Washington state, currently, but I'm always going out to freelance work here there and everywhere. This is the first winter in ages I haven't escaped to California or Mexico, but times are bleaker than the weather and I'm just trying to stay happy with my home wines instead of spending money I don't have.
Had to downsize about 6 weeks ago, from my own little apartment in Canada to the loft at my bro's place, here. Its cool, I'm dual.
Been brewing on my own since 2008, traveling North America as a fruit picker/carpenter/painter/handyman.. basically anything that pays. But being that I had a brewer as a neighbor when I was in my late teens, I learned first-hand how to do a proper homebrew, from scratch. What I saw daunted me.. and I've not done a "proper" homebrew since. Instead I use a simple bag-in-bucket method that's easy on the prep and virtually mess free. I don't have to worry about much except keeping the environment warm enough to brew.
I have no base line for brewing except I've only ever done one full-fruit wine (champagne grapes straight from the farm! Literally) and only the one "real" beer with my old neighbor. But despite the fact that I mainly use organic sugar to boost the alcohol content of my wines, I've made over a dozen different "ripple wines" with a plethora of fruits and their combinations. Just tonight my "Wado," Honduran Pineapple Wine, finished.. killed the yeast at what I'd guess is about 18% but barely sweet at all. I didn't follow a recipe since instinct is all I need, and wham! Perfection.. Nice and tart from the organic blackberries I added in for a twist.
First time my brother's had it straight from the bucket and he's passed out downstairs as I write. Not that its a usual thing, mind. I only drink what I brew, and I only brew a few batches a year for myself.. I'm gonna do a small batch of Banana Wine in a few days, since my bro's tots refuse to eat their whole bananas as well as any halfers lying around. I was raised frugal, so even a wasted half a banana gets thrown into the freezer for bread, pancakes, etc.. and the idea had been kicking around for a bit that I ought to investigate the wine option. I have about 6 pounds now, what would normally constitute about a gallon and a half of my standard fruit to water solution.
My recipe, you ask? Per Gallon:
4 lbs. prepared organic fruit
2 lbs. organic sugar
Core, boil, strain, bag, whatever as you like.
Top with warm water in your vessel.
Continue as you will.
How do I?
I take a large, unscented, generic label trash bag and use it to line a clean bucket. 5 gallons is ok.. but I've used a bag in a cardboard box in a milk crate before, so its no biggie. Then I'll do my prep and all, usually pitting stone fruits but leaving star fruit cores and doing a short boil of the fruit just for fun. I'll let it cool then add in the sugar to make a syrup. I'll pour it into the bag when its lukewarm and add cool water to top it off to my desire. When cool enough I'll add the yeast then put my airlock on the bag..
Huh? Airlock on a bag? Yep. A thick rubber band. KISS method, eh? I squeeze out the excess air, then wind the top of the bag up like I would any other sac and add a rubber band snug at the base of the wind, though I usually give it some extra material else the bag might decide to burst on me.. its only happened once in over a dozen times, but once was enough to learn my lesson. So the rubber band I keep snug, but not too tight, looping it around the twisted top until its all used up.. if I have extra and it looks like the first part is adequate, I'll double up the excess bag and throw the extra length of rubber around that bit as well.
There you have it.. wish I could show you a picture.. might not have had to write the thousand words. I'll look around for my camera next time.
When the wine's finished I usually strain it by hand from the bag with a soup ladle and a bit of new cloth or muslin laid in a sanitized plastic coffee filter cone. Takes patience, but you gotta do without when you're on the road.
Benefits of the bag in bucket? No mess. No hassle. Easy travel. No evaporating water locks. No precarious glass jugs. No precarious water lock. Easy to stash and forget about in the corner of the room for a month. Cheap, effective and safe. Very easily replaced. No risk of etched bacteria. Easy to swirl and mix without hands on or open bucket. The list goes on..
I've known a lot of critics for the bag-in-bucket-with-the-rubber-band system.. But tell me true, is it really that bad an idea? Either way, I enjoy what it produces.
Cheers!
~BV
Had to downsize about 6 weeks ago, from my own little apartment in Canada to the loft at my bro's place, here. Its cool, I'm dual.
Been brewing on my own since 2008, traveling North America as a fruit picker/carpenter/painter/handyman.. basically anything that pays. But being that I had a brewer as a neighbor when I was in my late teens, I learned first-hand how to do a proper homebrew, from scratch. What I saw daunted me.. and I've not done a "proper" homebrew since.
Instead I use a simple bag-in-bucket method that's easy on the prep and virtually mess free. I don't have to worry about much except keeping the environment warm enough to brew. I have no base line for brewing except I've only ever done one full-fruit wine (champagne grapes straight from the farm! Literally) and only the one "real" beer with my old neighbor. But despite the fact that I mainly use organic sugar to boost the alcohol content of my wines, I've made over a dozen different "ripple wines" with a plethora of fruits and their combinations. Just tonight my "Wado," Honduran Pineapple Wine, finished.. killed the yeast at what I'd guess is about 18% but barely sweet at all. I didn't follow a recipe since instinct is all I need, and wham! Perfection.. Nice and tart from the organic blackberries I added in for a twist.
First time my brother's had it straight from the bucket and he's passed out downstairs as I write. Not that its a usual thing, mind. I only drink what I brew, and I only brew a few batches a year for myself.. I'm gonna do a small batch of Banana Wine in a few days, since my bro's tots refuse to eat their whole bananas as well as any halfers lying around. I was raised frugal, so even a wasted half a banana gets thrown into the freezer for bread, pancakes, etc.. and the idea had been kicking around for a bit that I ought to investigate the wine option. I have about 6 pounds now, what would normally constitute about a gallon and a half of my standard fruit to water solution.
My recipe, you ask? Per Gallon:
4 lbs. prepared organic fruit
2 lbs. organic sugar
Core, boil, strain, bag, whatever as you like.
Top with warm water in your vessel.
Continue as you will.
How do I?
I take a large, unscented, generic label trash bag and use it to line a clean bucket. 5 gallons is ok.. but I've used a bag in a cardboard box in a milk crate before, so its no biggie.
Then I'll do my prep and all, usually pitting stone fruits but leaving star fruit cores and doing a short boil of the fruit just for fun. I'll let it cool then add in the sugar to make a syrup. I'll pour it into the bag when its lukewarm and add cool water to top it off to my desire. When cool enough I'll add the yeast then put my airlock on the bag..Huh? Airlock on a bag? Yep. A thick rubber band. KISS method, eh? I squeeze out the excess air, then wind the top of the bag up like I would any other sac and add a rubber band snug at the base of the wind, though I usually give it some extra material else the bag might decide to burst on me.. its only happened once in over a dozen times, but once was enough to learn my lesson. So the rubber band I keep snug, but not too tight, looping it around the twisted top until its all used up.. if I have extra and it looks like the first part is adequate, I'll double up the excess bag and throw the extra length of rubber around that bit as well.
There you have it.. wish I could show you a picture.. might not have had to write the thousand words. I'll look around for my camera next time.
When the wine's finished I usually strain it by hand from the bag with a soup ladle and a bit of new cloth or muslin laid in a sanitized plastic coffee filter cone. Takes patience, but you gotta do without when you're on the road.
Benefits of the bag in bucket? No mess. No hassle. Easy travel. No evaporating water locks. No precarious glass jugs. No precarious water lock. Easy to stash and forget about in the corner of the room for a month. Cheap, effective and safe. Very easily replaced. No risk of etched bacteria. Easy to swirl and mix without hands on or open bucket. The list goes on..
I've known a lot of critics for the bag-in-bucket-with-the-rubber-band system.. But tell me true, is it really that bad an idea? Either way, I enjoy what it produces.
Cheers!
~BV
