The Fruits of Labor

5/16/2011

I got my first batch of elderberry wine bottled. I have to say that it turned out a lot more dry than I had hoped. Very bitter but I have already downed two bottles. I was surprised that the buzz from home brew is different than the buzz you get from store bought. It was a cleaner and happier buzz than I have ever gotten from a wine at the store. I have to admit that if I had known this before I would have started brewing years ago.

Seeing how dry this is let me know now that I need to add some sugar to what is still going. This was from an earlier batch and not the first batch. So, the alcohol content is less than the gallon I have had going for months. I have to admit that I am really looking forward to the oldest batch making it to the end and being put in the bottles. It will be sweeter and it will have to have one hell of a kick. But the trick at this point is to keep a little more sugar in the must than the yeast will be able to eat. I will just have to slowly sweeten to taste at this point. Adding a half cup of sugar and letting it go a little longer then taste and add more sugar if needed.

There is no reason to bother clearing the wine. You can't see through it to even know if it is clear. It looks like red, thick oil but has the consistency of wine. If you can't see through it then how can you even determine if it is clear?

Now! What is going on with more brewing? I put in a couple grape vines two years ago when we first moved into this house. This year the white grape vine is actually going to produce enough grapes that I might have enough to do a full gallon of it from the grape juice alone. The second vine never did like me and has never done well. So, when the grapes are ready I will be making a nice white wine. We also put in a small orchard in the lower yard and I am looking forward to next year when we will have apples, peaches, cherries and plums. OK, I am really only looking forward to the cherries and peaches. I remember what fresh from the tree peaches taste like from my childhood. I think they would be a better choice for wine than anything I can get from the store so I will wait for them. My wife is talking about putting in more grape vines since I have had so much luck with the one that is taking over the side of the house. We are deciding if we want them on the fence or if we are going to make a place through the mini orchard for them. Either way I know that it will take two years after they are in the ground before I can expect any kind of return from them.

Maybe in a couple of years I will have a full blown microbrewery going. I know that I would rather spend my time brewing then having a job in the computer world now. Who knows. What we are planting now may liberate me from a mundane job and actually allow me to start doing this as a small business. Probably need to look into what I would need to do to be a legal microbrewery here in Arkansas before I let my dream get any bigger than it is now. Probably so much red tape that it would not make it worth while.

OK! Until next time keep the bubbles going!!!

Chuck

Flowers?

5/02/2011

It has been a few weeks since my last post. Not much has happened here in the brew department. I did the second racking of the elderberry wine. Very uneventful. The flavor is very good. In fact it is as good as the first gallon that is still bubbling away. Nice little bitter bite to it. I think that bitter bite with the sweetness is what I like the most about the elderberry.

I did try an experiment that didn't get past the boiling. I have a recipe for honeysuckle wine. I have to admit that I picked a lot of flowers and even picked up a couple of ticks in the process. After I had about 6 cups of flowers pressed into the cup I added a half gallon of water to the flowers and went to the three hour boil of the flowers. I have to tell you, when you boil a flower it does not smell like the flower. In fact after 3 hours of boiling I had to throw the whole half gallon of tea out. I am not sure how people can make wine out of flowers after this. Think I will stay with berries.

Short but sweet this time. Still waiting on the elderberry wine and berries to ripen.

Keep it bubbling!
Chuck