First Batch

[Arabrewer]

So I moved to the Middle East a few months ago and quickly found myself getting thirsty. At the Christmas holiday a friend went back to North America for a few weeks. While she was there I asked her to pick up some wine and beer yeasts for me.

I've wanted to try home brewing for a long time but for some reason never did, until now!

Since it looked very easy and the main ingredients were readily available I decided to try making an Apple Wine/ Cider type beverage. On January 7 I put:

4.5 liters preservative free apple juice
500 grams granulated sugar
1 tsp wine yeast (EC-1118, I think)

in a 5 liter water jug, affixed an improvised airlock and eagerly awaited the bubbles I've read so much about. About 3 days later the thing was going like gangbusters and continued that way.

Today, January 22, the bubbles had slowed over the past couple days. I decided to move the brew over into another bottle (2 bottles actually. A 1 gallon and a 1.5 liter. I'm going to drink the small one as is after refrigerating it) There are still bubbles going, but the sediment stayed behind (I kept it, fed it some juice and tossed it in the refrigerator, hoping to get some more use out of it in the near future).

I got a taste of the brew and it is really nice right now. Not yeasty, a little sweet and definitely alcoholic. It is cloudy, so I've set the gallon jug away in a dark place hoping it will clear up.

I do have a couple questions: Is the sediment I set aside going to work next time and is it safe in the refrigerator?

Do you think it will be clear by February 6 (my birthday, when I plan to consume and share it)? :rockin:

 

[Arabrewer]

So I answered one of my own questions. The yeast left over at the bottom of the first batch went into a second batch the same day and the activity was SO MUCH faster and more explosive (not literally) than when I started with the dry stuff from the packet.

The gallon jug is starting to clarify a bit, I think, and also continues to slowly bubble.

A friend of mine and fellow brewer said the other day that "it's like having a pet, isn't it?" Yes, I think that's right. A pet that eventually you consume

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Don't they cane you, or stone you, or otherwise torture you for brewing in the middle east?

 

[Arabrewer]

Don't they cane you, or stone you, or otherwise torture you for brewing in the middle east?

That's funny, fertmentatio. They probably do in a lot of the ME countries, but booze is legal here, if you have a license to purchase it. The license is bright red, has my picture on it and says "License to Purchase Alcoholic Drinks" but they tend to be very expensive at the stores as they attach a 30 percent tax. So, I'm brewing my own, which is not exactly legal here, but won't get me caned, or stoned.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

A license to drink? Seriously? Well, I guess if the English make you buy a license to watch TV anything is possible. Regards, GF.

 

[dinnerstick]

some states in the us make you get a license just to smoke a bit of weed!
aren't rules hilarious

 

[Arabrewer]

In case anyone is interested, With the gallon jug I let continue for only 4 days, then cold crashed the whole jug. It cleared out pretty well after 2 days. I bottled it and the taste is like a sauvignon blanc or a sweetish chardonnay. Very enjoyable and potent. The juice I started on top of the lees is still going like mad, much more fervently than the original batch. And after a few days I'm already getting low and I can't wait till I get some stocked up. I think I'll experiment with half cranberry and half apple next. Anyone ever done this? How's the result?

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Cranberry can get a little bitter once all the sugar has been fermented out, so you may want to crash that one a little earlier.
There are threads on pasteurizing on the stove top, and I would also recommend reading up on yeast washing. I use the plastic soda bottles washed out very well and sanitized. They hold pressure really well and don't look too strange in the fridge.
Best of luck and enjoy your new pet's.

 

[Arabrewer]

Thanks Kauai Kahuna. I started the Cranberry-Apple brew 3 days ago and it's fermenting well. Thing is, and I've read about it on here on a lot with Apple brews, I'm getting some sulphur odor. It seems to be lessening already, and I'm not really worried, just want to see if anyone has had this with cranberry. I'm using Lalvin KV-1116, 4/7 cranberry and a lot of sugar. Here's the recipe:

2L Cranberry
1.5L Apple
500g cane sugar
Lalvin KV-1116 (more lees from the previous brew)

 

[gratus fermentatio]

The sulphur odor (aka "rhino farts") is pretty common, especially with montrachet & English cider yeasts. You can lessen it by using yeast nutrient/energizer. All that sulphur should disappear with aging. Regards, GF.

 

[Arabrewer]

As far as yeast nutrient/energizer goes, I'm in a country where it is not available (Middle East). I've read about people using raisins, either whole or smashed and boiled as yeast nutrient. Does this actually work? And maybe I can somehow source the ingredients for yeast nutrients/energizers. What's in them exactly?

Thanks