Winemaking project: Pictures page 6!

[cuallaidh]

only found the site actually because I am constantly on the prowl for mead recipes for my site and for personal use ... glad I did though because I love the DIY culture and having fun doing all sorts of homemade stuff.

I found one of my five gallon carboys on kijiji for quite cheap, craigslist might also be a great starting place, but baring that why not try out a smaller batch with an empty wine or juice bottle. Just make sure its sanitized and get yourself an airlock, or if you want to do it on the cheap you can use a balloon with a small pinhole in it, i have an uncle who made wine that way for years before moving on to proper winemaking equipment.

 

[abifae]

I found one of my five gallon carboys on kijiji for quite cheap, craigslist might also be a great starting place, but baring that why not try out a smaller batch with an empty wine or juice bottle. Just make sure its sanitized and get yourself an airlock, or if you want to do it on the cheap you can use a balloon with a small pinhole in it, i have an uncle who made wine that way for years before moving on to proper winemaking equipment.

heh. Probably easier to find wine bottles than carboys, indeed. My dad brews beer so I bet I can snag his equipment if it isn't in use. bwahahaha. I am sure they have extra wine bottles for me.

 

[cuallaidh]

ya beer making equipment is pretty much identical to winemaking. In fact why not convince your father to make a braggot, a beer based mead. While most mead is closer to wine then beer really it can be fermented with barley and hops to make a honey beer which is more accurately called a braggot, it need not be overly beer like, there is a meadery in Mississauga Ontario, Canada that makes all sorts of braggots, and they don't taste a thing like beer, so very scrumptious

 

[abifae]

>.>

I shall visit him soon! lol. I'll have your website along and see what I can interest him in

 

[cuallaidh]

>.>

I shall visit him soon! lol. I'll have your website along and see what I can interest him in

The recipes section of my website can only be accessed once you sign up, but membership is free and your information is kept private.

Looking forward to hearing if you convince him to make some yummy mead always glad to convert someone else to the mazing arts

 

[abifae]

Long since converted lol. I've helped several people make meads, beers, and cordials. I've just never invested in the set up myself because I cannot drink LOL.

My sugar tolerance is... minimal.

 

[freemotion]

OK, this is way off topic, but it is my thread after all! Do you know how to malt barley yourself, from whole barley seeds? My dad is wanting to get back into beer making so I got him a kit to get his feet wet again, but, like me, he really loves the experimenting and diy aspect. So I will grow barley and hops for him (the folks are in an apartment now) if I can find out what to grow. Online searches didn't yield much useful info, gazillions of hit to wade through so I gave up.

And can any hops be used? I know where I might get a hops vine cutting, but it was there when the person bought the house and no one has a clue as to the type. Does it really matter? Will any hops make reasonable beer?

 

[abifae]

I know how. I've never done it.

Soak and sprout your grains. Once you see the green starting, you slow dry them in the oven (200 degrees I think?) until completely dry. Then you grind them a bit and use them.

Cuallaidh might have more precise answer but I researched it in looking for a way I could drink malted milk again I figured it was the malt I wanted so I grabbed my friends' brewing books and very few told how to malt yourself

But I found one and it pretty much said soak, sprout, bake, grind.



Absolutely any grains can be used. According to that book using different grains is the whole fun of malting it yourself.

 

[cuallaidh]

Can't say as I can add anything, that's basically the process described in the one historical beer recipe I have that goes completely from scratch.

 

[freemotion]

Sprout to green? Are you sure? That is a lot of time sprouting!