Homebrew

[NDBirdman]

Do any full or part timers here make home-brew?  I'm curious as to how it is done on the road.  I brew quite often, make beer and hard cider.  From my 15 years experience I wonder just how anyone would pursue this hobby on the road.  I know you have to watch as a state or 2 are touchy about it, some only allow very low ABV%.  I know once in the carboy it must not be shaken much (I think a ride down the road would badly oxygenate a batch) as oxygen will destroy an otherwise awesome drink.  Yes, I have heard, just buy your beverage of choice on the road.  Well, no one makes/sells what I make in the Americas.  I make brews that one can usually only find in the country of origin, a lot of Belgium/German style beers.  My 10 yr old mead is to die for and I consider it young yet.  American beer just does not cut it for me so I make my own.  Anyone experience brewing on the road?  Can/do individual states say you can't make it here because your not a resident of this state?  We are only planning to be snowbirds at this current time so I plan on making 4-6 kegs full (20 - 30 gallons) and take it with me (wife won't drink beer).  With that much, and the serving equipment I am adding around 350lbs to the RV.  I would like to make some on the road as some of my recipes are made to be drank within a couple weeks of brewing it.  I'm just curious about this as I don't recall seeing a thread about it.

[Sehc]

I harden cider. A pinch of white wine yeast in a gallon jug of juice. Release the pressure once or twice a day. I can't imagine doing a barrel while on the road. As far as beer, any large store will have many imported brands. I like to try whatever local brand is popular in an area I visit.

[NDBirdman]

3 hours ago, Sehc said:

I harden cider. A pinch of white wine yeast in a gallon jug of juice. Release the pressure once or twice a day. I can't imagine doing a barrel while on the road. As far as beer, any large store will have many imported brands. I like to try whatever local brand is popular in an area I visit.

I take it you like it still/dry?  Fix an airlock and use a little bit of Champlain yeast for a sparkling cider.  It is cheap/easy to add an airlock then you would not have to worry about releasing pressure.  Have you tried adding a little brown sugar for a different taste?  Remove a cup of cider, drop a 1/4 cup of brown sugar in but watch the pressure, there will be lots more.  Only try that if using an airlock set-up!  I also use wine yeast, mix in a little honey.  Let run it's course, kill the yeasties, then use 1/4 cup of that cider, heat enough to mix in a little honey (to your taste) and mix it back in.  Let sit a little longer as it takes a little bit for the honey/cider to mellow together.  Killer Honey cider, worth it IMHO.  I do different ciders every time to keep it different/interesting.  Lots you can to to it.  You can back sweeten cider with lactose too, don't have to mess with killing the yeast off first.  Yesterday I kegged 5 gallons of cider but I kinda get crazy with it.  I will let it sit for atleast a year before drinking it.  Drop me a line if you want more info, I can get you set up to safely add to your cider.  You can make a serious mess if you start doing much more than what you are doing.

[Ray,IN]

Have you guys seen this: Beer, Brewing, Distilling & Packaging Calculators, Recipes, Lessons, Technical Reports, etc.

[Kirk W]

Mark Nemeth of Escapees has long been a brewer of beers and having tested his products, he makes some really good beers. Mark also brews mead and has not only the regular kind but also makes a great blueberry mead. He recently shared some of his recipes with Pam and she has begun to make mead, with some really great success.   She uses a 2 step brewing process with an air lock on top of each stage. This avoids the pressure build-up yet keeps air out. 

                       

Edited July 3, 2019 by Kirk W

[NDBirdman]

Have not seen that site, will check it out.  Thanks!  I've pretty much narrowed my brewing down to experience and software down to BeerSmith and Grainfather apps but I'll definitely read those.  Never to old to learn something!

 

That one gallon glass jug is what I use alot to make test batches.  I use that airlock on all my carboys.  I have found that the fluid in the airlock can when bumped get sucked into the jug.  For that reason, I use unflavored cheap vodka.  If it gets sucked/dripped into the jug, it does not affect flavor/ABV.  I buy my cider in those jugs so I look at them as free carboys and they work awesome!

It has been a while since I have brewed up a mead, that blue berry sounds very tempting!  Might have to brew one up soon.  I'm thinking 3 gallon batch: (edit - maybe I will do a one gallon batch to test this out)

6 lbs Blueberries
6 lb of honey (and enough spring water to hit 3 gallons)
3 tsp yeast energizer
1/2 tsp Pectic enzyme
1 campden tablet
 2 packs - Lavlin D47 yeast

How long does Pam let the finished product sit before imbibbing?  I'd like to try this but out of habit I usually let sit a couple years to condition before trying.  I've actually found mead/wine in the back of the closet I long forgot about, many years old.  Age only makes it taste better, if it was a good recipe... LOL... don't ask... LOL

Edited July 3, 2019 by NDBirdman

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, NDBirdman said:

How long does Pam let the finished product sit before imbibbing? 

Since she has only been making mead for about a year, hers has not had much chance to age as yet. We generally taste test it when botteling and then let it rest in the bottles for a month or longer. She has not yet tried the blueberry or other fruit, but plans to do so soon. She has only made in 1 gallon batches so far but is about to shift to starting a new batch as soon as the current one is in the carboy. Mark tells her that he just uses frozen fruit, pureed and then allows a full month for fermentation, as opposed to 2-3 weeks for just honey before placing into the carboy for another month or so. We are still in a learning mode and have only completed 3, 1 gallon batches, starting batch 4 just a couple of days ago. 

I serve as fetch n carry boy and taste tester. 🤗

Edited July 3, 2019 by Kirk W

[whj469]

I once saw an RV TV program about a couple that wanted to buy an RV and set it up for home brewing. They got a fiver toy hauler and set it up for brewing beer.

[NDBirdman]

Kirk, when I ferment a batch for more than 3 weeks, I let it run 15-16 days then gently transfer to another clean/sanitized carboy.  Then, depending on the complexity of the batch, such as fruit, I do as he does, puree it, put it in the 2nd carboy first then transfer the mead/beer, etc into that carboy on top of it.  It will start fermenting the sugars in the fruit again so put airlock back on and let that run for a few more weeks.  I don't run 3rd time in carboy, I just make sure I hit my gravity and bottle/keg then let condition until ready.  Of course, taste testing every so often is mandatory... LOL  Only problem on a small 1 gallon batch, I run out of the mix long before I think it hits maturity... hehehe  If you try my suggestion, be very careful.  Introducing oxygen, or oxygenating the wonderful nectar, will make it taste like an old bandaid.  Have fun, brewing is an awesome hobby!

[NDBirdman]

whj469, I think I saw that show come to think about it.  😃

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, NDBirdman said:

Then, depending on the complexity of the batch, such as fruit, I do as he does, puree it, put it in the 2nd carboy first then transfer the mead/beer, etc into that carboy on top of it. 

Mark says that he puts the fruit into the must for the first fermenting and then strains it out for the secondary fermentation in a carboy. That is the plan here also. 

[NDBirdman]

Good idea.  I've heard that way too.  Probably better to do it first carboy thinking about it.  Let me know how it turns out, I won't be doing one until we return from our Seattle trip in a couple weeks, by train.  Wife still working, did not want to take camper this trip.... oh well, trains are fun too!

I wonder how blackberry would do?  That grows like weeks by my daughters place in Seattle, I could pick a bucket load without moving very far there... hmmmm

Edited July 3, 2019 by NDBirdman

[Ray,IN]

3 hours ago, NDBirdman said:

Good idea.  I've heard that way too.  Probably better to do it first carboy thinking about it.  Let me know how it turns out, I won't be doing one until we return from our Seattle trip in a couple weeks, by train.  Wife still working, did not want to take camper this trip.... oh well, trains are fun too!

I wonder how blackberry would do?  That grows like weeks by my daughters place in Seattle, I could pick a bucket load without moving very far there... hmmmm

Good blackberry wine is our favorite. It's what some call lip-smackin good! IMO the best black berries in the world grow wild in the NW. One of our trips we just pulled off the highway, grabbed a couple plastic pails and picked blackberries until the pails were full.

It wasn't until we got back to the RV I realized bears love blackberries too.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Ray,IN

[Sehc]

When home based I use 5 gallon glass carboys with syphon locks. When on the road, with turning and starting and stopping and bouncing, my method of using a plastic gallon jug with a screw lid works well.  As the fermentation progresses, I release the pressure. When at the max, it may be multiple times a day.  I have added sugar. That increases the alcohol content. I prefer working with the natural sugar and getting what I get. When at home, I do use a refractometer, and adjust the sugar. Yes the flavors can be interesting depending on the sugar, but mine is usually made to be dry.

[mnemeth]

Hi All

Kirk emailed me and asked if I'd like to contribute to this thread. I'm a homebrewer and I did attempt to brew on the road before my 2014 Alaska trip. I have a small Class-C, and I went with a couple nesting plastic buckets and assorted tubes, airlocks, and a 20 Qt brewpot and a propane burner so I could brew outdoors. I did two batches, but rapidly came to the realization that while I could definitely pull off the brewing, where do you put the beer? I would have needed a trailer to carry enough glass! I had room for enough growlers to bottle a single batch, but needed more to be able to have a  batch or two in the bottle and someplace to put the batch I'm brewing. If you have room (and weight carrying capacity) for the glass, you can make it work. 

The biggest challenge in my mind is temperature control. I did both my test batches in the winter, so that wasn't a problem, but I don't know how I'd keep the beer at 65 degrees for fermentation if it was hot outside. 

Love how this drifted into a mead discussion! I'm glad to share my blueberry mead recipe. It makes a wonderful mead that can be enjoyed right out of the secondary. If you age it for 3-5 years it turns into a complex port-wine like bev. I brew a couple batches a year. 

Mark’s Blueberry Mead (3 gallon batch size) 

1 gallon clover or sage honey

6 pints fresh blueberries (note: for best juice extraction, freeze berries then allow to thaw)

2 packages Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast

In 20 quart pot, bring 1 gallon water to a boil. Turn off heat and add honey. Stir must and cover for 10 minutes.

Puree blueberries in a food processor and add to must, stir and let them steep for 5 minutes.

Add water to the pot to bring the quantity to 14 quarts.

Chill pot in sink or tub with ice and water until it reaches about 70 - 80 degrees F.

Using a large funnel, pour cooled must into a 5 gallon glass or plastic fermenter. Add yeast and close fermenter with an airlock.

Let must ferment for 30 days. At the end of that time, fermentation should be slowing down but not finished.

Sanitize a 3 gallon or larger fermenter or container. Using a clean mesh strainer and a funnel, pour mead into new container through the strainer to remove fruit debris. This transfer to a new container is referred to as “racking”. It prevents the fruit from breaking down and adding off flavors to the mead as it finishes.

Cap the container or fermenter with an airlock and allow it to finish fermenting and clear. The mead is ready to bottle or drink when it is water clear and all yeast and remaining fruit sediment has settled to the bottom.  (Note: this clearing process usually takes about 30 days, but can take several months. Be patient, the wait will be worth it!)

 

Enjoy the mead in moderation, and share it with your friends!

 

[NDBirdman]

Cool, thanks!  I will give that a shot.  I have a very large strawberry crop this year, I might even try that with a mead.  I have a GrainFather so that eliminates some pots/burner.  I'm looking for a toyhauler to convert into a brew room/storage/harley hauler.  I do 3 and 5 gallon batches depending on what I'm brewing.  I'm thinking a 2-keg kegerator in the back would do me more than enough but yea, on the road I would have to set up something to keep the kegerator running.  Probably a dedicated set of batteries with solar charger.  Wednesday I need to keg 2 - 5 gallon batches, one a Honey Rye Cream Ale and the other a Bavarian Hefewiesen.  I prefer to keg so I don't need to carry around cases of empty bottles.