Recent content by Ridcully123

Thanks :) One of the great benefits of home brewing is the creativity you can have. I tasted it this weekend and it's coming along great, I used peach syrup that I had canned last year, and it's blended really nicely with the honey. Not very much strawberry taste, I think I might rack on top...

It can either be a Spiced Melomel or Fruited Metheglin :) Sounds lovely, did you use local spring water?

Thanks! I've been looking around Got Mead for about a month now and have found a lot of info. Ya, I know I have to bottle and age, patients is a virtue I guess. I figure this batch will be ready by Christmas time. The fermentation is almost done, so I'm going to taste it at the end of the...

Did some research. Doesn't look like a typical aceto culture, but, because I added the vinegar, it probably skipped the calcium corbate production and created a transparent culture. Still interesting, but no yeast. Well actually scrap that, even if acetobacteria has taken over, I...

Alright, it's been two weeks, and I've noticed something pretty crazy. Apparently, (no idea how this happened) the juniper berries, which were floating on top, have formed a jelly that covers the top of my starter jar. This jelly has started growing a variety of different things: I see a few...

Hey guys, I recently started my first mead, (strawberry/peach) and was wondering what I should be looking for in my final product. I can imagine there is a lot of depth here, but I'm clueless as what I should be expecting. Obviously it's a matter of preference, but there's gotta be a Mead...

From what I've gathered, brandy is normally a distilled wine. Wouldn't fortifying an existing wine be a tad redundant? That being said, there's a strawberry-liquor type recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberry-brandy-99006, which might work.

Alright, my idea was to use the melons to sweeten my cucumber juice, melons and bananas have high sugar levels after all, without an acidic or citric bite. I'm using Stayman apples, home grown. I think Kansas is kinda the Stayman capital of the world, (no offense Virginia). I'm gonna give...

You're right, they are still only 80-85 percent water, but the interesting thing is that cucumbers apparently are a fruit. Related to melons or some such rubbish. So perhaps a mixture of melon/cucumber goodness might be appropriate in my soon to be implemented cider. :rockin: I'm going to...

Thanks! I was just looking at them actually. About 15 minutes from my house, (I'm close to the border.)

Yesterday I harvested a few of the cucumber plants that were growing in my garden. These things get HUGE in the Midwest, and really sweet. I have a bunch of them lying around, and long story short, I started thinking, "What would a cucumber cider taste like?" I think maybe the mellowness of...

Hey guys, I'm a new brewer in Kansas City on the Missouri side. I'm just getting started and need yeasts. Any good brewing supply shops in the area?

Thanks for the info. Also, will lactic acid hurt the culture if I want to raise the acidity? I don't have any lemon juice at the moment. I'm going to try culturing the yeast from juniper berries and sap + unpasteurized natural honey.

Hey guys, long time reader, but this thread has inspired me to finally sign up. My question is related to anti-bacterial substances. In theory wouldn't common anti-bacterial like penicillin protect the mini-wort from infection? Or would it kill off yeasts as well? I also have some oregano...