cobra's Mist in the fermenter is VERY active; I just walked up to it and it looks like a freshly poured beer with co2 (I guess?) cascading up toward the head. I took the bubbler off and cleaned/sanitized/replaced with fresh. I know oxygen introduction into the process is not the best thing, but it looked pretty unsanitary as it was. Lots of foamy chunks coming out the top. Did not smell "beery" like yeast like I thought it would, though.

Botulism saga incoming? Might buy a can seamer and send Cobes one if it doesn't taste like poison.

 

[eaglesfan665]

Did you do some sort of calculation for the sugar add or are you just yolo'ing it (e.g. that's how much you had, or how big the package is)? I know it affects the final ABV, and now that I think about it there is probably a calculator somewhere that will do that math for you.

Basically I took this recipe (without the raisins and with white instead of brown sugar) and downsized it proportionally from 1 gallon to 1.5 liters (~0.4 gallons). So instead of 2lbs of sugar for a gallon I ended up with 0.8lbs of sugar for 0.4 gallons.

 

[eaglesfan665]

What was the thought process behind the orange? I've seen recipes call for lemon juice, but as far as I know fermenting orange has a vomit scent that can take a long time to go away. Did you notice anything like that in the smell when it was bubbling?

Well the recipe asked for both lemon and orange juice and since the figs need acid to ferment properly I didn't have an issue with it, reasoning that it's better to be safe than sorry and add more acid rather than less. I did not notice any outstanding bad odor from the first batch, so I reckon it's not much of an issue in the case of this particular recipe (or maybe I just got lucky, idk)

 

[Orange Rhymer]

Apologies for not noticing this thread before.
I brew. Mostly electric All-In-One, but also BIAB, I have a traditional tower setup (that I am slowly dismantling) and extract when I'm lazy.

Currently on tap:
A French Farmhouse Honey Ale - Honey Saison. Brewed with a pound of honey.
Primary ferment- strong phenol notes- 'pepper' that were eliminated with 2ndary fermenting. Don't rush aging, or you risk the dreaded 'band-aid' taste of a green Saison.
I fermented for 2 weeks, aged for an additional 2, then kegged and carbonated.
Final: Lovely medium ale (color 12-13). Sweet with floral notes and a near undetectable 'pepper' finish. Perfect Saison.

Spoiler: recipe

Bring 6=7 gallons of purified water to a boil (depending on your loss and system). I use distilled.
Salt profile (for distilled) should be
pH 7.2
Bicarbonate 350
Calcium 52
Choride 20
Mg 17
Sodium 35
Sulfates 107
Total Hardness 454
I found this stupid high- so I went with my generic 'all in one'
Typical ale base malt: 10 pounds Pils or Pale. Either works nicely
2 oz Kent Goldings in 2 additions - 50 and 10min.
1-1.5 pounds of honey added at end of boil - (burner OFF)
Yeast: Safale BE-134. Don't go above 75-80. Higher temp = more pepper/band-aid. I kept the ferment in the med 60s
Ferment, 2ndary, bottle.
OG ~1.055 more or less depending on how much honey/malt
ABV 5-6%

Additional Offerings:
A lovely Dandelion Wine - read about it in the wine thread. All organic must and a field of home-grown dandelions.
A nice cider. Made on a whim. Turned out strong and sharp. Very nice for hot days or cool nights.

 

[Begemot]

I might give it a go then, I like the idea of giving it your own flavours when home brewed

I bought a mead kit, thinking of setting it up this weekend. It's the most bare bones kit, but I'll imagine I'll get more complex with each batch

 

[ffo kcuF]

I bought a mead kit, thinking of setting it up this weekend. It's the most bare bones kit, but I'll imagine I'll get more complex with each batch

From what I've been reading online the barebones kits for mead are perfectly fine, I've had a friends beer he made from a barebones beer kit and it was great beer. I still haven't made anything but plan to in early 2025, good luck with your mead.

 

[Begemot]

From what I've been reading online the barebones kits for mead are perfectly fine, I've had a friends beer he made from a barebones beer kit and it was great beer. I still haven't made anything but plan to in early 2025, good luck with your mead.

I think the one thing the kit didn't include was the item that measured the ABV. Then I look at old mate Cobes and his horrid chocolate meads and shudder. I also want to try the various Australian honeys with their variations just to see how it affects the final product.