Let's make booze!

[doctorogenki]

7 day primary fermentation.

Rack the wine to a new container using siphon, leaving sediment behind.

14 day second fermentation.

Rack again, being more careful than last time to not get any sediment.

14 day third fermentation.

Rack into another jug, with 1 campden tablet per gallon.

Rack into bottles.

Comments

[slawson01]

Don't do it in plastic. The acids will leach things out of the plastic that are completely fine in there with just water. One batch will be fine to drink, but I would get some glass if you want to make more.

I have a bunch of mead (honey wine) that I made over 5 years ago. I could drop a bottle by your work if you'd like to try some.

[doctorogenki]

Yeah, that would be great. Whats the recipe you used for the honey wine?

Since it sounds like you're into home brewing, I do have a question I haven't seen a good answer for. How much campden tablets do I use, and when?

Also, where can I find a reasonable price on a glass carboy? I didn't fancy paying $40+ for one at the home brew supply store when I picked up the yeast, hydrometer, and water lock bubbler.

[slawson01]

I use one step sanitizer and have never had a need for campden tablets. I do know that you could add them 1 per gallon of must and then wait 24 hours for them to do their thing.

I hear they make things easier if you are trying to ferment things that can get a bacterial infection and also eliminate wild yeasts which would offer a different flavor to your product. If you use them, wait at least 24 hours after doing so before pitching your yeast. It sounds like you already have your yeast going so unless you want a specific gravity target (alcohol content) that you don't want to go beyond you could crush one per gallon and drop it in to kill the yeast in there.

I have a 5 gallon carboy with a handle installed I will sell you for $30.

[doctorogenki]

Actually, yeah, I'll take that carboy. When/Where?

Ok, found it:

Campden: As a stabilizer, use at bottling along with potassium sorbate. One tablet produces about 50 ppm of sulfur dioxide per 5 gallons of wine.

K Sorbate: Inhibits yeast reproduction and fermentation in sweet wines at bottling. Also called wine stabilizer. Not meant to stop active fermentation. Use 1 1/4 teaspoons per 5 gallons of wine.

[slawson01]

Oh, you asked about recipe. What I have is a blackberry mellomel with 15 pounds of orange blossom honey, water to make up the rest of the 5 gallons, yeast hulls, irish moss, and a blackberry extract. Then I pitched some mead yeast which I would not recommend for mead. I would go with champagne yeast. I would also go with 12 pounds of honey instead of 15, this stuff it way too sweet.

I made this batch 5 years ago so I don't remember everything I did. I do remember 15 pounds, mead yeast, and blackberry extract. The details, I don't recall.

[slawson01]

I had to read some on gotmead.com to fully understand what you were talking about. After reading, my next brew is definitely going to be a mead. I always assumed mead was more of a beer, and beer was always more involved than I wanted to be, with the cooking and mash and carbonation etc etc.

Mead sounds as easy as wine, but with infinitely more flavor possibilities. Score.

[doctorogenki]

^ Twas I, said I. ^