Brewing, Mead-Making, Cordial Chat

[Captain Kilian]

interesting. Guess I'll work on that this week here. So much to learn in this art! But I do love it, and the results are enjoyable too!

[Captain Kilian]

looks good, tastes good, but ts only at 1.105 Sp Grav right now...which is pretty far off all the expectations I see in books (granted I have no clue what the original was).

Hmm, more time I guess

[dogglebe]

Ok, turns out I straight up screwed the pouch when it came to hydrometer readings (But hey, I'm new!). So, having all my reading be worthless, is there another way to determine the alcohol content of beer and mead, once the product is done?

There is a little toy called a 'Vinometer.'  It measures alcoholic strength up to fifteen percent and costs twenty dollars.



Phil

[Magister]

CK:

  That is way off what I would expect.  That is actually the starting SG for many wines.  Either you started it VERY high, or you did not get much fermentation at all.  Maybe both.

  Be wary of vinometers, they are notoriously inaccurate, and only work in "dry" wines without any residual sugars (meade typically doesn't fit this category).  Remember that it is measuring the viscosity of the wine, and not necessarily the specific gravity, or sugar alcohol content.

  It's not my page, but a little more info can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/8280/sugar.html#vino

  Here is a scientific explanation of the major methods of alcohol content analysis: http://www.monashscientific.com.au/AlcoholDeterminationOtherMetods.htm

  Here is an explanation of the only "real" (meeting legal and taxation regulations) equipment used for the determination of the alcohol content of wine other than gas chromatography: http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2.cfm?id=002012

    Good luck!

        - Mag

[Captain Kilian]

turns out, i jsut cant read a hydrometer worth a crap. it came out fine - several folks at TRF got to sample the mead, and several more will get the chance this weekend. came out dry (how i like it) , so the wife is less then impressed.

More for me!

[Magister]

LOL @ CK!

  Well.. in the end you proved the truth of brewing... all the technobabble aside.. the most important part... does it taste good?

    Tell the wife to add a little cane sugar.. or even honey to the glass before she drinks it... it may help.  Another trick some people I know use is to mix the meade with Sprite.  Makes it bubbly, and sweetens it up.

       - Mag

[Captain Kilian]

BAH! i'm just handing her a bottle of chauser's and sharing my nice dry mead with those that enjoy it!

but yes, it takes good the hydrometer thing, despite any end reading i may or may not read correctly stops a the same spot, so its done.

The brown ale came out well to. almost out of it (if that says anything)

can't wait to get the stout bottled!

[Captain Kilian]

Stout came out awesome, though I was not prepared for the pressure inside the bottles after priming the stuff. I used teh 1 liter large EZ cap bottles (same I used for mead) - not sure if that had anything to do with it but damn. Renamed from equinox Stout to Mk 82 High Yield Stout! Really didn't figure such a heavy liquid would carbonate very much (or many that it didn't, and all the gas was just sitting there....waiting for me). Best tasting beer I made yet (probably bias though).

[Hoowil]

Threw together an experimental mead (at least for me). Still working small batches to try out different ideas. For a total of 1 gallon of must tried 6 cups (about 4.5 lbs) honey, with 10 cups water, for a total of a gallon. Starting SG 1.17(!!). I was a little worried that it might have too much for the yeast to handle, but I was getting bubbling from the airlock within minutes. Added half a vanilla bean, half a cinnamon stick, and one clove. I'll be checking spice flavor tonight, and probably twice a day, as I've heard cloves get a little too strong real fast.

Side note: Got a better hydrometer, and a counter top adjustable cork press for the holidays! Woot! Now I just have to try them out.

[Magister]

Hoowil:

  That sounds like it will turn out fantastic!  Yes.. be careful of the cloves... such a strong flavor can easily overwhelm everything else.


We just started a pear wine for spring.  10 lbs of pears allowed to ripen then mushed (save all the juice of course), added to three gallons of water.  Some sugar to get up the specific gravity, and a half of cinnamon stick.  Specific gravity started at 1.11.  Going to stop at around 1.04 for a sweeter summer wine.

  - Mag

[Hoowil]

Pulled out the clove and cinammon already. Its a little hard to judge the taste right now with the high honey, but I've got my fingers crossed.

Pear wine sounds good. I keep eyeballing wine presses at the local brewer supply, but can't get myself to spend that much money quite yet. Maybe this summer if my trees put off enought fruit for a micro batch...

[Hoowil]

Just finished my first racking. Had to have a little taste, of course. Looks like this will be my best batch yet. I ended up putting spices back in after it brewed a bit, as the burn I was getting at first was just the honey. I do like the smooth vanilla tones.
Does three weeks sound about right for it to be brewed out? I was getting occasional bubble in the airlock yesterday, maybe one every 30 seconds, and could see a few tiny bubbles in the must. Didn't watch as long today, but saw pretty much nothing.

Also, with doing only a gallon batch, I thought that a chemical clearing agent might be a bad idea (and its not like I'm not going to age the stuff till fall anyway, so I can wait five months to bottle it). But, I do like the crystal clearity its given my other batches. Any thoughts? With the high honey content I started with, will it really every get super clear?

[Magister]

Hoowil:

  Just my opinion on this... opinions will vary I'm sure.

  Three weeks sounds just about right, based on where you started, where you wanted it to stop, and the yeast you used.  It will vary due to those, as well as temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors. 

  As for the chemical clearing agents.  I use both sparkloid -hot mix-, as well as the new "gel" clearing agents.. umm .. Kwik-Kleer I believe is one of them.  Remember both are essentially Chitosan (shells from shrimp and other sea crustaceans) ground up very fine.  Some do include an accelerate to help in the process, others don't.   

  They both work by using a negative charge to the particles that attract the particles in the wine, and drag it to the bottom.

  There are complaints that the gel agents with accelerates tend to pull too much "color" out of the wine.  Meaning they pull too many of the particulates out leaving a sometimes bland, and colorless end product.  Other people say its the best stuff to come out for clearing since man figured out how to use egg whites to clear wine.

   The short answer is... try it.  If you like the end product then you're good.  If you don't, stick to hot mix sparkeloid.  If you really want to be a purest, get yourself some eggs, and have it.

      Good luck!

          - Mag

[Hoowil]

The stuff I've been using was a two part gel clearifier. It worked wonders on my first dry batch, getting crystal clearity in less than two days. It did ok on my first attempt at a strawberry, which had some problems with pectin clouding. I can get in premeassured packets designed for 5 gallons, which is part of my concern, as I only have 1 gallon for this batch. I'm just not sure I'd be comfortable with such an overdose of clearifier.

I know egg whites were used for clearing for centuries. Any idea how it was done? The books I have on the subject just say that it was done that way, and is still possible, but don't give any information  of how. Can I just let it settle, with regular racking, for a season?

[Magister]

Hoowil:

  I could retype all of this, but.. why?

  Here's a link to all different methods of refining: http://www.homebeerwinecheese.com/fining.html

  For egg whites.. its actually a whole lot simpler than you might think...  whisk up the mixture of egg whites (1/2 - 1 egg per 5 gallons), and sometimes a little salt - don't beat it until it turns to fluff.

  Pour in the carboy.. mix, and wait.  No different than the others really.

    Hope this helps.

       - Mag