Things Fermentational
I racked off the Chianti today, practically right on schedule according to the instructions. It is now happily burping away in the secondary fermenter. The Pinot Grigio is burping away too, albeit slowly, and the specific gravity is now to where the absolute minimum should be before bottling. I considered racking that off, but decided to wait yet a while longer since I like my wine to be more on the dry side. At this rate, the Chianti will be in the bottles before the Pinot even clarifies. That, I understand, is not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure is slow going. The fermentation never actually speeded up to where it should have been when I restarted it after the great battery blanket experiment, and I guess that is only to be expected.
Oh well, the first batch is experimental, after all.
Those of you who know me, know that overall, I am not terribly fond of sugary carbonated beverages. There are, however, one or two exceptions: I found a Green Tea soft drink called "Teasers" at Costco, and I've had a bottle or two of that (I like key lime) and a good Ginger beer. Dykewife and Bran will remember when Dan and I made Ginger Beer back in 'Toon Town. (Not to be confused with "Child Labour Day" in which we made rootbeer.) The first batch we made was one of those serendipitous things - the recipe we used was in Imperial measurments, and we made it in American. We bottled it, and put it down in the basement to happily ferment away. Dan thought ginger beer, like rootbeer, would take 2 - 3 weeks to properly ferment. I wasn't entirely sure, because everything I'd read (and I was a very, very, novice brewer at the time) said it would be ready in a much shorter period of time - a matter of days to be exact. However, bowing to Dan's superiour knowledge in such things, we just put it down stairs.
2.5 days later, I was pattering around upstairs, when I began to hear muffled pops and bangs from the basement. The gingerbeer was ready, more than ready in fact. I swiftly moved the remaining bottles (we only lost about 4 of them)into the refrigerator. The bottles cooled, fermentation ceased, and it was now ready to taste. The result of our mix up in proportions was a delightful Ginger/lemon soft drink that we were never quite able to recreate. Some say it was the best batch we ever made, and I have no reason to doubt them.
Recently, Dan found a website with a wonderfully simple way of making ginger beer: All you need is a two liter soft drink bottle, water, fresh ginger, lemon, sugar and bread yeast. What makes this method so wonderful is that it makes a small batch, only two litres, and there is no need for bottles and crimping down caps.
I plan to try this Ginger Beer Method this weekend.
Oh well, the first batch is experimental, after all.
Those of you who know me, know that overall, I am not terribly fond of sugary carbonated beverages. There are, however, one or two exceptions: I found a Green Tea soft drink called "Teasers" at Costco, and I've had a bottle or two of that (I like key lime) and a good Ginger beer. Dykewife and Bran will remember when Dan and I made Ginger Beer back in 'Toon Town. (Not to be confused with "Child Labour Day" in which we made rootbeer.) The first batch we made was one of those serendipitous things - the recipe we used was in Imperial measurments, and we made it in American. We bottled it, and put it down in the basement to happily ferment away. Dan thought ginger beer, like rootbeer, would take 2 - 3 weeks to properly ferment. I wasn't entirely sure, because everything I'd read (and I was a very, very, novice brewer at the time) said it would be ready in a much shorter period of time - a matter of days to be exact. However, bowing to Dan's superiour knowledge in such things, we just put it down stairs.
2.5 days later, I was pattering around upstairs, when I began to hear muffled pops and bangs from the basement. The gingerbeer was ready, more than ready in fact. I swiftly moved the remaining bottles (we only lost about 4 of them)into the refrigerator. The bottles cooled, fermentation ceased, and it was now ready to taste. The result of our mix up in proportions was a delightful Ginger/lemon soft drink that we were never quite able to recreate. Some say it was the best batch we ever made, and I have no reason to doubt them.
Recently, Dan found a website with a wonderfully simple way of making ginger beer: All you need is a two liter soft drink bottle, water, fresh ginger, lemon, sugar and bread yeast. What makes this method so wonderful is that it makes a small batch, only two litres, and there is no need for bottles and crimping down caps.
I plan to try this Ginger Beer Method this weekend.