Donasay

Recipes 

You can always add Glycerine to sweeten up the lemonade, it will get thicker as well.

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No matter how rich you are, you can still only drink 16 or 17 liters of beer a day.

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Tusch

Recipes 

Edit: Misread your post.

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Meads: Leap Year, MAOM, Habanero/Serrano Capsicumel \m/ Oo \m/, Show Mead for Berry Melomel and Cinnamon Vanilla Metheglin
Ciders:3 Ciders with differing additives TBD, Strawberry/Apple Cider
Wine: Trader Joe's Triple Berry Wine for SWMBO, Cherry Port, planning my Black Currant Vanilla Wine, Banana Wine

Moonshae

Recipes 

Has anyone tried using limeade and adding mint to make a mojito-style beverage?

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"You never can tell with bees." --Winnie the Pooh

In kegs: Shae's Braggot; English Cider; Doppelbock; Semi-Sweet Mead, Raspberry Cider, Apfelwein, Belgian Golden Strong Ale
In Bottles: Raspberry-Vanilla Melometh; Cherry Melomel; Vanilla Metheglin; For Heaven's Sake;
In Secondary: Traditional Mead (basswood); Traditional Mead (honeysuckle); carrot cake mead; Pirate Ale; Ginger Beet Ale; American IPA, pumpkin ale
In Primary: Berliner Weisse
Up Next: Oud Bruin

jyrenth

Recipes 

I'm a huge newb to all this and this is a really general question that this thread has brought up for me.

I just started looking into homebrewing a few days ago, and as I understand it, if you don't put an air valve on wine to keep air from getting in, the alcohol will react and make vinegar. Here it is recommended to let oxygen in, so I'm confused.

When should you aerate, and when should you prevent air from getting in?

Nurmey

Recipes 

Aerate before you pitch the yeast, it needs oxygen to stay healthy and reproduce. Oxygen before fermentation is good, after fermentation it can cause oxidation (off flavors).

Air locks are to keep things from falling in your brew. It is a bacteria that causes vinegar. It can get in if you got it floating around your house but it's commonly carried by fruit flies and the air lock keeps them out. Air locks also allows the CO2 to escape so you don't have any explosion.

Welcome to HBT!

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Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

jyrenth

Recipes 

Thanks a lot for the reply, that helps my understanding of what is going on a lot.

I have one more question: I it was recommended to just use a dish towel over the top to prevent things from dropping in, but let the CO2 out. Wouldn't that not prevent air (and nasty bacteria from getting in, or is it not that big of a problem?

Nurmey

Recipes 

Wine is a little different that fermenting beers and other beverages. The towel is common with wine but it really hasn't been used for beer since the olden days. Technically, yes it can be used but since air locks cost about seventy cents, why would you not use the proper tool for the job. I don't want to take the chance of infection for the lack of a tool that costs so little.

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Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

MikeInCtown

Recipes 

Just saw this thread after it was bumped up. Sounds like a sweet recipe but wondering if anyone has carbed yet in a corny? Also wondering how everyone's batch turned out. I saw lots of questions and people saying they were starting, but only one person why tried something different and said it was nasty.

Heading to the LHBS in a little while and wouldn't mind picking up some items to get this going.

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Primary - Apfelwine
Secondary - Niagara white wine
Kegged - AH Special Holiday Ale, AH Cream Ale, AH Honey Wheat
Bottled - Continental Pilsner, Island Mist Mango Citrus, Island Mist Wildberry Shiraz
Up next - AH Foster's clone, Labatt's clone, Hard Apple Cider,
The Independence Street Brew House

RadicalEd

Recipes 

Hmmmm, I might just throw together a 1 gallon batch...If I can find a jug around here . Would only cost a few bucks if you use lemons and sugar.

MikeInCtown

Recipes 

Putting together a 1 gallon batch tomorrow to try out. With the DME, do you guys boil some of the water and mix it in, or do you just mix it in with the room temp water?

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Primary - Apfelwine
Secondary - Niagara white wine
Kegged - AH Special Holiday Ale, AH Cream Ale, AH Honey Wheat
Bottled - Continental Pilsner, Island Mist Mango Citrus, Island Mist Wildberry Shiraz
Up next - AH Foster's clone, Labatt's clone, Hard Apple Cider,
The Independence Street Brew House