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Making Homemade Wine and Beer Making Homemade Wine and Beer Tired of massed produced wine and beer? Did you ever want to make your own wine or beer? Then drop by to learn how. Tips, recipes, techniques and my crazy methods can be found on this blog. So grab a drink and stop in. Articles
Update on Blog
2007-01-17 00:30:00 There must be a bite of truth in Darwin’s theory of evolution. Everything tends to evolve into something different and this blog is one of them. I started this blog in October of 2005 with the purpose of providing information on how to make wine and beer. Being cheap, I started it on Blog ger and started to post. Soon afterwards, I found Adsense and thought that I would soon be an “internet millionaire” by pasting ads all over the blog. Well, that didn’t happen, so things had to evolve. In January 2006, I got the idea that posting 3 times a day will bring tons of traffic. Recipes and terminology began to appear as posts. Tons of posts but nothing that was top notch as far as article quality goes. So things had to evolve. End of Spring 2006, I started to publish on Tuesday’s and Thursdays. First thing that really worked. I wasn’t burned out from posting, ideas came easier and articles had more quality content then the previous months. I got the brigh... More About: Update
Welch's Grape Juice Wine Recipe
2006-12-13 09:17:02 I still get a lot of hits for this recipe. Is it because it tastes great? Or is it because it is cheap and the ingredients are easy to get? Anyways, here it is again. 1 Gal Batch, adjust as required 2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate 1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar 2 tsp acid blend 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1 tsp yeast nutrient water to make 1 gallon wine yeast As with ALL recipe's the canned or fresh ingredients you use will differ in there sugar content so you MUST check starting SG before adding sugar amounts listed. The goal is a starting SG of 1090 for alcohol content of 12%-13%. Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentati... More About: Wine , Recipe , Rape , Juice , Reci
Wine and Beer Vacation
2006-12-13 09:17:02 What's a wine and beer vacation? Well for me, it is taking the next 3 weeks off from blogging to slow down, drink some wine and beer and enjoy the Holiday season. After 14 months of writing articles, I'm pretty well spent. It also doesn't help that I'm working 60 -70 hours a week and my wife is going through chemotherapy. I do plan on working on some new articles and such, but won't post them until the new year. So, I'll see you next year. Enjoy your holidays. Give generously to those less fortunate. P.S. - Here are some links to some interesting articles. Is your holiday cheer hot mulled wine or cold, strong beer? American Homebrewers Association Sees Surge in Homebrewing Students get credit for learning the fine art of brewing Technorati Tags : Wine , Beer , Homebrewing, Winemaking, Vacation , ChristmasPowered By Qumana More About: Cat
Beer and Wine in Colonial Times
2006-12-06 09:11:06 With the holidays fast approaching and everyone in a hurry to get things done, I thought that it would be nice to take you back to a less hectic time. When everyone had a time to stop and grab a pint of beer or glass of wine and enjoy the company of friends and family. To try out each families homemade recipes and just enjoy life. To actually relax and not be stressed out.I orginally printed this article last December and it reminded me of lot of what spirit of the holidays. The article at the Colon ial Williamsburg site is really facinating and you should give it a read. Original PostWhen I visited Monticello several years ago, I was fascinated by Jefferson's farming techniques. I was also fascinated how that just about every family during that time period made their own beer and wine. Just think how cool it would be if everyone now made their own wine and beer. Millions of varieties to taste and enjoy. Well if you want a little background about that period, check this out fro... More About: Wine , Time , Beer , Times
Paw Paw Wine Recipe
2006-12-02 15:07:39 I don't know what inspired me to post a recipe on Paw Paw wine. Maybe it was because I had one about a year ago and enjoyed the flavor? Or, maybe it was because I wanted to post something a little different? Who knows. Well the recipe is listed below and right after that is a little description from Kentucky State University about paw paws. PAWPAW WINE 2-3 lbs ripe pawpaws 2 lbs granulated sugar 7 pts water 1-1/2 tsp citric acid 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1/2 tsp grape tannin 1 tsp yeast nutrient wine yeast Put water on to boil. Meanwhile, peel the fruit and cut into pieces. Put fruit in nylon straining bag, tie closed, and place bag in primary. Mash fruit in bag, pour sugar over fruit and, when boiling, pour water over that. Cover primary and set aside to cool. When room temperature, add all ingredients except yeast. Recover and set aside 12 hours. Add yeast. When the must is fermenting vigorously, stir twice daily for 7 days. Drain ... More About: Wine , Recipe , Reci
Troeg's Mad Elf
2006-12-02 15:07:39 With Christmas just around the corner, many breweries bring out their seasonal beer. One of the tastiest that I have consumed is Troeg's Mad Elf. With an alcohol content around 11% it is not a beer that you pound down, but is more of a sipping beer. I came up with a recipe that I think would make a Mad Elf Clone but I haven't tried it. Just one for everyone to experiment with and should make a 5 gallon batch. Ingredients: 4 pounds Pilsner Malt4 pounds Munich Malt1/2 pound Chocolate Malt1 pound Honey3.5 pounds Amber Liquid Malt Extract2 pounds Amber Dry Malt Extract4 ounces Cherry Juice concentrate3/4 ounce Hallertau Hops for 50 minutes1/4 ounce Saaz Hops for 20 minutes Procedure: Do a partial mash with the grains. Add the honey and malt extracts and bring to a boil. Add the hops and continue boiling. Chill and transfer to primary fermenter. Add the yeast. I'm not sure what type Troeg's uses, but ...
Acid & pH Adjustments
2006-12-02 15:07:39 I found this excellent article on the British Columbia Amateur Winemaker's Association website. It's packed with a ton of information and is quite lengthy. Since, I'm undecided about posting on Thanksgiving, I'm publishing the entire article. Please check out the BCAWA's website, it is one of the most useful and easy to navigate sites on the web. Every winemaker, at one time or another, has had to deal with grapes having less than ideal pH and acid balances. Whether the grapes come from California, a warm climate, or Oregon, Washington and the Okanagan, cool climates, the winemaker is faced with the problem: how to adjust the acid and pH.It may be necessary to adjust the grape acid level for different reasons: The pH is too high and the acid too low; The pH is too low and the acid is too high; or Both the pH and the acid are too high, usually the result of excessive amounts of malic acid and potassium. Both 2 and ... More About: Men , Just , Acid , Adjust , Adjustment
Watermelon Wine Recipe
2006-12-02 15:07:39 Its been extemely warm the past few days here with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees. Feels more like the middle of summer than the middle month of spring. The best thing about summer is being able to get local and ripe watermelons. Something about those big green things that just "ooze" summer. I have made watermelon wine in the past, but it was pretty lackluster and thin. I ended up mixing it with some concord wine just to use it up. This recipe is untested and is something I will be trying later on. It is a simple recipe but does require knowledge of how to use a hydrometer. 8 cups watermelon juice 1/8 teaspoon tannin 2 eleven ounce White Welch's Frozen Grape Juice 2 campden tablets 1 teaspoon nutrients 2 1/2 teaspoons acid blend 1 package wine yeast enough sugar to bring your hydrometer reading to 1.090 enough water to ... More About: Wine , Recipe , Water , Melon , Term
Balance in Wine - Part 2
2006-12-02 15:07:39 This is the second part of Peter Bell's article on "Balance In Wine ". The first part can be found on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 post. These concepts find very useful application during the barrel-aging of red wines. It is often found that a young Pinot, for example, tastes vaguely out of balance with regard to alcohol, acid and tannins. Small additions of acid to a laboratory sample seem to improve the wine. But what it really needs is more time in barrel, to pick up some tannins from the oak. After eight months or so the low acid becomes not only acceptable but desirable. In some wines, notably those from Alsace, there is an interplay between small amounts of sweetness and bitterness. Remove the sugar, and the bitterness becomes too apparent; remove the bitterness, and the sweetness (exacerbated by low acid and high alcohol) will play too much of a role in the finish. Alsatian wines in some ways redefine the concept of balance. Flavor intensity, sometimes referred to as extract, ... More About: Part , Alan , Lance
Acid Blend
2006-12-02 15:07:39 We all have used acid blend when making wines to raise the total acid content to and acceptable level. Usually, acid blend is a blend of 50% tartaric acid, 25% citric acid and 25% malic acid.Ever wonder what those acids are, what they are used for and where they come from? I did a little research and found these interesting tidbits about the acids that make up acid blend. Malic acid an alpha-hydroxy organic acid, is sometimes referred to as a fruit acid. This is because malic acid is found in apples and other fruits. It is also found in plants and animals, including humans. In fact, malic acid, in the form of its anion malate, is a key intermediate in the major biochemical energy-producing cycle in cells known as the citric acid or Krebs cycle located in the cells' mitochondria.Basically, malic acid is what gives apples its' tartnessCitric acid is a weak organic acid found in citrus fruits. It is a good, natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic (sour) taste to foods ... More About: Acid , Blend , Lend
300 Wine and Beer Posts
2006-12-02 15:07:39 Yep, after a whole year blogging, I finally hit the 300 mark in posts. Quite an achievement for someone who really did not like to write while in school. In January, I thought that I would hit the 300 post mark in March, since I set such a lofty goal of 1000 posts for the year. What a rude awakening. Trying to do 3 posts a day was way too much, so I settled for once a day. Even that was more than I could handle. So, I settled for the Tuesday and Thursday routine and it seems to be working out. I've learned a few things along the way. Post ing everyday or even 3 times a day made for some really sucky posts. I've tried to do more "quality" and informative posts on the Tuesday/Thursday schedule and hopefully they have been. I'm still in the learning process and would like to try and personalize more of the future posts. Administratively, this thing is becoming a nightmare. Trying to keep the recipe archives and the... More About: Wine , Beer , Posts
Wine and Beer Magazines
2006-12-02 15:07:39 This might sound like a paid advertisement, but I can assure you that it is not. Too bad, 'cuz I could use the cash. But, anyways, I was just browsing through my collection of Wine maker and Brew Your Own Magazin e s. I am amazed at the amount of information that I have obtained from reading these over the past 4 yearsEach magazine has the Ask the Wizard section. This is where you can send in questions and the wizard will answer them. Actually, the wizard is an expert in the field and brings years of experience to answering the questions.Also, each magazine usually has a few articles on how to do different techniques and the letters to the editor are just filled with tons of useful hints.If you wish to subscribe to these magazines click on the pics.I wish that I could write more, but we are celebrating Thanksgiving today because this is the only time everyone could get together. Really crazy here with kids and grandkids running around. A better post on Tuesday. I promise.Tags... More About: Magazines , Beer
Rotten Egg Smell In Wine
2006-12-02 15:07:39 Ever smelled rotten eggs when you racked your wine? We sure hope not, but if you have, your wine has been bitten by the dreaded hydrogen sulfide bug. No one wants to drink wine that smells like rotten eggs, so is there anything you can do to save the wine? You bet. Better yet, we'll offer some tips that should help you avoid the problem in the first place.Pee-Yew!Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) usually forms at the end of fermentation, but most home winemakers won't notice a smelly problem until the first racking. If you do smell rotten eggs, the quicker you can act, you'll increase the chances of saving your wine. If you tarry too long before treating the wine, hydrogen sulfide will react with other carbon compounds in the wine to create mercaptans, and later into disulfides. These boogers are extremely difficult to remove from your wine once formed, so the faster you can detect and treat your wine for hydrogen sulfide, the better!Read how to fix it.Technorati Tags : Wine , Winemaking, Ho... More About: Smell , Rotten
Balance In Wine
2006-12-02 15:07:39 Today I am beginning a series on balancing wine. Since it tis the balance of acids and sugars that make a good wine great. Maybe this will help all of us make great wine. Anyways, I'm thinking that it will be about 6 or 7 posts and will include information on acids, pH, and sugar. Some of the info will be from other websites because it is useful and well written. No use re-writing a good article. To start the series off, I found a nice intro article from Cornell University. It is a rather long post, so part of it will be on today and the other part will be posted on Thursday. Balan ce in Wine Peter BellTHE CONCEPT OF BALANCE IN WINE This is a concept that on the surface seems very simple, but that turns out to be quite challenging. It is important to have some familiarity with what balance entails if you are to become a good wine taster. Balance in wine refers to the interaction and harmony between two or more of the wine's constituents... More About: Alan , Lance
Beer Carbonation
2006-12-01 17:19:07 Whenever I first started homebrewing, the toughest thing for me get right was priming my beer. My first batches were either under carbonated or over carbonated. A few tweaks here and there and now I have a basic idea. Still, I use more art than science. The following article from Brewrats.org gives a more scientific approach and hopefully will help you from experiencing what I did. by Mark Hibberd (Bayside Brewers Club, Melbourne, Australia)mfh@dar.csiro.au Most homebrewers carbonate their beer by adding priming sugar at bottling time. Usual instructions call for about a teaspoon of sugar per bottle. But exactly how much sugar is needed and what types of sugar are suitable? And what can you do if a beer is over- or under- carbonated? Carb on ation levelsThe amount of carbon dioxide in a beer can usefully be described in terms of the volumes of CO2, i.e. how many volumes of CO2 (at atmospheric pressure) are dissolved in one volume of beer. This terminology is familiar to those who... More About: Beer , Nation
Orange Concentrate Wine Recipe
2006-12-01 17:19:07 This is another recipe that uses store bought juice. Personally, I use 2 cans to a gallon and adjust the sugar by using a hydrometer.Orange Concentrate Wine Makes 1 gallon one 12 oz. can 100% pure orange juice concentrate 1 1/2 lb sugar 1 tsp tartic acid 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1/4 tsp tannin 1 gallon water wine yeast and nutrient Add orange juice,sugar and nutrient to 4 pints of water. Stir to dissolve. Dissolve tannin in a small amount of boiling water and add. Top up with 7 pints of water,leaving lots of space in your fermenting jar. Add pectic enzyme and yeast. Let ferment 1 week. Top up to full gallon. Let ferment until finished.You can drink this wine right away, but it improves with age. Serve chilled.Technorati Tags : Orange, Juice, Wine, Winemaking, Recipe Powered By Qumana More About: Cent , Trat
Country Wine Tips
2006-12-01 17:19:07 I was reading the December issue of Wine maker and ran across an article in the Wine Wizard section about Count ry Wines. I make a lot of country wines and found the article a worthwhile read. One thing I do that the article says not to do is to buy juice from the supermarket. Just find the frozen juice that does not have potassium sorbate in it. To read the article, click here. More About: Tips
Making Wine Labels
2006-11-08 04:06:01 Your wine is bottled and cellared. What other nice thing could you do? Well, making your own labels comes to mind. Maki ng your own labels will allow you to get creative and have a lot of fun with your wine. There are several programs available that you can use. If you have Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Illustrator then you have a good start at making your own labels. Some other programs that you might be interested in are: Printartist 4th & Vine Personally, I use Microsoft Publisher to layout my labels by using the grid function. In most cases, you can do a 2 across and 2 down grid for wine labels for a standard wine bottle. Smaller bottles, like 12 ounce beer bottles, a 2 across and 3 down is just about perfect. Generally, I insert a picture into each portion of the grid and attach a text box with a description to it. Then I use the group function and gro... More About: Wine , Labels , Label , King
Blending Wine
2006-10-31 15:18:02 Right about now is the time that most home winemakers begin to open bottles of wine made last year. Will it taste good, average or excellent? If it is just average, could I added something to it to make it better? What if I mix a little blueberry wine with the concord wine? A thinned bodied, with a full bodied? These are just some of the questions you run into whenever you decide to blend your wines. Blend ing wines is a combination of math and art. You can calculate how much of each wine to blend by using the Pearson Square or you can can do it the artsy way. Personally, I prefer the artsy way, that is taking a little of wine A and mix it with a little of wine B until I get the taste I am looking for. Let me give you an example. I made a concord wine from grapes in 2004 that had great taste by was very thinned bodied. I made a blueberry wine from canned blueberries in early 2005 that was more full bodied. So, I said to myself "What if I blend these two wines?" I started... More About: Wine , Ending , Lending , Lend
10 Ways to Beat Oxidation
2006-10-25 15:48:02 1. Transfer whites quickly otherwise they could turn brown 2. Adjust the pH if your wine is not between 3.1 to 3.6 3. Use sulfite 4. Top up your carboys or barrels and make sure that they are full 5. Rack by gravity and try to avoid pumps6. Avoid pumps since they tend to dissolve oxygen into the wine 7. Use closed systems 8. Use ascorbic acid prior to bottling 9. Store at a cool temperature, ideally 55 degrees F 10. Inspect your equipment for wear and tearTechnorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Tips, Oxidation More About: Beat , Dati
Wine and Beer Articles
2006-10-24 03:39:01 Some interesting reads that I found on the net and wanted to share with you. Sort of a break from working on our hobby. Here is something that I wish we had in my area. Wine making for beginners By Times-News KIMBERLY The Community Education Center at the College of Southern Idaho will offer the class "Home Brewing More About: Articles , Article , Beer , Artic
Wine Yeast - Dry
2006-10-13 02:27:01 How many times have you made wine and wondered if you were using the correct yeast? Or, it late at night and all that you have is a Burgundy yeast and you are making strawberry wine. Will it work? Hopefully this and the next post (Tuesday) will help you. This post will deal with dry wine yeast and only for Lavlin and Red Star (The most common).I use dry yeast all the time. Mostly for 2 primary reasons. 1) I never have the luxury of planning when I am making a batch of wine 2) Dry wine yeast is cheaper. So I will start will Lavlin yeast, my yeast of choice. Lavlin Dry YeastsKV D-47 - Is primarily for dry white. blush or sweet mead and contributes mouthfeel. It works best at temperatures from 59 - 86 degrees F and the maximum that it usually ferments to is in the 14% range I like the D-47 yeast since it is a low foaming yeast. Helps prevents from blowing off the top.Bourgovin RC 212 - Used on red wines and enhances... More About: Wine , East
8 Winemaking Mistakes
2006-09-27 06:57:01 If you have been making wine for a long time or just starting out, your bound to make a few mistakes. You can check out the entire list by clicking here.Technorati Tags : Wine , WinemakingPowered By Qumana More About: Take , King , Mist , Maki
How To Make Beer - Part 2
2006-09-27 06:57:01 Last week I covered how to brew your batch of beer using the extract method. This week we will cover partial mashing. With this method you will be crushing pale malt and using it as a partial substitute for malt extract. You will still continue to use speciality grains (see October 2005 post) to add additional flavor and character to your beer. Part ial Mashing Steps 1. Add 1 1/2 quarts of More About: How To , Beer , Make
Pear Wine
2006-09-13 11:33:01 Pears are plentiful this time of the year. Some of your friends and nieghbors may have tried pawning off a bunch to you. Do what I do, accept them and then begin to make them into wine. This is a simple recipe for pear wine and one that you should enjoy making. Traditional Pear Wine Recipe1 gallon water5 lbs very ripe pears1 lb raisins2 lbs ultra fine sugar1 ½ teaspoons acid blend½ teaspoon pectic enzyme1 teaspoon yeast nutrient1 package wine yeastBoil water in large pot. Chop pears and place in primary fermentation container. Add the sugar and citric acid to the container. Pour water over fruit and stir until sugar has dissolved. Let cool until room temperature. Add the pectic enzyme and let liquid rest for 1 day. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and place in warm, dark location. Stir daily for 1 week. Rack into secondary fermentation container. Seal with airlock. Rack into bottles in 3 months. Let rest for at least one year.Technorati Tags ... More About: Pear
Sweet Potato Wine
2006-09-06 05:03:02 12 cups chopped sweet potatoes or yams 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 cups light raisins 1 teaspoon yeast nutrients 2 oranges 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 campden tablet water 1 package wine yeast Peel and chop sweet potatoes fine. Place in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a More About: Wine , Sweet , Potato
Wine and Cheese
2006-09-01 10:30:14 Labor day weekend and a few days off to lay around the house and experiment. I dusted this post off because being a lazy weekend, I thought that I would post something fun that the whole family could enjoy. It was orginally posted in November 2005 and I have added comments (in pink) to it. Other cheesemaking links: http://makinghomemadewineandbeer.blogspot .com/2005/10/cheese-and-wine.htmlOur household has decided to switch to eating more organic and preservative free foods. In my neck of the woods, this requires us to make a lot of our own foods. One of the things that we have decided to make has been cottage cheese. It does take some time to do, but if you plan correctly, it should only take about an hour to make a batch.Here is the process that I use to make simple cottage cheese.Night before, put 1 gallon milk into pot with starter, (For a starter you can use cultured buttermilk since it has the enzymes needed to convert milk to cheese) cover and let it sit overn... More About: Wine , Cheese
Brewing Procedures
2006-08-25 22:12:02 With September just around the corner, it is almost time to begin brewing again. I do like the real old-timers used to do and that is take the summer off from brewing. Summer seems to be a better time to drink the beer than to make it. Well, anyways, I was reading my latest copy of Brew Your Own magazine it it has a great article on the proper procedures for extract beers. The four procedures are: No-Boil Brewing - I have never tried this but looks like a great time saver. The extract is added at the end. Concentrated Boil Method - This is what I normally use. You boil a condensed wort and then dilute it in the fermenter. Extract Late Method - This is where you add the 1/2 the extract towards the end of the boil Texas Two-Step - This is where you essentially boil 1/2 the wort at 1 time. On my next batch of beer, I plan on using the No-Boil Method. Bascially to see if it saves time and if that method makes good beer.&... More About: Wing , Proc
Beer and Wine Ramblings
More articles from this author:2006-08-16 21:57:01 Finally the heat wave has ceased an it now comfortable enough in my office to work on the computer.Powered By Qumana More About: Wine , Beer , Rambling , Bling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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