I've decided to run a Thanksgiving experiment. Aldi sells 100% cranberry juice and I've decided to see how it ferments (it's actually a blend of four juices but cranberry is the only decernable flavor). As it is an experiment, I'm being conservative and only making a six-pack. If it works, I'll make more.
The kick off was simple enough. I'm using the basic cider process and reserving 1.5 cups of juice to add as back sweetening once the process is done. The remaining 6.5 cups of juice were added to the fermentor at room temperature along with 1/2 packet of Red Star Champaigne yeast mixed with 1/4 cup of water at around 100 F. I also added about 1/2 tbsp of yeast nutrient since apple and pear juices are known to be lacking some of the nutrients yeast like to live on.
I let this go for a week and when I pulled it out on Sunday, it had a distinct alcohol tang, but it still had a lot of sweetness in the aroma. I filtered the mixture and then added 2 tsps of dried orange peel, 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper, and another 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient. That should get the yeast going again but I'm still expecting this to be low on the alcohol content. Not as bad as my last cider attempt, but still lower than the first cider or ginger beer.
After bottling and pasteurizing, I'd say there is definitely a mixed success here. On the downside, it did not hold any of the orange flavor and all nearly all sweetness has been lost. One the plus side, there is a tartness and a dryness that is a little jarring at first, but then becomes comfortable. In fact, it drinks a bit more like a wine and that's not a bad thing. I think it needs a bit more depth of flavor, but that can be developed in later attempts. Also on the good side, it is at least 5% alcohol so one bottle is enough to keep things mellow.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Ginger Beer - Second Attempt
A fellow brewer came up from Mexico on a business trip and I decided to make a small batch for him to sample. Since I was going to have a short turnaround, I decided to make a half-gallon batch, which worked out to a six-pack's worth.
Tea:
~1/3 lb ginger sliced
1/4 gallon (4 cups) water
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar (added at end of boil)
Process
As before I boiled the tea for 15 minutes and then cooled it for not quite 2 hours. With the volume being much lower, it cooled quickly. I then poured the tea into a bucket, straining out the solids. I added the juice of the zested lemon and lime as well as an additional 4 cups of water, pouring both through the strained solids. I pitched about 1/2 the packet of Red Star Champaigne yeast with 1/4 cup of water and poured the liquid in after letting it rest for 10 minutes.
I did not take an original gravity reading as I wasn't going to concern myself with the alcohol content of this batch.
I fermented the mixture for 4 days.
Before transfering the mixture to a bottling bucket, I added 2 6-oz cans of pineapple juice (1.5 cups) to the bottling bucket. I then syphoned the beer into the juice and gave it a good stir.
I bottled the mixture and then left them in the basement to carbonate. My plastic test bottle was hard after 1 day so I pasteurized the bottles and then let them chill in the fridge.
My friend didn't get a chance to taste the brew unfortunately. I gave him three bottles but he didn't have a chance to taste it before flying back to Mexico and during the flight, the bottles exploded in his suitcase. He did comment that he thought that the ginger smell his clothes gave off was nice.
I however kept three bottles for myself and I find that this is a nice improvement on the first attempt. The pineapple juice provides a good level of sweetness to balance out the natural dryness of the base beer without being too sweet. If anything, for my palate anyway, I think more pineapple (or other juice) could be added. But it certainly tastes good to me with a good little buzz as well. I'd guess it ended up around 3% like the first batch.
I'm thinking about letting the next batch go longer in the fermenter to up the alcohol content, even if it means losing a bit in the ginger.
Tea:
~1/3 lb ginger sliced
1/4 gallon (4 cups) water
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar (added at end of boil)
Process
As before I boiled the tea for 15 minutes and then cooled it for not quite 2 hours. With the volume being much lower, it cooled quickly. I then poured the tea into a bucket, straining out the solids. I added the juice of the zested lemon and lime as well as an additional 4 cups of water, pouring both through the strained solids. I pitched about 1/2 the packet of Red Star Champaigne yeast with 1/4 cup of water and poured the liquid in after letting it rest for 10 minutes.
I did not take an original gravity reading as I wasn't going to concern myself with the alcohol content of this batch.
I fermented the mixture for 4 days.
Before transfering the mixture to a bottling bucket, I added 2 6-oz cans of pineapple juice (1.5 cups) to the bottling bucket. I then syphoned the beer into the juice and gave it a good stir.
I bottled the mixture and then left them in the basement to carbonate. My plastic test bottle was hard after 1 day so I pasteurized the bottles and then let them chill in the fridge.
My friend didn't get a chance to taste the brew unfortunately. I gave him three bottles but he didn't have a chance to taste it before flying back to Mexico and during the flight, the bottles exploded in his suitcase. He did comment that he thought that the ginger smell his clothes gave off was nice.
I however kept three bottles for myself and I find that this is a nice improvement on the first attempt. The pineapple juice provides a good level of sweetness to balance out the natural dryness of the base beer without being too sweet. If anything, for my palate anyway, I think more pineapple (or other juice) could be added. But it certainly tastes good to me with a good little buzz as well. I'd guess it ended up around 3% like the first batch.
I'm thinking about letting the next batch go longer in the fermenter to up the alcohol content, even if it means losing a bit in the ginger.
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