New brew experiments

[NS Gearhead]

Left to right;

Apple juice
2 cups brown sugar
5 cinnamon sticks
hand full of raisins cut in half
half a pack of wine yeast

Apple cider
2 cups corn sugar
hand full of raisins cut in half
half a pack of wine yeast

Cranberry juice
2 cups corn sugar
hand full of raisins cut in half
half a pack of wine yeast

Banana/ strawberry juice
2 cups corn sugar
hand full of raisins cut in half
half a pack of wine yeast

My hydrometer read about 10% potential alcohol for all of them. Did them up last night and they're all bubbling away this morning... but the cranberry's significantly slower. I may get some yeast nutrience for it to see if it helps as I read the acidity can be counter productive for the yeast. Like the tittle says I'm just experimenting... hope for the best but unsure of anything. LOL Just the fact that they're bubbling is a great sign!

 

[wngsprd]

Cool experiment. You drink all of that and you will look like your avatar.

 

[stumpster]

None of those juices had any potassium sorbate? I'm sort of surprised they started.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My sister in law makes wine from anything with sugar in it, i.e. peaches, pears, persimmons, apples and yes even grapes. I am not a wine drinker but those who have sampled it say it is very good.

 

[AaronS]

My dad makes great home-made wine. The majority of his is very sweet which is how I like it. Blackberry, persimmon, elderberry, strawberry, grape, wild cherry, dandelion, rhubarb and more, all from hand picked ingredients. Good stuff.

 

[NS Gearhead]

None of those juices had any potassium sorbate? I'm sort of surprised they started.

Nope, made sure they didn't. They all say they only have juice, water, sugar... sometimes from concentrate...

I tasted the cider last night and it was terrible. So today I picked up another yeast pack, yeast nutrients, and Presidents Choice cider. MUCH better. Replaced the cider, and added a teaspoon of nutrients to the cranberry.

 

[stingray1]

Sounds interesting.

 

[NS Gearhead]

None of those juices had any potassium sorbate? I'm sort of surprised they started.

Well I feel like a dummy. The cider actually had this as an ingredient. I only noticed after dumping the original cider and setting up the new one. It is however bubbling away like the others. I thought it would kill the yeast, or will it just give the batch a bad taste? I'm invested now, I might as well see it through to the end.

 

[stumpster]

In wine making potassium sorbate is used as a stabilizer to prevent any yeast that might still be alive from restarting fermentation when back sweetening prior to bottling. Maybe there isn't enough in that juice to hold back all the yeast you pitched. I agree with you. Let it go and you'll probably have wine.

 

[dmccarty]

I have been trying to make a decent beer with blackberry, blueberry or cherry flavors. I have tried extracts and they were not exactly good. Not bad but not good either. The juices in the store we normally go to have yeast inhibiting chemicals and what I really need are pasteurized juices. Eventually I found two brands that are pasteurized, Knudsen and Lakewood.

This winter I am going to try with again with these fruit juices.

A few years ago I made some small batches of hard cider from pasteurized apple juice. One gallon is in the fridge and the other is still sitting on the floor in the bathroom. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

I meant to try the fridge cider over the holiday but did not have the chance. When I tried the cider after it was brewed it was ok but I wanted to let it age for awhile. It has aged a couple of years so who knows what it will taste like! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan