Home brewing
- Thread starter Walter
- Start date
my father used to make wine from unusual things, such as potato and banana. I've never tried it. maybe when i have a permanant home i will
I live in a one bedroom apartment now so I don’t think it is a good idea.
Space is needed. However, for about $15 I make about 65-70 bottles of very good product. Well worth the effort.
We have made our own beer and wine for quite a few years. We use the commercial beer and wine kits and for a good beer, or a certainly passable wine, you can't go wrong. All that is required is attention to detail and cleanliness. Pay a lot of attention to cleanliness. Good wine and good beer can be had for $2.00 a bottle and $4.00 a dozen respectively.
Their flavored liquers. like brandy, bourbon, ect
Heres a simple recipe
Peach cordial
3 pound fresh peaches pitted and quartered
4 cups bourbon
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 strips lemon peal, each 2 inches long
4 inches cinnamon stick broken
6 whole cloves
In a gallon screw-top jar mix all ingredients. Cover tightly. Invert jar; let stand 24 hours. Turn jar upright; let stand 24 hours. Repeat turning till sugar dissolves. Store in cool, dark place at least 2 months. Strain through cheese cloth into decanters, cover. makes 6 cups.
i'd love to give it a go once i've moved. I've always wanted to try my hand at wine making. Seems like we're never settled enough though. lol.
Anyone ever tried absinthe? Always wondered what it tasted like.
So far I like the taste of real rye, real potato vodka, a few rums but mostly Appleton's, various beers but not many ales, gin, and some liqueurs like the ones tasting like licorice, Irish cream, ones that taste like oranges and lemons, creme de menthe and peppermint schnapps, and some wines particularly Rieslings.
I've wanted to make my own beers but never got around to collecting the carboys and whatnot.
So far I like the taste of real rye, real potato vodka, a few rums but mostly Appleton's, various beers but not many ales, gin, and some liqueurs like the ones tasting like licorice, Irish cream, ones that taste like oranges and lemons, creme de menthe and peppermint schnapps, and some wines particularly Rieslings.
I've wanted to make my own beers but never got around to collecting the carboys and whatnot.
L Gilbert-
Absinthe tastes like if black liquorice could beat your throat with alocohol and fire....pouring it over sugar helps alot, but I've ended up drinking milk afterwards to 'calm the beast'. :blob6:
Btw, it doesn't make you trip or anything...it's just a slightly different kind of buzz. Movies showing people getting all weird from wormwood(Absinthe's catalyst or whatever you call it) usually neglect to mention that those dudes were big opium users too.
And I would love to brew my own beer, but my house is very tiny....and cram full of our crap (not literally speaking of course).
Absinthe tastes like if black liquorice could beat your throat with alocohol and fire....pouring it over sugar helps alot, but I've ended up drinking milk afterwards to 'calm the beast'. :blob6:
Btw, it doesn't make you trip or anything...it's just a slightly different kind of buzz. Movies showing people getting all weird from wormwood(Absinthe's catalyst or whatever you call it) usually neglect to mention that those dudes were big opium users too.
And I would love to brew my own beer, but my house is very tiny....and cram full of our crap (not literally speaking of course).
the reason for this is that absinthe as it used to be made is illegal now. the stuff you buy now is probably similar in flavour (probably nicer) but doesnt contain much of the hallucenogenic stuff. In the old days people put whatever they wanted in. Also it generally used to be a lot stronger. 70% alcohol wasnt uncommon. I've seen stuff with 70% ocassionally so it's not impossible to get now but it's pretty rare. Most spirits hang around the 40% mark.
Yeah, the 140 proof bottle was too potent. We got an 80 proof one (actually 2) which was much smoother and didn't render your throat 'ground beefy'. I still used milk as a chaser. Bad taste, but it made things alot easier.
proof is a weird measurement. % by volume makes a lot more sense. then you actually know how much alcohol there is in it. Although I bought some ethanol at work recently which was 200 proof. so i spose it's roughly double the percent by volume?
Yes. 80 proof = 40% alcohol
I just go by what the bottle sez. Some say percent per volume, others say proof.
....then again, some comes in mason jars and burns blue when ignited. (ever heard of Copperhead Road?):evil4:
I just go by what the bottle sez. Some say percent per volume, others say proof.
....then again, some comes in mason jars and burns blue when ignited. (ever heard of Copperhead Road?):evil4:
Proof is precisely what you figured out... double the percentage by volume. Proof just sounds so much more dramatic though! A measly 40% alcohol per volume spirit becomes a dramatic 80 proof! Who wouldn't prefer to use that measurement when explaining why you have such a dastardly hangover? lol.
My sister and her husband tried making Saki one year....
The procedure involves raisins which float to the surface of the urn at some point in the fermentation (ugh) process....
Her husband scooped the raisins out of the urn and threw them into their back yard. She phoned me to drive over to her house to see all the birds lined up on the fence stunned from a raisin drunk I guess .....lasted for hours poor things.... (or was it the rice? can't remember)
The procedure involves raisins which float to the surface of the urn at some point in the fermentation (ugh) process....
Her husband scooped the raisins out of the urn and threw them into their back yard. She phoned me to drive over to her house to see all the birds lined up on the fence stunned from a raisin drunk I guess .....lasted for hours poor things.... (or was it the rice? can't remember)
I don't get hangovers unless I drink something that's sweet. Chocolate martini's? Worst. Hangover. Ever.