One day I'll figure out an easier way to log this down. At the moment, I'm just copying a list of what got made on the Notes application of my smartphone with the hope that I remember to blog about it.
Here's what got made in 2016:
peach brandy, 1.5 pints refrigerated
strawberry-rhubarb syrup, 2 pints refrigerated
Extracts
lemon extract, 1 pint
chive flower-infused vinegar, 1 pint
blueberry-infused vodka, 1 quart
blueberry-infused bourbon, 1 pint
Salsas
Control batch salsa (jalapeno peppers), 5.5 pints
Hatch chile salsa (hatch chiles), 5 pints
Spicy salsa (Anaheim & jalapeno peppers), ... pints?
Harissa (dried chile negra, ancho chile, Calif chile), 1 pint refrigerated
La jiao jiang (hot chile paste), 0.5 pints refrigerated
Fruit butters/jams/preserves
Winesap apple butter, 6 pints
Peach bourbon jam (burnt)
Peach bourbon jam (normal)
Apricot-pineapple preserves, 1 pint, 3 half pints, 1 four-oz jar
Apricot-rosemary preserves, 3 half pints, 4 four-oz jars
Strawberry basil preserves, 5 half pints plus 8 oz refrigerated
Strawberry port wine jam, 5 half pints plus 8 oz refrigerated
Pickles/Pickled
Bread and butter pickles, 3 pints
Kimchi, 1 quart refrigerated
Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Peach Brandy
Fruit wine or brandy? It's mostly up for debate about what to call this. I've been referring to it as peach wine and I typically think of brandy as an alcohol that's distilled from a fruit wine. This batch of wine was made using the tree-ripened yellow peaches I got from the volunteer harvest with the Portland Fruit Tree Project. 25# of peaches is a lot to process, btw, when the freezer is full of other things (like strawberries and rhubarb when those were in season).
Hot, humid days and bruised peaches are not a good combination. Many of these peaches were rotting fast even though they were sitting in the coolest (by temperature) room in the house and they weren't touching each other. But it seems that proximity was enough to hasten spoilage.
This recipe process comes from the Delishably food blog. The best part about it is that you can leave the skins on. Just wash the peaches and make sure that there aren't any bugs or rot. I also left out the peach pits because I needed space in the jar for more peaches.
Ferment start: 8/19/2016
Ferment stop: 8/28/2016
Ingredients
1 qt peaches, washed and diced
1 lb organic granulated sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
2 c cold, filtered water
Directions
In a 1.5 qt or 2 qt jar, layer peaches and sugar until the jar is full. You can squish it all down with a wooden spoon, if you want. Add yeast and fill jar with water.
Place a dish below the jar, in case the peaches try to escape.
If you have cheesecloth, use that. Otherwise, you can use clean paper towels to cover the top of the jar. Secure the towel or cloth in place with rubber bands.
You'll want to give this a stir every day until the yeast is done eating. This summer it's been between 80-90 degrees F indoors. My batch stopped bubbling at around 1.5 weeks. And, if you let the mixture sit undisturbed, a clear, dark peach-colored layer of alcohol will separate from the rest of the pulp pixture.
To decant:
Place a mesh strainer (one that has a handle, so it can balance on top of a much larger bowl) on top of a bowl large enough to accommodate one quart of liquid. Let the fermented peaches strain using gravity (e.g., don't try to hurry the peaches along by using a spoon to push the peaches through; you don't want any of the pulp in your alcohol).
What I made:
1 pint + 2 oz in glass jars in the refrigerator
3 cups in a quart container in the freezer (to separate the solids from the liquid)
Hot, humid days and bruised peaches are not a good combination. Many of these peaches were rotting fast even though they were sitting in the coolest (by temperature) room in the house and they weren't touching each other. But it seems that proximity was enough to hasten spoilage.
This recipe process comes from the Delishably food blog. The best part about it is that you can leave the skins on. Just wash the peaches and make sure that there aren't any bugs or rot. I also left out the peach pits because I needed space in the jar for more peaches.
 |
| TheFoodening Blog - Peach Wine, Peach Brandy |
Ferment stop: 8/28/2016
Ingredients
1 qt peaches, washed and diced
1 lb organic granulated sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
2 c cold, filtered water
Directions
In a 1.5 qt or 2 qt jar, layer peaches and sugar until the jar is full. You can squish it all down with a wooden spoon, if you want. Add yeast and fill jar with water.
Place a dish below the jar, in case the peaches try to escape.
If you have cheesecloth, use that. Otherwise, you can use clean paper towels to cover the top of the jar. Secure the towel or cloth in place with rubber bands.
You'll want to give this a stir every day until the yeast is done eating. This summer it's been between 80-90 degrees F indoors. My batch stopped bubbling at around 1.5 weeks. And, if you let the mixture sit undisturbed, a clear, dark peach-colored layer of alcohol will separate from the rest of the pulp pixture.
To decant:
Place a mesh strainer (one that has a handle, so it can balance on top of a much larger bowl) on top of a bowl large enough to accommodate one quart of liquid. Let the fermented peaches strain using gravity (e.g., don't try to hurry the peaches along by using a spoon to push the peaches through; you don't want any of the pulp in your alcohol).
What I made:
1 pint + 2 oz in glass jars in the refrigerator
3 cups in a quart container in the freezer (to separate the solids from the liquid)
Ginger Beer: an alcoholic batch
It would appear that I have made my first alcoholic batch of ginger beer, which when fermented correctly yields a carbonated soft drink. I was experimenting with ratios and added more of everything except the yeast (just a teaspoon). Effects-wise, I'd say that I might have reached between 4-5% alcohol and that was only after drinking 8 oz of it.
I'm still unsure of how to properly use a hydrometer; as I don't have enough liquid to test for the size of the hydrometer that I have, nor do I have a container with enough slender volume that I can measure the beer in.
Here are the tested ratios:
1/2 c grated ginger (vs 1/4 c)
1.25 c organic granulated sugar (vs 1 cup)
10 c water (vs 9 cups)
As for the fermenting time: 3.5 days instead of 2
Avg room temp for the ferment was 55-60 F
This batch yielded 2 liters plus 1 pint.
After thoughts:
Too much raw ginger flavor. It was potent and felt like a kick to the head.
The extra sugar did nothing to make the beer sweeter before decanting into flip-top bottles, in fact, the yeast ate it all.
Also, the Active Dry Yeast was very fresh (yes, that's bread yeast).
I'm still unsure of how to properly use a hydrometer; as I don't have enough liquid to test for the size of the hydrometer that I have, nor do I have a container with enough slender volume that I can measure the beer in.
Here are the tested ratios:
1/2 c grated ginger (vs 1/4 c)
1.25 c organic granulated sugar (vs 1 cup)
10 c water (vs 9 cups)
As for the fermenting time: 3.5 days instead of 2
Avg room temp for the ferment was 55-60 F
This batch yielded 2 liters plus 1 pint.
After thoughts:
Too much raw ginger flavor. It was potent and felt like a kick to the head.
The extra sugar did nothing to make the beer sweeter before decanting into flip-top bottles, in fact, the yeast ate it all.
Also, the Active Dry Yeast was very fresh (yes, that's bread yeast).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)