White Grapefruit — Fermenting

This article was originally posted on Nov. 19, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

Just as Bryce and I wanted to break out of the box by fermenting Hawaii’s Own, so too did we want to break out of the box, and possibly ferment it, when we decided to take on White Grapefruit Juice.

Once again, we figured out how much sugar we needed to add to bring it up to the same sugar gramage that our ciders have. We added the sugar, pitched the yeast and put the fermentation lock on and off to the races it went.

We used Lalvin EC-1118. We have another half gallon that we’re waiting on fermenting until we start another cider batch and use an ale yeast, so we can save the few extra dollars on a new yeast packet.

Side by side of the White Grapefruit and Hawaii’s Own. Both are being fermented by Lalvin EC-1118.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The White Grapefruit is, in fact, white.

Hawaii’s Own — Brewed!

This article was originally posted on Nov. 19, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

Bryce and I decided that it was time to take some drastic action. Mainly, I’d picked up 16 carboys from a response to an ad on Craigslist and we wanted to start experimenting. For, we cannot become better brewers until we break out of our comfort zones, no?

No matter.

We figured out the needed extra sugar for one gallon of Hawaii’s Own (pictured below) to bring it up to the same sugar level of our ciders. Then, we poured in water and pitched the yeast (Lalvin EC-1118.)

Hopefully it’ll turn out.

We used two cans of Hawaii’s Own Guava Strawberry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawaii’s Own makes a nice red.

 

AW #3C — Bottled

This article was originally posted on Nov. 19, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

AW #3C was a first for us. We’d read that brown sugar gives a “cidery” taste to alcohol, so, we figured that we’d increase the sugar content of a cider, a 1 gallon batch, exclusively with brown sugar.

AC #3C and AW #3 were taken out and taste tested at the exact same time and 3C, aka the Brown Sugar Bomber, tasted completely different from its fraternal big brother. It tasted incredible sweet, which leads us to believe (in lieu of a hydrometer, which was broken when we were first trying to use it) that the yeast hasn’t finished going to town on the sugars. So, it may just need longer in the bottle, since we bottled it.

We’ll see.

We primed it, and that’s all. No priming sugar.

If you look down in tags and look for AW Batch #3c you’ll see the old posts for it.

 

We bottled AW #3C in Becks bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AW #3C had a dark hue, which doesn’t come through here.

Raspberry Apfelwein #3

This article was originally posted on Nov. 19, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

Apfelwein #3, we decided, should be a batch of few things. We bottled AW #3C straight, no lactose, just priming sugar.

We also bottled one gallon of AW #3 with just priming sugar, no lactose (sweetening sugar, unfermentable by yeast.)

The other four gallons we stuck into a bucket. In between, we stuck four packages of frozen raspberries that had been boiled for 15 minutes with 6 tablespoons of brown sugar.

And, there you have it! As soon as it’s ready, I think we’re all going to be happy. Or, it’ll get drunk be other people and we’ll be stuck nursing the rejects.

However, we plan on tertiarying it for at least a week to let the residuals settle.

 

The raspberries with a little bit of water and 6 tablespoons brown sugar, boiling for 15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raspberry foam! All pink and stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce posing with the fermenting bucket and the secondary bucket.

 

 

 

Winter Spice Graff

This article was originally posted on Nov. 1, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

The Winter Spice Graff appears to have been a mistake. Graff, by itself, is great. Add raspberries (we added raspberry liqueur) and it tastes incredible, something you’d be willing to buy.

Allspice and cinnamon do not make the Graff taste good. In fact, the opposite is true.

Alas, when we added allspice and cinnamon, the Graff took a turn for the worst.

No, no, it took no turn. It went from being good to being an abomination.

We learned our lesson. Keep the cinnamon and spice and some things nice to the Apfelwein only.

I won’t put the recipe up because it’s not worth replicating.

Alas, alas, alas.

But not, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

 

Apfelwein #1 Racked on Blackberries

This article was originally posted on Oct. 18, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

We had blackberries, frozen, on hand. Apparently, much like the Python’s elderberries, they do not go well.

Unlike our raspberry concoctions, the blackberry cider didn’t taste very good. It was always good enough to be drunk, but no more. We argued over who had to drink it.

The label’s nice though.

Just, we don’t make it again, unless we’re proven otherwise.

Maybe ageing will make it better. A bottle or two is sitting in our ageing cabinet.

 

Tags:
Apfelwein (AW) Batch #1

The frozen blackberries were boiled for 15 minutes with a tablespoon of brown sugar.

 

The cider label

Apfelwein Batch #1 Racked on Raspberries

This article was originally posted on Oct. 18, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

Our raspberry experiments are proving to be wildly successful. Our first batch of raspberry racked cider, made with a wine yeast none-the-less, is all gone because it just tasted so damn delicious. It also made pretty pictures. We’re working on four gallons, but made with Nottingham Ale Yeast.

Raspberries were boiled (12 oz. of raspberries per 1 gallon) (Trader Joe’s had the best deal at $2.50 per 12 oz. bag) with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and then put into the racked cider. We then let it sit for about two or three weeks before bottling.

 

The cider racked on the raspberries, right after they’d been boiled.

 

Raspberries before the cider has been added.

 

The raspberry cider after it’d been sitting for weeks.

 

Isn’t it pretty? It’s been bottled in Newcastle bottles.

 

The raspberry cider label.

Apfelwein #1 Racked on Cinnamon

This article was originally posted on Oct. 18, 2011, on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

We racked one gallon of AW #1 on top of cinnamon sticks that had been boiled in water. The taste is pleasant, mildly like Christmas. However, it doesn’t appear to heat well. We’ve bottled it still and it’s sitting in a 12-pack in our newly reorganized work room.

Apfelwein Batch #3

This article was originally posted on Oct. 14, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

October 14 was a cider day.

Leo came over with six gallons of apple juice. We got our measurements ready, realized that we didn’t have the needed two pounds of corn sugar and made up the extra six ounces with brown sugar.

We boiled the brown and corn sugar and added them to the bucket. We poured the apple juice in. Bryce and Leo crossed streams.

The brown sugar colored the water something intense.

We rehydrated the yeast, pitched it, brought the bucket down stairs, cleaned up and called it a day.

The recipe isn’t hard. It’s the same Apfelwein (AW) recipe as it ever was, except this time we’re using the ale yeast again and breaking up the dextrose with brown sugar.

Ingredients:
5 gallons apple juice
2 pounds sugar (26 ounces corn sugar, 6 ounces brown sugar)

Directions:
Boil sugars in water for five minutes.
Put sugar water into fermenter.
Pour apple juice into fermenter.
Pitch yeast.

It’s that easy.

As always, check for the tag “AW Batch #3” (http://brew.wheelerc.org/tag/aw-batch-3/) to see what happens.

It’ll be done and ready for testing a month from Oct. 14, when it was made.

In the mean time, have a home brew! Except none of ours are ready to drink . . . Damn.

Apfelwein Batch #3C

This article was originally posted on Oct. 11, 2011 on my homebrew website, Fat Grey Tom’s Cider. It has been re-posted here with the same time stamp.

We did two things on October 14, 2011.

We made a 5-gallon batch of Apfelwein with ale yeast (Nottingham) and we made a 1-gallon batch of Apfelwein with ale yeast in a carboy, exclusively with brown sugar. The 5-gallon batch was mixed with a majority corn sugar and a little brown sugar to finish out the measurements.

Here’s what we did:

5 oz. brown sugar, boiled in 1 cup water for about 5 minutes.

1 gallon Great Value apple juice.

Pour into carboy.

Pitch yeast.

Wait.

As always, check its progress under the tag AW Batch #3C (http://brew.wheelerc.org/tag/aw-batch-3c/)

The brown sugar appears to be giving the AW a darker color than normal.