Weekend Brewing - Started again

[MR2Jay77]

This weekend I made good on my promise to start brewing again, much to the fascination of my 3 year old daughter :lol:

Started out by putting together a batch of my Turbo Cider with Added Nitrous Oxide :twisted:

For this we have a combination of Fire Chillies, Carolina Reapers and Naga Vipers

Ingredients

5 litres of Apple Juice (100% stuff).
65g Brewing sugar
1/2tsp yeast nutrient
1/2tsp pectolase
1tsp glycerin
1tsp Malic Acid
1/2 large mug of very strong very stewed tea.
1/4 large mug of steeped chilli (chilli is cut into very fine pieces and placed into boiling water to form a "tea", Once cooled, the entire brew, chillies and all, are transferred into the demijohn. These are filtered out after the first brew)
Wine Yeast (Champagne)

1tsp per bottle Dextrose Sugar for carbonation

Method

Into a sterile demijohn, put the yeast nutrient, sugar (dissolved in boiling water), Pectolase, glycerin, malic acid, tea and chilli steep.

Then fill the demijohn to with 3l of apple juice. Add 2g of yeast and gently agitate the brew. Add the airlock and place somewhere warm.

Within a couple of days, the initial burst of froth from the brew will subside and then add the rest of the apple juice to the top leaving about an inch below the neck of the demijohn.

Once the airlock is showing a bubble every 1 to 2 minutes, the first fermentation has completed. Siphon the brew into a second, sterile demijohn, taking care not to disturb the sedimant on the bottom of the jar.Make sure the chillies are left behind. Re-insert the rubber bung and leave for 2 months to clear. Transfer to a third demijohn to clear it further.

After a month, bottle the cider with 1sp of brewing sugar in each bottle to carbonate the cider. Leave this somewhere warm for a week before moving somewhere cool. Leave for a few weeks and it's then ready to drink.

Second brew of the day was a Blueberry and Apple Tea Bag wine - A firm favourite with the better half.

Ingredients

1 box Twinings t bags (16 or 20 in box ?)
2 ltrs red grape juice
1 tsp pectolase
1 tsp nutrient
1/2 t spoon citric acid
1/2 large mug of very strong very stewed tea.
1 sachet Garvin Wine yeast
1.25kg sugar

Method

Use 1 box Twinings Blueberry and Apple bags and Welches 100% Pure Pressed Purple Grape Juice .

Infuse the bags for 30 minutes in 1litre boiling bottled water.

Boil 1.25kg sugar in 1/2 litre bottled water.

Wring the bags out as best you can without splitting them and pour the sugar syrup into the fruit infusion. Stir well. Add 1st litre of grape juice into the demijohn, add Citric, Tannin, Pectolase, Nutrient and the fruit/sugar blend and fill the demijohn to 3/4 full with grape juice. Allow this to cool to room temperature, add the yeast and let it rip.

After the initial whoosh has subsided, make up to 1 gallon with grape juice.

Once the fermentation has ceased, stabilise with sulphate and sorbate and add finings to clear.

So that is what I have on so far. I'm taking a trip to my local brewing shop in a bit to pick up a few supplies but I am hoping to get a Cherry WOW on the go this afternoon and maybe, just maybe start on my microbrew ale :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Great post, looking forward to the review. :thumb:

 

[nigelnorris]

I've already got fruits on my windowsill Ghost Nagas, and I've got Reapers, Scorpions and 7 Pots for cropping later. Can't imagine adding them into a brew though, does much of the heat carry through?

 

[MR2Jay77]

I've already got fruits on my windowsill Ghost Nagas, and I've got Reapers, Scorpions and 7 Pots for cropping later. Can't imagine adding them into a brew though, does much of the heat carry through?

You'd be very surprised. It's not a drink for those who don't have the taste for these superhot chillies but if you make a good "tea" from them, then that heat seriously carries through. What is bizarre though is that the taste of the cider and the taste of the chilli almost remain separate. you get a really good, clean taste of cider and the chilli creeps in and keeps building. The next swig though cleans the palette so you taste the cider and again, creeps in :thumb:

 

[MR2Jay77]

That's number 3 on the go - I have experimented a bit, using a recipe for Cherry WOW I found on here and swapping it about a bit to create a Raspberry WOW :thumb:

Ingredients

0.8L Red grape and Berries (Morrisons)
0.4L Welches Purple grape
0.8L 100% apple
265ml Lowicz Raspberry
0.2L strong tea (2 bag)
1tsp pectolase
1/2tsp Yeast Nutrient
800g sugar
Gervin GV2 Yeast

Method

Dissolved sugar in 1l of bottled water until hot
Made up 1/2 mug of strong tea, left to stew
Chucked all juices into DJ
Added pectolase and yeast nutrient
Added hot sugar solution
Pitched yeast (Gervin GV2) at about room temperature

I'll top up with water to 5L once initial whoosh has subsided

 

[jayjt29]

Great posts mate, that chilli TC sounds hot!

Enjoy :)
Jay

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'll top up with water to 5L once initial whoosh has subsided

I find it best to top up after racking as you need a bit of space especially if using a degassing wand.

 

[MR2Jay77]

I find it best to top up after racking as you need a bit of space especially if using a degassing wand.

OK, I'll give that a try - It's frothing up already - should be a lively one, that one :lol:

Just managed to make an ale from scratch as well but I updated my recipe thread with pics. That's it now, no more space at the inn :lol:

 

[MR2Jay77]

Yeah, OK... Time to be ridiculed.... Made a newbie mistake last night.

Truthfully, I don't even know why I did it, I should have known better. It may have been a few years since I've brewed anything but the basics don't change....

Decided for some reason I can't quite fathom that it would be a good idea to top up the wine and the Raspberry WOW with purple grape juice last night. Please don't ask where this logic came from....

End result? Armageddon this morning. Both went ballistic overnight and decided to cover my brewing table with lovely purple stickiness.....

All cleaned up now and both have subsided again but I still can't work out what my brain was thinking last night!

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I imagine we have all done it at some point, I had a wilko 6 bottle kit leave the DJ even though I had read not to follow the instructions and leave topping up until day 5.

 

[MR2Jay77]

On the plus side though, my Nitrous Cider is looking and smelling amazing :thumb: It's pretty much finished fermenting now with very few small bubbles still rising and has started to clear from the top. Looks like I'll be able to rack that one this weekend :thumb: Then comes the LONG secondary stage. I'll leave it in the secondary demijohn for 2 months before racking it to a tertiary through a filter for the final clear before bottling. This on eis for a car show in September so it has time to mature before knocking people's heads off :lol:

 

[MR2Jay77]

Racked out the cider last night into a clean demijohn and it's now clearing at a fantastic rate :thumb:

I'll leave it in there are 2 months now before transferring it into a tertiary demijohn for final clearing/maturing....

Beer is ready to do as well so that's one for tomorrow :thumb:

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[MR2Jay77]

Yup, cider is clearing beautifully. By the time I get to rack it into the tertiary demijohn, it should be pretty good :thumb:

The Raspberry WOW has finally slowed right up now so it is nearly time to stabilse that one and transfer it into the secondary to clear. The wine is STILL going strong but I'm thinking of doing the same to that one to leave a little sweetness in there :thumb:

 

[MR2Jay77]

That's the Raspberry WOW finished :drunk:

Stabilsed it in the week and decided to pass it through my wine filter this morning. The end result is a crystal clear, fruity concoction that tastes as good as it smells. Got 10 half bottles out of it so I'm happy (the missus is happier though having sampled some of the leftovers :lol:)

I've now stabilised the Blackberry and Apple tea wine so that's the next to be cleared and bottled....May have to go and get some more bottles and corks though

 

[nigelnorris]

This is a great thread, I want to try all of these.

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks fella....

First bottle of the Raspberry WOW got rather rapidly consumed last night.... I get the feeling that one isn't going to last long....

I'm now sat filtering the Blueberry and Apple.... That should he bottled up today as well....

Debating getting a fiery ginger beer on the go..... Hmmm

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Roddy]

Cracking thread matey 👍

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk