Search results

I highly recommend lime peel as an addition to your sweet berry/stone fruit types.. blackberry, cherry, pomegranate, etc. I really like it with apple, myself.

My original interest in using bananas was after I'd visited a food bank with a friend, seeing all the overripe bananas just sitting there unloved. I'm sure they get tossed out at the end of the day if nobody clears them out.. it would be worth the trouble to wait to the end and see if the people...

You know honey behaves differently, more fluid, when its warm.. I did keep the stuff rather comfortable in there. Mayhaps that has to do with the yeast's vigour in such a harsh environment?

I didn't add the cactus fruit juice until the mead was already almost a year underway, and it was already behaving like a light syrup. So that's not it.. but I do know that it started behaving like a regular liquid quite soon after diluting it with the juice. Papaya is good fresh, but you...

That's so.. but the yeast I used had been in a beer that I'd chucked cuz it was just too hoppy.. technically my first brew. I was so upset with my failure (but then I found out plenty of IPA fans woulda killed for a brew that damned bitter) that I scooped out some of the yeast sediment from the...

Funny thing is that the only Gluten Free beer I've ever seen on the market has been so low in Alc. % that it was like near-beer. I'm happy to learn that there's ways to brew beer that are capable of making a good Alc. content, else what's the point? If you wan near-beer, get yourself some...

I also want to try a pineapple mead.. pineapple wine ("Wado" in Honduras) has a real healthy-feeling zing to it! Down there on the central coast I've been fortunate to find wild bee colonies, and I also know quite a few people with large beekeeping operations.. I know who to visit to get a...

Yeah, prickly pear. But I say cactus fruit because that's what it is.. not everybody has seen The Jungle Book or grew up in the Southwest.. :) Where I'm from we even have the paw-paw, but there we call it a cherimoya. Mediterranean climate on the central coast. Mmm. I miss everything about it...

Nice. I live in Washington now, and have for the past five years, but I was born in San Luis Obispo. I know a few good white oak spots, though the county has just about every kind you can think of, except maybe garry. Live oak I think is almost as sweet as white, and I know there's more of them...

My "specialty" is in experimental "ripple" (sugar-added) fruit wines. Have made over 20 wines so far and have always had success.. Though experiments all, they had one thing in common, simplicity. Even now with my Ipple and Binini, gripes etc, brew.. there's a mellow, tropical scent emanating...

I'm in the woods in Sequim, waiting for all the unwanted cherries to ripen. :D Among other things.. Might be trading aged overspiced mead from a brewer in Philly for a couple of bottles of revamped admixtures. That's my style. Keep it Simple, but go for it all! Cheers! ~BV

If you're serious, I gotta tell you its a long-forgotten dream come true. I've wanted to do a mead-beer combo for a few years now, but I've been living mostly on the road to chase down seasonal work since I did my own.. never had much hope of staying around for up to 2 years to try again. Now...

A new friend on the forum offered to send me a bottle of his spiced mead that he thought was far too extreme. Said he'd let it last a year to mellow before tossing most of it. I raised the challenge that in my experience a heavy dose of spice can take two years to mellow, but we agreed on one...

Really? I'm down for that. I hope you live in the states as well else it's gonna cost a pretty penny. But no matter, if you're game so am I! If I don't like it, I'll try to do something else with it to see if my suggestion was worthwhile. You got yourself a deal (and I, a steal! :D )

Where's LALVIN on that scale? I'm wondering if tree nuts can be used to make brews? I grew up in southern California where oak trees are only outnumbered by their acorns abounding. After removing the tannins they are usually as sweet as roasted almonds. I've often wondered if I could use the...

Warning! :off: Anybody ever try licorice in their beer? If you chew the root and drink a light beer it makes the brew taste like a nice, rich amber. I'd give it a go sometime, but I'm not set up for beer. I take my winemaking on the road more often than not. Try the root trick with a Pabst to...

No way, dude. I woulda put a brave face on for my friend sharing his mead. But like I said, the cinnamon in my dandelion wine took TWO years to mellow. I don't doubt it was still too strong for you before the full first. Feel free to pick my brain on your next "un"success story. I'll try to...

My first mead was a success only because I didn't pour it out, myself. About a year in I tasted my mead, didn't like the flavour (didn't know it wouldn't be done for at least another 6 mo.s) and decided to split the brew into two half-sized containers. I added lime peel and ginger to one, cactus...

Man! I'm sad you had to go there, friend. I'd have done something with it, like diluting it with distilled water and adding a bit of malt to make a spiced honey ale/mead combo! Seriously, don't make me cry. Mead takes too long, and spiced or not, its too good to pour down the drain! :(

I've not done a spiced beer before, but I've done spiced wines. I'm with Beernik on this one. I overspiced some dandelion wine once with cinnamon and hated the flavour until the wine had aged over two years! It was awesome by then, but I hated myself for putting in the Cinnamon at the onset...