Jeßus wrote
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150 in
Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast that I use.
Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that I infected with >the beer brewing bug has just got one and its worked out pretty well.
Mostly scotch, I do spend a bit on commercial scotch currently.
Unlikely that the 80 year old scotch will be viable to make myself tho.
On Jan 23, 10:07 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my main drink (in winter, at least)...
just love the stuff. It can blow your head off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently, I started drinking
it from a beer glass. Wow.
FWIW, if you get into kegging, you can
force carbonate mead very nicely. It's a lot nicer getting it from a
tap than opening a champagne bottle each time. I only made a couple
batches of still mead---everything else sparkling, including my best
batch, which was meant to be still. Oops.
I wasn't very impressed with the expensive "mead" yeast I used on my
last batch. It cost a lot more than champagne yeast, and didn't
produce any better result. Even the dry champagne yeast gives good
results with mead. I also tend to use less honey than many, like 10
to 12 pounds per five gallons, vs. the 15 to 18 some prefer. With the
lower honey content, and champagne yeast, you can get a completely
fermented out (dry) mead, with none of the sticky sweetness so common
in mead.
This apple and pear season I plan to substitute the sugar for honey on
a couple of batches, and make a hybrid cider/mead or perry/mead.
Should be interesting.
A friend made that a lot, called it "sizer", or something like that.
I liked the result, but didn't try doing it myself. Good luck.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that I infected with >> the beer brewing bug has just got one and its worked out pretty well.
You can distill? Here (U.S.) it's legal for me to ferment up to 200
gallons per year, but I can't distill any of it without an expensive
and difficult-to-obtain license, or a "fuel" license which requires
poisoning the result. Stupid law, but I follow it.
My mate who I infected with the brewing bug likes
something else local as well, forget which now.
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:15:50 -0800 (PST), BruceSSame here. I seem to go from not feeling it at all to feeling it a
<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 23, 10:07 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my main drink (in winter, at least)...
just love the stuff. It can blow your head off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently, I started drinking
it from a beer glass. Wow.
:) I did similar actually. Started off using shot glasses, then mid-sized glasses, then full size glasses.
It's insidious stuff though, you need to keep an eye on your
consumption, it seems to sneak up to you in a way that beer and
spirits don't. That's my experience at least.
Another consideration, that didn't occur to me until I emptied myFWIW, if you get into kegging, you can
force carbonate mead very nicely. It's a lot nicer getting it from a
tap than opening a champagne bottle each time. I only made a couple >batches of still mead---everything else sparkling, including my best
batch, which was meant to be still. Oops.
Never thought of kegging mead. I've been flip-flopping on the idea of
kegs. On the one hand they're convenient in many ways - OTOH bottles
are much more portable.
<snip>I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well. No need
I wasn't very impressed with the expensive "mead" yeast I used on my
last batch. It cost a lot more than champagne yeast, and didn't
produce any better result. Even the dry champagne yeast gives good
results with mead. I also tend to use less honey than many, like 10
to 12 pounds per five gallons, vs. the 15 to 18 some prefer. With the >lower honey content, and champagne yeast, you can get a completely >fermented out (dry) mead, with none of the sticky sweetness so common
in mead.
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast. For
my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an air leak in
the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there as well... but
all I know is, that remains the best mead I've made yet :) As
mentioned before, my next batches will use champagne yeast, will be interesting to see the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys
and yeast, but eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
I'm not sure how seriously they take it here, but I haven't seen anyThis apple and pear season I plan to substitute the sugar for honey on >> > a couple of batches, and make a hybrid cider/mead or perry/mead.
Should be interesting.
A friend made that a lot, called it "sizer", or something like that.
I liked the result, but didn't try doing it myself. Good luck.
Thanks. I'm looking forward to doing this, the honey, apples and pears
will all come from the local area here.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that I infected with >> the beer brewing bug has just got one and its worked out pretty well.
You can distill? Here (U.S.) it's legal for me to ferment up to 200 >gallons per year, but I can't distill any of it without an expensive
and difficult-to-obtain license, or a "fuel" license which requires >poisoning the result. Stupid law, but I follow it.
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a
blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any home
brew shop here in Oz and you'll see stills, essences etc. openly for
sale. We are actually allowed to own and use a till for oil extracts
or water distillation... but NOT for alcohol production. Max.
allowable size is only 5L as well, although there is no trouble
purchasing much bigger stills.
BruceS <bruces42@hotmail.com> wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my main drink (in
winter, at least)... just love the stuff. It can blow your head
off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently,
I started drinking it from a beer glass. Wow.
:) I did similar actually. Started off using shot glasses, then
mid-sized glasses, then full size glasses. It's insidious stuff
though, you need to keep an eye on your
consumption, it seems to sneak up to you in a way that beer and
spirits don't. That's my experience at least.
FWIW, if you get into kegging, you can
force carbonate mead very nicely. It's a lot nicer getting it from a
tap than opening a champagne bottle each time. I only made a couple
batches of still mead---everything else sparkling, including my best
batch, which was meant to be still. Oops.
Never thought of kegging mead. I've been flip-flopping on the idea of kegs.
On the one hand they're convenient in many ways
- OTOH bottles are much more portable.
I wasn't very impressed with the expensive "mead" yeast I used on my
last batch. It cost a lot more than champagne yeast, and didn't
produce any better result. Even the dry champagne yeast gives good
results with mead. I also tend to use less honey than many, like 10
to 12 pounds per five gallons, vs. the 15 to 18 some prefer. With
the lower honey content, and champagne yeast, you can get a
completely fermented out (dry) mead, with none of the sticky
sweetness so common in mead.
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast. For
my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an air leak in
the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there as well... but
all I know is, that remains the best mead I've made yet :) As
mentioned before, my next batches will use champagne yeast, will be interesting to see the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys
and yeast, but eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
This apple and pear season I plan to substitute the sugar for honey on >>>> a couple of batches, and make a hybrid cider/mead or perry/mead.
Should be interesting.
A friend made that a lot, called it "sizer", or something like that.
I liked the result, but didn't try doing it myself. Good luck.
Thanks. I'm looking forward to doing this, the honey, apples and pears
will all come from the local area here.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that I
infected with the beer brewing bug has just got one and its worked
out pretty well.
You can distill? Here (U.S.) it's legal for me to ferment up to 200
gallons per year, but I can't distill any of it without an expensive
and difficult-to-obtain license, or a "fuel" license which requires
poisoning the result. Stupid law, but I follow it.
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly
turn a blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course.
Go into any home brew shop here in Oz and
you'll see stills, essences etc. openly for sale.
We are actually allowed to own and use a till for oil extracts
or water distillation... but NOT for alcohol production. Max.
allowable size is only 5L as well, although there is no trouble
purchasing much bigger stills.
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer
added in the vain hope that it may resuscitate them>
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150 in
Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast that I use.
Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely to
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
My favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries
at least - has always been Coopers, so sediment has never
been something that's bothered me.
As for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very expensive
to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that
I infected with the beer brewing bug has just got one
and its worked out pretty well.
Mostly scotch, I do spend a bit on commercial scotch currently.
Unlikely that the 80 year old scotch will be viable to make myself tho.
I've been distilling for a couple of years now, at first with one of those 'air' stills,
but now mainly I use a pot still. I'm not really a spirit drinker,
but I do like apple cider brandy and other brandies.
I intend to lightly distill mead at some point, hoping to
make a mead liqueur. There is a Tasmanian company
that makes one, and it's bloody delicious, neat with ice.
The vodka comes in handy for making vanilla essence as well.
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
My mate who I infected with the brewing bug likes
something else local as well, forget which now.
Not Malt Shovel?
I've tried their pale ale and lager extracts - but they basically
taste the same to me. My god they are MALTY... and fairly
expensive too. I'm in two minds whether I like them or not.
Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I don't.
Coulda also have been Brewcraft,
but IIRC the brand name no longer exists (was absorbed into another brand).
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn aI have never understood why its legal to ferment alcohol for home
blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any home
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of
course. Go into any home
I have never understood why its legal to ferment alcohol for home production (as long as you dont sell it without a
license) yet its illegal to distill alcohol without being a big high-volume commercial operation and getting a
hard-to-get license (which is why you dont see small-scale distilling operations along the lines of the microbreweries
that are popping up)
If its because of tax, they could introduce new licenses for small shops and use that as a way of enforcing tax
regulations.
Jeßus wrote
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly
turn a blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course.
I havent even noticed any prosecutions for that either, not clear
if thats because no on is silly enough to do that or what.
On Jan 25, 3:22 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:15:50 -0800 (PST), BruceS
<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 23, 10:07 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my main drink (in winter, at least)...
just love the stuff. It can blow your head off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently, I started drinking
it from a beer glass. Wow.
:) I did similar actually. Started off using shot glasses, then mid-sized glasses, then full size glasses.
It's insidious stuff though, you need to keep an eye on your
consumption, it seems to sneak up to you in a way that beer and
spirits don't. That's my experience at least.
Same here. I seem to go from not feeling it at all to feeling it a
lot, more so even than when I'm drinking neat whisk{e}y.
Another consideration, that didn't occur to me until I emptied my
first keg, is knowing when you're low. With bottles, it's pretty easy
to see when you're down to a few bottles of brew. With a keg, about
the best you can do (AFAIK) is check its weight to get a rough feel of
how much is in there. A full keg is about 40 lbs (18kg) heavier than
an empty, which is very light. Drawing a glass for a friend, only to
have it start blowing CO2 halfway through, can disappoint.
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast. For
my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an air leak in
the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there as well... but
all I know is, that remains the best mead I've made yet :) As
mentioned before, my next batches will use champagne yeast, will be
interesting to see the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys
and yeast, but eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well. No need
to spend so much on yeast, though I'd opt for the champagne long
before the bakers'.
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a
blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any home
brew shop here in Oz and you'll see stills, essences etc. openly for
sale. We are actually allowed to own and use a till for oil extracts
or water distillation... but NOT for alcohol production. Max.
allowable size is only 5L as well, although there is no trouble
purchasing much bigger stills.
I'm not sure how seriously they take it here, but I haven't seen any >distilling equipment at the brew shops, so that's probably a fair
indicator. Years ago I bought a book on building stills, but now I
can't even find it. I'm paranoid enough that I bought it with cash,
even though I had no intent to actually build a still. I like the
design with a vertical tube of marbles to improve efficiency.
Authorities here can sometimes be breathtakingly absurd in their
enforcement of laws related to recreational drugs. Colorado now
allows "medical" marijuana, with shops having "compassionate" doctors
ready to write nearly anyone a prescription, so I could more easily
(legally) grow and use pot than run a pot still.
Jonathan Wilson wrote:
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of
course. Go into any home
I have never understood why its legal to ferment alcohol for home production (as long as you dont sell it without a
license) yet its illegal to distill alcohol without being a big high-volume commercial operation and getting a
hard-to-get license (which is why you dont see small-scale distilling operations along the lines of the microbreweries
that are popping up)
You do actually, there are in fact a number of them.
Why should those who prefer decent single malts have to pay a hell
of a lot more tax than those who prefer commercial wine instead ?
On Jan 26, 11:47 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:17:16 -0800 (PST), Brad <goog...@vk2qq.com>
wrote:
On Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:22:07 AM UTC+11, Jeßus wrote:That's OK, but you need to be aware that freeze distillation doesn't
remove the methanol. Not necessarily a problem though, just so long as
you're aware of it and not aiming for maximum alcohol content.
I was only thinking last night of freeze distilling some of my mead,
in order to make a mead liqueur, I'm only looking to make the alcohol
content around 20-25% so it should work well and methanol shouldn't be
an issue at that strength. I could use the pot still of course, but
I'm thinking I might get a better result with freeze distillation
(retaining more colour and flavour than the pot still, hopefully).
I've thought about freeze-distilling, as it takes no extra equipment
that would be suspicious. If you have cold enough weather, you should
even be able to remove the methanol that way, though just thinking
about the temperatures involved (-73C to -115C) makes my fingers
ache.
No matter what the total alcohol concentration, the ethanol/
methanol ratio should be the same unless you've removed methanol
during distillation, so I don't get your focus on strength.
I would
also expect mead (and beer) to have negligible methanol concentration
since they don't use any fruit skin or other "woody" substances, but
I've never researched that so I could be completely off base.
Maybe I'll do that for my next mead batch. I could make it still, let
it sit until the weather gets cold enough, freeze distill it to a half
volume or so, then force carbonate some of the result in bottles while >leaving the majority still in bottles.
Yeah, I dont even bother to not pour out the very last from the stubby >anymore.
If its because of tax, they could introduce new licenses for small shops and use that as a way of enforcing tax
regulations.
Not really feasible. Its essentially impossible to
reliably measure how much alcohol they have produced.
I agree that it should be legal, but for some odd
reason its only legal in NZ as far as I know.
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
Jonathan Wilson wrote
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a blind
eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any home
I have never understood why its legal to ferment alcohol for
home production (as long as you dont sell it without a license)
yet its illegal to distill alcohol without being a big high-volume
commercial operation and getting a hard-to-get license (which
is why you dont see small-scale distilling operations along the
lines of the microbreweries that are popping up)
You do actually, there are in fact a number of them.
There's quite a few micro breweries here in Tassie
and I'm even contemplating joining their ranks at some point.
We have all the ingredients right here locally. If I do, it'll be
mead and/or cider and perry, or some combination thereof.
I'm in no hurry to jump into the deep end though.
Why should those who prefer decent single malts have to pay a hell
of a lot more tax than those who prefer commercial wine instead ?
Just an outdated tax...
but being a tax, good luck trying to get it repealed :\
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
If its because of tax, they could introduce new licenses for
small shops and use that as a way of enforcing tax regulations.
Not really feasible. Its essentially impossible to
reliably measure how much alcohol they have produced.
I agree that it should be legal, but for some odd
reason its only legal in NZ as far as I know.
Don't think it is "legal" in NZ
but you can buy very, very good reflux stills there,
as long as you intend to use it only for distilling (eg) "Lavender oil", Garlic oil!
All stills sold come with a recipe book on how to make Whiskey
Rum etc, though. Most home brewers I met over make spirits also
very good quality. In Campbelltown hills where I live many Sydney
clubs pubs were buying spirits from our "Croatian" Hillbillies. They
only got discovered because the legal suppliers noticed they were
not selling "Johnny Walker" "Jim Beam" to whole areas of Sydney
and the AFP were called in.
No complaints from public
On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:37:42 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
If its because of tax, they could introduce new licenses for small shops and use that as a way of enforcing tax
regulations.
Not really feasible. Its essentially impossible to
reliably measure how much alcohol they have produced.
I agree that it should be legal, but for some odd
reason its only legal in NZ as far as I know.
Don't think it is "legal" in NZ
All stills sold come with a recipe book on how to make Whiskey
Rum etc, though. Most home brewers I met over make spirits also
very good quality. In Campbelltown hills where I live many Sydney
clubs pubs were buying spirits from our "Croatian" Hillbillies. They
only got discovered because the legal suppliers noticed they were
not selling "Johnny Walker" "Jim Beam" to whole areas of Sydney
I just dont believe that.
and the AFP were called in.
The AFP aint even the relevant authority.
No complaints from public
Don't think it is "legal" in NZ
It is anyway. Check any of the distillation sites.
but you can buy very, very good reflux stills there,
You can here too.
as long as you intend to use it only for distilling (eg) "Lavender oil", Garlic oil!
There is no such requirement in NZ.
All stills sold come with a recipe book on how to make Whiskey
Rum etc, though. Most home brewers I met over make spirits also
very good quality. In Campbelltown hills where I live many Sydney
clubs pubs were buying spirits from our "Croatian" Hillbillies. They
only got discovered because the legal suppliers noticed they were
not selling "Johnny Walker" "Jim Beam" to whole areas of Sydney
I just dont believe that.
and the AFP were called in.
The AFP aint even the relevant authority.
No complaints from public
On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:20:34 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
All stills sold come with a recipe book on how to make Whiskey
Rum etc, though. Most home brewers I met over make spirits also
very good quality. In Campbelltown hills where I live many Sydney
clubs pubs were buying spirits from our "Croatian" Hillbillies. They
only got discovered because the legal suppliers noticed they were
not selling "Johnny Walker" "Jim Beam" to whole areas of Sydney
I just dont believe that.
and the AFP were called in.
The AFP aint even the relevant authority.
No complaints from public
And you'd think something like that'd be splashed all over the news,
the media would jump onto something like that quick smart.
On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:54:44 +1100, Petzl <petzlx@gmail.com> wrote:Yeah looked it up. Haven't been there for over 30 years but were
On Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:37:42 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
If its because of tax, they could introduce new licenses for small shops and use that as a way of enforcing tax
regulations.
Not really feasible. Its essentially impossible to
reliably measure how much alcohol they have produced.
I agree that it should be legal, but for some odd
reason its only legal in NZ as far as I know.
Don't think it is "legal" in NZ
Distilling alcohol is most definitely is legal in N.Z, since 1996
IIRC.
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
Don't think it is "legal" in NZ
It is anyway. Check any of the distillation sites.
Long time since I were there. Seems the law has been changed and is now legal.
but you can buy very, very good reflux stills there,
You can here too.
as long as you intend to use it only for distilling (eg) "Lavender oil", Garlic oil!
There is no such requirement in NZ.
All stills sold come with a recipe book on how to make Whiskey
Rum etc, though. Most home brewers I met over make spirits also
very good quality. In Campbelltown hills where I live many Sydney
clubs pubs were buying spirits from our "Croatian" Hillbillies. They
only got discovered because the legal suppliers noticed they were
not selling "Johnny Walker" "Jim Beam" to whole areas of Sydney
I just dont believe that.
It happened in the 80's
would I lie to you?
and the AFP were called in.
The AFP aint even the relevant authority.
Not sure
it happened around 30 years ago.
No complaints from public
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:07:45 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer added in the vain hope
that it may resuscitate them>
Jeßus wrote
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150 in
Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast that I use. >>
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely to
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
My favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries at least -
has always been Coopers, so sediment has never been something that's
bothered me. As for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very >expensive to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:06:43 -0800 (PST), BruceS
<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a 1L
On Jan 25, 3:22 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:15:50 -0800 (PST), BruceS
<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 23, 10:07 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my main drink (in winter, at least)...
just love the stuff. It can blow your head off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently, I started drinking
it from a beer glass. Wow.
:) I did similar actually. Started off using shot glasses, then mid-sized glasses, then full size glasses.
It's insidious stuff though, you need to keep an eye on your
consumption, it seems to sneak up to you in a way that beer and
spirits don't. That's my experience at least.
Same here. I seem to go from not feeling it at all to feeling it a
lot, more so even than when I'm drinking neat whisk{e}y.
Twice I've overdone it on the mead... having a quiet drink with a
mate... then a couple more come over and before you know it it's 11PM
and I've cleaned up a litre of mead. Then I wake up in front of the
wood heater, with the dog snuggled up to me :p
Another consideration, that didn't occur to me until I emptied my
first keg, is knowing when you're low. With bottles, it's pretty easy
to see when you're down to a few bottles of brew. With a keg, about
the best you can do (AFAIK) is check its weight to get a rough feel of
how much is in there. A full keg is about 40 lbs (18kg) heavier than
an empty, which is very light. Drawing a glass for a friend, only to
have it start blowing CO2 halfway through, can disappoint.
I'd never thought of that problem, hmm.
That's part of the fun of brewing; it isn't entirely predictable or reproducible for those of us that don't write down every detail. MyMost of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast. For
my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an air leak in
the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there as well... but
all I know is, that remains the best mead I've made yet :) As
mentioned before, my next batches will use champagne yeast, will be
interesting to see the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys
and yeast, but eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well. No need
to spend so much on yeast, though I'd opt for the champagne long
before the bakers'.
As would I, normally. All I know is the very first 5L batch of mead is
still the best one I made, I used bakers yeast (followed the recipe to
the letter). Mind you, there was a leak around the airlock and wild
yeast may have gotten in. After only 2-3 months, the honey had
clarified completely, something I haven't achieved with any other
yeast. And it really does taste the best of all the batches I've done
so far <shrug>. But yeah, next batch of mead will be either champagne
or other wine yeast.
Thanks, I'll look into that.Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly turn a
blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any home
brew shop here in Oz and you'll see stills, essences etc. openly for
sale. We are actually allowed to own and use a till for oil extracts
or water distillation... but NOT for alcohol production. Max.
allowable size is only 5L as well, although there is no trouble
purchasing much bigger stills.
I'm not sure how seriously they take it here, but I haven't seen any >distilling equipment at the brew shops, so that's probably a fair >indicator. Years ago I bought a book on building stills, but now I
can't even find it. I'm paranoid enough that I bought it with cash,
even though I had no intent to actually build a still. I like the
design with a vertical tube of marbles to improve efficiency.
Authorities here can sometimes be breathtakingly absurd in their >enforcement of laws related to recreational drugs. Colorado now
allows "medical" marijuana, with shops having "compassionate" doctors
ready to write nearly anyone a prescription, so I could more easily >(legally) grow and use pot than run a pot still.
Indeed. If you're interested in distilling and/or making your own
still, there is a Yahoo group that's got a pretty good group of people
on there who know their stuff. Called 'new distillers'
Or maybe have a look at:http://www.taet.com.au/distillers.nsf/and http://homedistiller.orgOr that.
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:17:05 -0800 (PST), BruceS
<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:Cold enough to separate water from alcohol, but not enough to separate
On Jan 26, 11:47 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:17:16 -0800 (PST), Brad <goog...@vk2qq.com>
wrote:
On Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:22:07 AM UTC+11, Jeßus wrote:That's OK, but you need to be aware that freeze distillation doesn't
remove the methanol. Not necessarily a problem though, just so long as
you're aware of it and not aiming for maximum alcohol content.
I was only thinking last night of freeze distilling some of my mead,
in order to make a mead liqueur, I'm only looking to make the alcohol
content around 20-25% so it should work well and methanol shouldn't be
an issue at that strength. I could use the pot still of course, but
I'm thinking I might get a better result with freeze distillation
(retaining more colour and flavour than the pot still, hopefully).
I've thought about freeze-distilling, as it takes no extra equipment
that would be suspicious. If you have cold enough weather, you should
even be able to remove the methanol that way, though just thinking
about the temperatures involved (-73C to -115C) makes my fingers
ache.
We get regular -6ºC minimums during winter, which is cold enough,
thanks :)
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.No matter what the total alcohol concentration, the ethanol/
methanol ratio should be the same unless you've removed methanol
during distillation, so I don't get your focus on strength.
Sorry, you worded it much better than I did, yeah, the ratio would be
the same.
I would
also expect mead (and beer) to have negligible methanol concentration
since they don't use any fruit skin or other "woody" substances, but
I've never researched that so I could be completely off base.
Same here, I haven't done any research into if in fact there would be
any methanol in mead, I would assume there would be little if any, but
I'd rather err on the side of caution in the meantime. Not that that
will stop my freeze distilling. I may even get around to freeze
distilling some mead this weekend, time permitting. I have two batches
of lager to start and then bottle the mead I racked the other day as
it is.
Maybe I'll do that for my next mead batch. I could make it still, let
it sit until the weather gets cold enough, freeze distill it to a half >volume or so, then force carbonate some of the result in bottles while >leaving the majority still in bottles.
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote
BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote
Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote
BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
I just racked a batch of spiced mead this arvo.
Started brewing mead last year and now it's my
main drink (in winter, at least)... just love the stuff.
It can blow your head off if you're not careful though :)
I used to drink mead from a wine glass. Recently,
I started drinking it from a beer glass. Wow.
:) I did similar actually. Started off using shot glasses, then
mid-sized glasses, then full size glasses. It's insidious stuff
though, you need to keep an eye on your
consumption, it seems to sneak up to you in a way that beer and
spirits don't. That's my experience at least.
Same here. I seem to go from not feeling it at all to feeling it a
lot, more so even than when I'm drinking neat whisk{e}y.
Twice I've overdone it on the mead... having a quiet drink with a
mate... then a couple more come over and before you know it it's 11PM
and I've cleaned up a litre of mead. Then I wake up in front of the
wood heater, with the dog snuggled up to me :p
Another consideration, that didn't occur to me until I emptied my
first keg, is knowing when you're low. With bottles, it's pretty
easy to see when you're down to a few bottles of brew. With a keg,
about the best you can do (AFAIK) is check its weight to get a
rough feel of how much is in there. A full keg is about 40 lbs
(18kg) heavier than an empty, which is very light. Drawing a glass
for a friend, only to have it start blowing CO2 halfway through,
can disappoint.
I'd never thought of that problem, hmm.
One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a 1L
bottle with beer, and force-carbonating it in that bottle. I built a
simple cap & valve setup based on a YouTube video I found, and it
works OK. Still, it's a bit offputting to have beer in a plastic bottle.
I think next batch, I'll put beer in a couple champagne
bottles, and add the small amount of invert sugar needed.
Either way, it's a bit of extra hassle, when using the keg
is mainly about reducing hassle.
I guess I should just be happy to have four kegs,
and stop whining, but each one is different, so I
still run out of something for a while.
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts -
both dry and sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20
just for the yeast. For my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast.
There was also an air leak in the lid, and possibly some wild
yeasts snuck in there as well... but all I know is, that remains
the best mead I've made yet :) As mentioned before, my next
batches will use champagne yeast, will be interesting to see
the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys and yeast, but
eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well.
No need to spend so much on yeast, though I'd opt for
the champagne long before the bakers'.
As would I, normally. All I know is the very first 5L batch of mead is
still the best one I made, I used bakers yeast (followed the recipe to
the letter). Mind you, there was a leak around the airlock and wild
yeast may have gotten in. After only 2-3 months, the honey had
clarified completely, something I haven't achieved with any other
yeast. And it really does taste the best of all the batches I've done
so far <shrug>. But yeah, next batch of mead will be either champagne
or other wine yeast.
That's part of the fun of brewing; it isn't entirely predictable or reproducible for those of us that don't write down every detail.
My best batch of mead was a mistake, and I've never been
able to come close to it.
Mine do clarify pretty well, once the carbonation has slowed.
In case you're not already doing it, it may help to rack it
every time it builds up a significant layer of sediment.
Distilling alcohol is illegal here, but the authorities clearly> turn a >>>> blind eye - unless you're mass-producing of course. Go into any
home brew shop here in Oz and you'll see stills, essences etc.
openly for sale. We are actually allowed to own and use a till for
oil extracts or water distillation... but NOT for alcohol production.
Max. allowable size is only 5L as well, although there is no trouble
purchasing much bigger stills.
I'm not sure how seriously they take it here, but I haven't seen any
distilling equipment at the brew shops, so that's probably a fair
indicator. Years ago I bought a book on building stills, but now I
can't even find it. I'm paranoid enough that I bought it with cash,
even though I had no intent to actually build a still. I like the
design with a vertical tube of marbles to improve efficiency.
Authorities here can sometimes be breathtakingly absurd in their
enforcement of laws related to recreational drugs. Colorado now
allows "medical" marijuana, with shops having "compassionate"
doctors ready to write nearly anyone a prescription, so I could
more easily (legally) grow and use pot than run a pot still.
Indeed. If you're interested in distilling and/or making your own
still, there is a Yahoo group that's got a pretty good group of
people on there who know their stuff. Called 'new distillers'
Thanks, I'll look into that.
Or maybe have a look at:http://www.taet.com.au/distillers.nsf/and
http://homedistiller.org
Or that.
Or both. I have a lot of free time these days.
Jeßus wroteThe dishwasher should do a pretty good job of washing (no soap or
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer
added in the vain hope that it may resuscitate them>
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely toMead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150 in
Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast that I use.
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
Yeah, me too, and thats the reason I started brewing, a mate of mine's
home brew was at least as good as the commercial stuff and when he
told me that you didnt have to wash the stubbys that they were fine in
the dishwasher, and I tried them in mine and found he was right, I started saving the commercial stubbys myself.
What's different there?My favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries
at least - has always been Coopers, so sediment has never
been something that's bothered me.
Yeah, I dont even bother to not pour out the very last from the stubby anymore. I always drink from a proper glass now that I have stopped
drinking the commercial beers.
The only exception is the last stubby in a bottling run, I dont drink that sediment.
I almost want to dissuade you from doing that. Commercial mead is notAs for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very expensive
to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
Yeah, I've never noticed it for sale. Havent looked for it tho.
Might try some just like I did with cider etc.What's an "air" still?
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine thatI've been distilling for a couple of years now, at first with one of those 'air' stills,
I infected with the beer brewing bug has just got one
and its worked out pretty well.
Mostly scotch, I do spend a bit on commercial scotch currently.
Unlikely that the 80 year old scotch will be viable to make myself tho.
Yeah, thats what the mate of mine has just got.
I drink quite a bit of whisky, and a decent amount of whiskey. Almostbut now mainly I use a pot still. I'm not really a spirit drinker,
I do it in bursts.
No water here. I tried that with a couple of whisky brands, andbut I do like apple cider brandy and other brandies.
I intend to lightly distill mead at some point, hoping to
make a mead liqueur. There is a Tasmanian company
that makes one, and it's bloody delicious, neat with ice.
I drink my scotch neat with no ice and a drop of water, quite literally just a single drop.
I love the best single malts, hate the prices tho.Here ether. I just trust that the work to get the best effect is more
Dont expect I will ever make anything like that tho, hell of a lot of work and years quite literally too.
I really just want to replace the commercial blended scotches that arent cheap due to the duty system here.
I drink almost no vodka, except the occasional zubrufka (sp) fromThe vodka comes in handy for making vanilla essence as well.
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer
added in the vain hope that it may resuscitate them>
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150
in Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast
that I use.
Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely to
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
Yeah, me too, and thats the reason I started brewing, a mate of mine's
home brew was at least as good as the commercial stuff and when he
told me that you didnt have to wash the stubbys that they were fine in
the dishwasher, and I tried them in mine and found he was right, I
started saving the commercial stubbys myself.
The dishwasher should do a pretty good job of washing
(no soap or detergent)
and sterilizing.
My favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries
at least - has always been Coopers, so sediment has never
been something that's bothered me.
Yeah, I dont even bother to not pour out the very last from the stubby
anymore. I always drink from a proper glass now that I have stopped
drinking the commercial beers.
The only exception is the last stubby in a bottling run, I dont
drink that sediment.
What's different there?
As for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very expensive
to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
Yeah, I've never noticed it for sale. Havent looked for it tho.
I almost want to dissuade you from doing that. Commercial mead is
not only expensive, IME it's also generally sweet and still. What you
brew yourself will be as good, or better. Just don't expect the same
speed as beer, as yeast doesn't like to eat honey. Then again, maybe
a commercial mead will turn you on to what you can do on your own.
Might try some just like I did with cider etc.
I'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that
I infected with the beer brewing bug has just got one
and its worked out pretty well.
Mostly scotch, I do spend a bit on commercial scotch currently.
Unlikely that the 80 year old scotch will be viable to make myself tho.
I've been distilling for a couple of years now, at first with one of those 'air' stills,
Yeah, thats what the mate of mine has just got.
What's an "air" still?
but now mainly I use a pot still. I'm not really a spirit drinker,
I do it in bursts.
I drink quite a bit of whisky, and a decent amount of whiskey.
Almost enough to make me do more cloud pics, but
not nearly enough to see genies or whatever in them.
but I do like apple cider brandy and other brandies.
I intend to lightly distill mead at some point, hoping to
make a mead liqueur. There is a Tasmanian company
that makes one, and it's bloody delicious, neat with ice.
I drink my scotch neat with no ice and a drop of water,
quite literally just a single drop.
No water here. I tried that with a couple of whisky brands, and
didn't think it added anything, so I just drink it neat. A guy at a
liquor shop the other night told me he did the same, but kept notes,
and found some whiskies were better with that drop, others not.
Maybe I quit too soon.
I love the best single malts, hate the prices tho.
Dont expect I will ever make anything like that tho,
hell of a lot of work and years quite literally too.
I really just want to replace the commercial blended
scotches that arent cheap due to the duty system here.
Here ether. I just trust that the work to get the best effect is
more than the cost of just buying it, and test various brands.
The vodka comes in handy for making vanilla essence as well.
I drink almost no vodka, except the occasional zubrufka (sp) from Poland.
I used to drink a bit of rum in college, but have very little now.
Same goes for gin, though I tapered off more slowly.
Now it's beer, wine, mead, and whisk{e}y.
I have barely had any liqueur (exc. in margaritas) since college.
If any of this seems incoherent, it's because I had a little party here
for home brewers, and it's quite possible I overindulged just a little bit.
I know I wouldn't want to have tried driving home from this, but since I hosted it, no problemo.
BruceS wrote<snip>
Ah, I get it. Mine settles enough before I give up on theWhat's different there?
That last stubby has a hell olf a lot of sediment in it. Very visible when just filled, you cant even see thru the bottle there's so much sediment.
I do plan to try some. Managed to forget to check whatI'll be interested to hear the results. It generally takes a long
honey is available at the farmers markets yesterday tho.
Whats the story on the brewing temps ? I've just stopped
the beer brewing because its getting too hot here now.
Ah, thanks. I really don't know much about stills, but that soundsWhat's an "air" still?
Doesnt use water to cool the condenser.
I wasn't counting how much I drank, but I was definitely feeling it.If any of this seems incoherent, it's because I had a little party here
for home brewers, and it's quite possible I overindulged just a little bit.
You're doing fine. Not even any spelling mistakes, thats usually the giveaway with me.
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
BruceS wrote
What's different there?
That last stubby has a hell olf a lot of sediment in it. Very visible when >> just filled, you cant even see thru the bottle there's so much sediment.
Ah, I get it. Mine settles enough before I give up on the
fermentation, it isn't a problem. I let it sit in the fermentation
vat a bit, so all the sediment settles.
Then I rack it into a clean fermentation vat,
losing the last bit to avoid siphoning in sediment.
When I bottle, I then add invert sugar to that vat, mix well, and bottle.
The only sediment is what's formed in the bottle.
Now that I'm kegging, I just siphon/pour from the vat to the keg.
A couple of times, I even skipped the intermediate vat, just watching
as I siphon from the first one and stopping before sediment gets in.
I also support the fermentation vat at an angle (my only use for the
phone books they keep putting at my door), so I can get the
maximum liquid before giving up.
<snip>
I do plan to try some. Managed to forget to check what
honey is available at the farmers markets yesterday tho.
Whats the story on the brewing temps ? I've just stopped
the beer brewing because its getting too hot here now.
I'll be interested to hear the results. It generally takes a long
time (months at least) before it's really ready to drink. I can't
say what temps exactly, but I usually do mead in the winter,
when indoor temps are right about 66F (19C).
<snip>
What's an "air" still?
Doesnt use water to cool the condenser.
Ah, thanks. I really don't know much about stills, but that sounds much less efficient.
If any of this seems incoherent, it's because I had a little party here for >>> home brewers, and it's quite possible I overindulged just a little bit.
You're doing fine. Not even any spelling mistakes, thats usually the giveaway with me.
I wasn't counting how much I drank, but I was definitely feeling it.
It was a relief to get messages from my friends when they got home.
I know they were drinking less, but probably still more than they should
have been driving after. One was on a bike, where you need to really
be more careful.
On Jan 29, 9:13 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
BruceS wrote
have been driving after. One was on a bike, where you need to really
be more careful.
One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a 1L
bottle with beer, and force-carbonating it in that bottle. I built a
simple cap & valve setup based on a YouTube video I found, and it
works OK. Still, it's a bit offputting to have beer in a plastic
bottle. I think next batch, I'll put beer in a couple champagne
bottles, and add the small amount of invert sugar needed. Either way,
it's a bit of extra hassle, when using the keg is mainly about
reducing hassle. I guess I should just be happy to have four kegs,
and stop whining, but each one is different, so I still run out of
something for a while.
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast. For
my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an air leak in
the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there as well... but
all I know is, that remains the best mead I've made yet :) As
mentioned before, my next batches will use champagne yeast, will be
interesting to see the results. I'm still experimenting with honeys
and yeast, but eventually I'll settle on one or two combinations. I'm
hoping the cheaper yeasts work best, for obvious reasons.
I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well. No need
to spend so much on yeast, though I'd opt for the champagne long
before the bakers'.
As would I, normally. All I know is the very first 5L batch of mead is
still the best one I made, I used bakers yeast (followed the recipe to
the letter). Mind you, there was a leak around the airlock and wild
yeast may have gotten in. After only 2-3 months, the honey had
clarified completely, something I haven't achieved with any other
yeast. And it really does taste the best of all the batches I've done
so far <shrug>. But yeah, next batch of mead will be either champagne
or other wine yeast.
That's part of the fun of brewing; it isn't entirely predictable or >reproducible for those of us that don't write down every detail. My
best batch of mead was a mistake, and I've never been able to come
close to it. Mine do clarify pretty well, once the carbonation has
slowed. In case you're not already doing it, it may help to rack it
every time it builds up a significant layer of sediment.
On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:05:32 +1100, Jeßus <none@all.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:07:45 +1100, "Rod Speed"<snip>
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer added in the vain hope
that it may resuscitate them>
Jeßus wrote
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150 in
Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast that I use. >>>
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely to
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
My favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries at least -
has always been Coopers, so sediment has never been something that's >>bothered me. As for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very >>expensive to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
A few years ago, I and an american friend did a tour of all the
meaderies in Australia.
The best in our opinion [and he is also involved in judging meads in
the US] was one in SA called Chateau Dorrien.
When I returned to WA I ordered a couple of cartons from them and from
memory it only cost about $20 freight.
I started making mead in 2005 but mostly sweetish stuff and I didn't
bother with bottles storing it in flagons and demijohns.
BruceS <bruces42@hotmail.com> wrote
Lost track of this thread, sorry...
<snip>
One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a 1L
bottle with beer, and force-carbonating it in that bottle. I built a
simple cap & valve setup based on a YouTube video I found, and
it works OK. Still, it's a bit offputting to have beer in a plastic
bottle. I think next batch, I'll put beer in a couple champagne
bottles, and add the small amount of invert sugar needed. Either
way, it's a bit of extra hassle, when using the keg is mainly about
reducing hassle. I guess I should just be happy to have four kegs,
and stop whining, but each one is different, so I still run out of
something for a while.
Pros and cons to all approaches, 4 kegs is a reasonable range
of brews to have available at any given time I would think :)
Most of my meads have used those wyeast mead yeasts - both dry and
sweet. For a 30L batch, that costs me AUD$20 just for the yeast.
For my first ever mead, I used bakers yeast. There was also an
air leak in the lid, and possibly some wild yeasts snuck in there
as well... but all I know is, that remains the best mead I've
made yet :) As mentioned before, my next batches will use
champagne yeast, will be interesting to see the results. I'm
still experimenting with honeys and yeast, but eventually I'll
settle on one or two combinations. I'm hoping the cheaper yeasts
work best, for obvious reasons.
I think they'll work fine, and I hope you find that as well. No
need to spend so much on yeast, though I'd opt for the champagne
long before the bakers'.
Yep, it wasn't my long range plan to keep using these expensive
yeasts. I was just somewhat playing it 'safe' by using a so-called
proper yeast for a while, now it's time to start trying other types.
As would I, normally. All I know is the very first 5L batch of mead
is still the best one I made, I used bakers yeast (followed the
recipe to the letter). Mind you, there was a leak around the
airlock and wild yeast may have gotten in. After only 2-3 months,
the honey had clarified completely, something I haven't achieved
with any other yeast. And it really does taste the best of all the
batches I've done so far <shrug>. But yeah, next batch of mead will
be either champagne or other wine yeast.
That's part of the fun of brewing; it isn't entirely predictable or
reproducible for those of us that don't write down every detail. My
best batch of mead was a mistake, and I've never been able to come
close to it. Mine do clarify pretty well, once the carbonation has
slowed. In case you're not already doing it, it may help to rack it
every time it builds up a significant layer of sediment.
I do rack, but only once before it gets used or bottled (generally
around 3 months). Only now I'm starting to build a bit of a stockpile
of mead, meaning that future batches should get to age for a year or
two before use. That should help a lot when it comes to sediment,
being able to rack it more than once and after it has clarified properly.
On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:47:16 -0000, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:I haven't seen him do any trolling on this thread, so it doesn't
On Jan 29, 9:13 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
BruceS wrote
2 problems:
1. You're arguing with Rod Speed the wannabee troll.
2. You're kegging beer. But maybe that's acceptable in some foreign places.It's only acceptable in places where people brew.
Real Beer is non-pasteurised, non-filtered, non-chilled and allowed to secondary ferment in the cask.Now *that* is some trolling, right there. How about "real"
Motorcycle. I ride both, but neither when I've been drinking. Thenhave been driving after. One was on a bike, where you need to really
be more careful.
is that a bike or motorcycle?
On Feb 3, 12:35 pm, "Harry Vaderchi" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:47:16 -0000, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 29, 9:13 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
BruceS wrote
2 problems:
1. You're arguing with Rod Speed the wannabee troll.
I haven't seen him do any trolling on this thread, so it doesn't
apply.
On Feb 3, 12:35 pm, "Harry Vaderchi" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:47:16 -0000, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 29, 9:13 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
BruceS wrote
2 problems:
1. You're arguing with Rod Speed the wannabee troll.
I haven't seen him do any trolling on this thread, so it doesn't
apply.
2. You're kegging beer. But maybe that's acceptable in some foreign
places.
It's only acceptable in places where people brew.
Real Beer is non-pasteurised, non-filtered, non-chilled and allowed to
secondary ferment in the cask.
Now *that* is some trolling, right there. How about "real"
computers? Or "real" cars? FTR, I don't pasteurize, filter, or chill
my beer, but I'm not out to start a flame war with those who do. As
for doing the secondary in a cask, that's just crazy talk. If you're
going to do the old-fashioned yeast-based carbonation, you should do
it in the bottle. If you're really serious, you then do the methode champenoise to remove the sediment. But only a complete fruitbat
would do that with beer.
have been driving after. One was on a bike, where you need to really
be more careful.
is that a bike or motorcycle?
Motorcycle. I ride both, but neither when I've been drinking. Then
again, I also don't drive when I've been drinking much. The cutoff
point for riding is a lot lower than that for driving, as you need
more awareness, better response, and a lot more balance on two wheels.
On Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:04:08 -0000, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote::s/the/a
On Feb 3, 12:35 pm, "Harry Vaderchi" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:47:16 -0000, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> > On Jan 29, 9:13 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
BruceS wrote
2 problems:
1. You're arguing with Rod Speed the wannabee troll.
I haven't seen him do any trolling on this thread, so it doesn't
apply.
2. You're kegging beer. But maybe that's acceptable in some foreign
places.
that was the trolling bit!
Damnation! Seeing that you'd provided a link, I didn't even read theIt's only acceptable in places where people brew.
Real Beer is non-pasteurised, non-filtered, non-chilled and allowed toNow *that* is some trolling, right there. How about "real"
secondary ferment in the cask.
computers? Or "real" cars? FTR, I don't pasteurize, filter, or chill
my beer, but I'm not out to start a flame war with those who do. As
for doing the secondary in a cask, that's just crazy talk. If you're
going to do the old-fashioned yeast-based carbonation, you should do
it in the bottle. If you're really serious, you then do the methode champenoise to remove the sediment. But only a complete fruitbat
would do that with beer.
http://camra.org.uk/aboutale
You're right. I'd been drinking. Real Ale. with secondary fermentation inNo need to "admit" such a thing---it just implies you have friends!
the cask, but not brewed by me, I'll admit.
I'm sorry about the wind-up attempt.Ooh, I took it as a humor attempt. My bad.
I only write this when it's literally true, as it's all too overused,have been driving after. One was on a bike, where you need to really
be more careful.
is that a bike or motorcycle?
Motorcycle. I ride both, but neither when I've been drinking. Then
again, I also don't drive when I've been drinking much. The cutoff
point for riding is a lot lower than that for driving, as you need
more awareness, better response, and a lot more balance on two wheels.
I cycle to pubs and back. Only fell in the canal once, and then I was
pushed by a low bridge.
On Jan 27, 4:33 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:<snip>
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. AfterPlease do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
On Jan 29, 11:51 am, BruceS<bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:using a simple wort then freezing the thing until large lumps of ice
On Jan 27, 4:33 pm, Jeßus<n...@all.invalid> wrote:<snip>
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. After
it got down to about 22F (-5.5C), the whole thing (about 3L) turns to
a fairly homogenous mush. There's some ice crystals, but no chunks.
On removal, the ice crystals have a decidedly yellow color, just like
the mead did originally. After being melted and consumed, they have
the same flavor and seem to have about the same effect as one would
expect of the original mead. What has this person done wrong?
Shouldn't the water portion (with a very small ethanol concentration) separate out and freeze, leaving the remaining portion with a much
higher ethanol percentage?
EMWTK
BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote
Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. After
it got down to about 22F (-5.5C), the whole thing (about 3L) turns to
a fairly homogenous mush. There's some ice crystals, but no chunks.
On removal, the ice crystals have a decidedly yellow color, just like
the mead did originally. After being melted and consumed, they have
the same flavor and seem to have about the same effect as one would
expect of the original mead. What has this person done wrong?
Shouldn't the water portion (with a very small ethanol concentration) separate out and freeze, leaving the remaining portion with a much
higher ethanol percentage?
EMWTK
On Jan 29, 11:51 am, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 27, 4:33 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:<snip>
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. After
it got down to about 22F (-5.5C), the whole thing (about 3L) turns to
a fairly homogenous mush. There's some ice crystals, but no chunks.
On removal, the ice crystals have a decidedly yellow color, just like
the mead did originally. After being melted and consumed, they have
the same flavor and seem to have about the same effect as one would
expect of the original mead. What has this person done wrong?
Shouldn't the water portion (with a very small ethanol concentration) >separate out and freeze, leaving the remaining portion with a much
higher ethanol percentage?
EMWTK
Jeßus wrote
BruceS <bruces42@hotmail.com> wrote
Lost track of this thread, sorry...
<snip>
One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a 1L
bottle with beer, and force-carbonating it in that bottle. I built a
simple cap & valve setup based on a YouTube video I found, and
it works OK. Still, it's a bit offputting to have beer in a plastic
bottle. I think next batch, I'll put beer in a couple champagne
bottles, and add the small amount of invert sugar needed. Either
way, it's a bit of extra hassle, when using the keg is mainly about
reducing hassle. I guess I should just be happy to have four kegs,
and stop whining, but each one is different, so I still run out of
something for a while.
Pros and cons to all approaches, 4 kegs is a reasonable range
of brews to have available at any given time I would think :)
I tend to drink a brew at a time except when visitors show up.
Mate of mine prefers much more variety than my approach, even on a particular day.
I do rack, but only once before it gets used or bottled (generally
around 3 months). Only now I'm starting to build a bit of a stockpile
of mead, meaning that future batches should get to age for a year or
two before use. That should help a lot when it comes to sediment,
being able to rack it more than once and after it has clarified properly.
What is your opinion on whats a desirable max temp in summer ?
On Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:33:18 -0800 (PST), BruceS <bruces42@hotmail.com>
wrote:
On Jan 29, 11:51 am, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 27, 4:33 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:<snip>
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. After
it got down to about 22F (-5.5C), the whole thing (about 3L) turns to
a fairly homogenous mush. There's some ice crystals, but no chunks.
On removal, the ice crystals have a decidedly yellow color, just like
the mead did originally. After being melted and consumed, they have
the same flavor and seem to have about the same effect as one would
expect of the original mead. What has this person done wrong?
Shouldn't the water portion (with a very small ethanol concentration) >>separate out and freeze, leaving the remaining portion with a much
higher ethanol percentage?
EMWTK
Based on my experience, I would say they've left it in the freezer for
too long. I found that approx. six hours nicely froze a good amount of
water, the ice did not appear to have much colour (if any) and was
easy to separate from the good stuff. When I left it in the freezer >overnight, I got the homogenous mush you speak of. My freezer temp is >somewhere around -20ºC, according to the thermometer.
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
Jeßus wrote
BruceS <bruces42@hotmail.com> wrote
Lost track of this thread, sorry...
One of my recent batches, I tried getting around it by filling a
1L bottle with beer, and force-carbonating it in that bottle. I
built a simple cap & valve setup based on a YouTube video I found,
and it works OK. Still, it's a bit offputting to have beer in a
plastic bottle. I think next batch, I'll put beer in a couple
champagne bottles, and add the small amount of invert sugar
needed. Either way, it's a bit of extra hassle, when using the
keg is mainly about reducing hassle. I guess I should just be
happy to have four kegs, and stop whining, but each one is
different, so I still run out of something for a while.
Pros and cons to all approaches, 4 kegs is a reasonable range
of brews to have available at any given time I would think :)
I tend to drink a brew at a time except when visitors show up.
Mate of mine prefers much more variety than my approach, even on a particular day.
I get 2.5 cartons per batch (stubbies),
I generally wait 2-3 months,
then drink 1 to 1.5 cartons of those cartons, then
leave the other carton to age for up to 18 months.
I try to maintain the 'stockpile' around 30 cartons of beer and cider at any given time.
I like to have two different beers, one
type of cider and mead in the fridge.
I do rack, but only once before it gets used or bottled (generally
around 3 months). Only now I'm starting to build a bit of a stockpile
of mead, meaning that future batches should get to age for a year or
two before use. That should help a lot when it comes to sediment,
being able to rack it more than once and after it has clarified properly.
What is your opinion on whats a desirable max temp in summer ?
I don't have much of an opinion on that at this stage,
not something I've investigated... yet. However, I
would say 28ºC is as high as many yeasts can handle.
Most of my brews sit around 24-26ºC,
summer or winter (in winter I use aquarium heaters).
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:53:50 +1100, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:This was a round plastic container, not tall, just big around. At no
On Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:33:18 -0800 (PST), BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> >wrote:
On Jan 29, 11:51 am, BruceS <bruce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 27, 4:33 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:<snip>
Please do this, I'd love to hear back about your experiences.
I'll try to remember to post here when I do.
Hypothetically, imagine a person put some mead in the freezer. After
it got down to about 22F (-5.5C), the whole thing (about 3L) turns to
a fairly homogenous mush. There's some ice crystals, but no chunks.
On removal, the ice crystals have a decidedly yellow color, just like
the mead did originally. After being melted and consumed, they have
the same flavor and seem to have about the same effect as one would >>expect of the original mead. What has this person done wrong?
Shouldn't the water portion (with a very small ethanol concentration) >>separate out and freeze, leaving the remaining portion with a much
higher ethanol percentage?
EMWTK
Based on my experience, I would say they've left it in the freezer for
too long. I found that approx. six hours nicely froze a good amount of >water, the ice did not appear to have much colour (if any) and was
easy to separate from the good stuff. When I left it in the freezer >overnight, I got the homogenous mush you speak of. My freezer temp is >somewhere around -20ºC, according to the thermometer.
I should also mention that I used a large rectangular plastic storage container (food grade plastic of course), which meant that there was a
very large surface area for the liquid, which was probably only 2-3"
deep. This probably helped make the process a lot easier.
I do have a heater belt but only for one fermenter.
Or the massive great black on I got for free at a garage sale.
The problem with that one is that you can see the water level
accurately when you fill it so have to use a dip stick etc.
This was a round plastic container, not tall, just big around. At no
time did it seem to make hard ice chunks, just slowly went from cold
liquid to colder slush. I'm starting to wonder if my friendly local >distillery would be willing to distill a small batch of mead.
No experiment is a failure. Some confirm the experimenter's
expectations, which is ok. Others challenge those, leading to new >assumptions, new expectations, and new knowledge, which is better.
On Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:28:26 +1100, "Rod Speed"Here's a thought: drill two holes in the can, one near the top and one
<rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
I do have a heater belt but only for one fermenter.
I broke one of my aquarium heaters yeasterday, I think I might go to
heating mats... the aquarium heaters are fragile and make cleaning
quite a bit harder.
Or the massive great black on I got for free at a garage sale.
The problem with that one is that you can see the water level
accurately when you fill it so have to use a dip stick etc.
Heh, I also got the same type of drum from garage sales a couple of
months ago, must be a good 40L. I'd never even thought about the fact
that it's not transparent, I still havent used it (obviously). Come
apple season time, I will though.
Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote
Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
I do have a heater belt but only for one fermenter.
I broke one of my aquarium heaters yeasterday,
I think I might go to heating mats... the aquarium
heaters are fragile and make cleaning quite a bit harder.
Or the massive great black on I got for free at a garage sale.
The problem with that one is that you can see the water level
accurately when you fill it so have to use a dip stick etc.
Heh, I also got the same type of drum from garage sales a
couple of months ago, must be a good 40L. I'd never even
thought about the fact that it's not transparent, I still havent
used it (obviously). Come apple season time, I will though.
Here's a thought: drill two holes in the can, one near the top
and one near the bottom. Cut a length of clear plastic pipe
about as long as the distance between the holes. Attach
right-angle fittings (aka "elbows") to each end of the tube,
and seal onto the can. If you can picture this, it would be
a sort of "window" into the can, letting you see the level.
It would be a bit of a hassle, but not too bad and not too expensive.
It may also make cleaning a bit harder. I don't know
if it's worth it, but I may try this with a korny keg. For
that, I'd also have to be sure the whole thing could
handle pressure, up to maybe 50psi to be safe.
On Feb 12, 6:32 pm, Jeßus <n...@all.invalid> wrote:
On Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:28:26 +1100, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
I do have a heater belt but only for one fermenter.
I broke one of my aquarium heaters yeasterday, I think I might go to
heating mats... the aquarium heaters are fragile and make cleaning
quite a bit harder.
Or the massive great black on I got for free at a garage sale.
The problem with that one is that you can see the water level
accurately when you fill it so have to use a dip stick etc.
Heh, I also got the same type of drum from garage sales a couple of
months ago, must be a good 40L. I'd never even thought about the fact
that it's not transparent, I still havent used it (obviously). Come
apple season time, I will though.
Here's a thought: drill two holes in the can, one near the top and one
near the bottom. Cut a length of clear plastic pipe about as long as
the distance between the holes. Attach right-angle fittings (aka
"elbows") to each end of the tube, and seal onto the can. If you can
picture this, it would be a sort of "window" into the can, letting you
see the level. It would be a bit of a hassle, but not too bad and not
too expensive. It may also make cleaning a bit harder.
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