Any home brewers ???

[ajcz]

yea i do except i do other things with the simple sugar wine i make

 

[ajcz]

more sugar does not make more alcohol the yeast converts whatever it can into alcohol then dies

 

[Any Cal.]

I just did a batch w/ 1/2 apple, 1/2 pear, and a cinnamon stick tossed in. Did not turn out that good. The last batch was all organic apple cider w/ champagne yeast, and it turned out excellent. After a week I racked some into a 2 litre bottle w/ some sugar for secondary fermentation. It came out bubbly, but it tasted more like champagne than cider. I like the honey idea, will have to do that on the next go around.

 

[HomeBru]

I think using clear or green bottles is a major mistake. If your beer is exposed to light the isohumulones will undergo photolysis and produce thiols, most significantly 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol. Thiols are the same substances produced by skunks in their scent glands, hence the American terms "skunked beer", "skunky beer", and "skunk piss". Europeans usualy just call it "lightstruck". The best article I have read about the chemical reactions that cause this is here.

Yep, I've experienced that once. NAAAAASSSTTTYYY!!

Now, I keep all of the clear bottles in cases in a dark corner of the basement. No light, no photolysis, no icky beer! I do have some grolsch style bottles in brown that I use for my Octoberfests, but I still prefer clear.

J-

 

[Joel Stave]

more sugar does not make more alcohol the yeast converts whatever it can into alcohol then dies

It depends on how much alcohol is created. If the alcohol level is low then the yeast just go into a suspended state and more sugar can start up the fermentation process again. Since the yeast multiply, it only takes a few of the yeast cells to survive in order for a new fermentation to start. This can be a problem if you add sugar and then bottle. Either the corks blow out or the bottle blows up.

How much alcohol it takes to actually kill the yeast differs for the different strains (species?) of yeast. "wild" yeasts (the stuff found naturally on the fruit) will often kick out at 5-7% alcohol. The commercial yeasts have been bred to be more tolerant. I once made a raisin wine that was about 18% alcohol by volume (accidentally -- I was actually going for a sweet wine but the yeast outdid itself).

Too much sugar will also kill the yeast (by dehydrating them). There is a technique called "sugar feeding" or "syrup feeding" where you add a sugar solution to an ongoing ferment until the yeast finally give up. I remember someone on rec.crafts.winemaking a long time ago that claimed to have gotten up to 21% alcohol with one batch.

 

[mycroftt]

Yep, I've experienced that once. NAAAAASSSTTTYYY!!

Now, I keep all of the clear bottles in cases in a dark corner of the basement. No light, no photolysis, no icky beer! I do have some grolsch style bottles in brown that I use for my Octoberfests, but I still prefer clear.

J-

Yeah, as long as you're careful you will be OK. When I do a secondary fermentation in a carboy I always keep it covered with the inverted box that the carboy came in. Remember when the clear glass beers, like Millers, used to come enclosed in a cardboard six pack? That was to protect the beer from the light. Today, the clear and green glass using major breweries use specially bred hops that contain low amounts of the substances that turn into thiols so you can have some exposure to light and no skunky taste! I use almost exclusively brown bottles but I try to use a couple of clear for observation purposes for checking the clarity and settling of the yeast - I have even deliberately exposed some to sunlight as an experiment with photolysis. Predictably, it was a waste of good beer.

 

[ajcz]

it was the cinimon stick that made it nasty

 

[GibsonFan]

I used to work in a chemical plant, I bottled/mixed/diluted bleach for various purposes as part of my job. I only mention it to say, you guys are right on the money with the concentrations you're using, anymore would be too much.

I'm glad to hear synthetic chemicals aren't neccesary, if I wanted that I would drink mad dog or malt liquor. I like the cider idea partly because I'm too damn lazy to make beer, and I don't like wine.

Besides, Chris was right in the beginning, in any economic hard times, fresh clean booze WILL be a saleable or tradeable commodity! (NASCAR, the Kennedy's, etc...)

How storeable is the yeast? Can you keep a culture growing to have a supply?

 

[fod]

Oh yeah, great hobby.

My brewery has run amuck...hot side is half barrels mounted on an old gurney frame, cold side custom boxes in an old fridge, and serving unit ia a chest freezer with three taps and an override thermostat. Batch capacity is about 12 gallons. Been doing quasi lambics and Belgian sours adn whites lately. Luckily I have a 20 x 24 pole barn, that is mine, all mine, to play in...

My Cyser from two falls past is like nothing I've ever had, truly unique and awesome, and steadily improving.

 

[fod]

How storeable is the yeast? Can you keep a culture growing to have a supply?

I have had very good luck "poaching" yeast from commercial bottle conditioned beers. So I use my bottle conditioned homebrew (usually first generation) as a culture source. It has been reliable at least a yearfrom cellared bottles. Others have good luck with slantsand agar, etc. but I have not gone that far, as of yet.