Brix is easy to measure with a hydrometer with a brix scale. About $15
from your FLWS (Friendly local wino supply) or presque Isle
piwine.com . You just drop it in the brew, let it stabilize and
read the brix number.
Floyd Thursby via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
August 3, 2016 at 5:55 PM
I put about 5lb of sugar in my 2-2.5gal batch, I think it all got
eaten by the yeastie beasties, mostly as there was still a bit in
there for fizz after I bottled it. Putting some simple syrup in a
bottle after I drank a bit got it nice and sweet and fizzed up about
right, so I guess that got it just beyond what the yeast could eat,
there was still some yeast in there though to eat some sugar and fizz
it up. Next time I'll go with maybe 6-7lb sugar. I could do some
specific gravity measures, but that is too much work! I just want to
drink it!
--R
Curley McLain <mailto:126die...@gmail.com>
August 3, 2016 at 12:19 PM
For naturally fermented bubbly:
In order to have sweetness left at the end of fermentation, you need
excess sugar beyond what is needed to produce the alcohol level that
will kill the yeast.
In other words, if you use red star champagne yeast, it will die off
at about 16%, give or take, depending on temps. If you start with 23
BRIX, after primary fermentation, before bottling, you will end up
with a sweet bubbly (and need high pressure bottles, Like waterloo
W25. THis is good for a winter/after dinner bubbly. If you start
with 22 brix, you will get a nice summer bubbly, less sweet. YMMV,
but this will give you a couple of starting points with specific yeast
and specific bottles.
The alternative is to add sulfites when you get to 3 or 5% or whatever
level you want. The sulfites will kill the yeast and stop the
fermentation. I call this the unnatural method, or the industrial
method. I can't give you specifics for this because I have only made
rustic, or all natural bubbly products. A good wino supply should be
able to give you specifics. The all natural method is harder to get
right, but much more satisfying. Plus, many people can't take the
sulfites. The sulfites may produce various gastric distress, from
heartburn to indigestion, Diarrhea, etc. and even allergic reactions.
People who said they could not drink wine, whom I was able to convince
to try my hooch, loved it and said it did not bother them like
commercial wines.
In the PRCa, the wild yeast/natural fermentation wines like I made are
now considered very high end stuff. ($100/bottle) Wish I coulda got
1/4 that!
Also, be aware that if a naturally fermented bubbly has its
temperature elevated, say 80ºF or higher, the fermentation will
restart, and increase the pressure on the bottle.
I once had a bottle from Von Stiehl winery in WI blow up in the back
seat of my 200D while at an MBCA meeting. It was a very hot sunny
day. I think back then perhaps the good Doktor Von Stiehl did not use
sulfites. (MB content)
FWIW, I found some ginger beer called Pedal Hard here recently. It is
quite good. It is better than their root beer, called Row Hard.
Rich Thomas via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
April 8, 2016 at 7:08 PM
A few weeks back I made a ginger brew, something like 4-5lb of ginger
root I shredded up in the food processor then boiled it in a coupla
gallons of water for an hour or so with 4-5lb of dark raw sugar. Put
it in the fermenter with some champagne yeast for about 10 days then
put it in some 1L soda bottles and left it sit for 2 weeks.
Tasted it and it had a little bit of fizz but no sweetness -- I guess
all the sugar had been fermented. It tasted kinda like a ginger wine,
was good with a very good ginger punch. Not bad but no sweetness. I
made some dark n' stormies with about 1/2L out of a bottle and a bit
of simple syrup, then added some simple syrup to that bottle, it has
sat for a week and fizzed up a bit more but is sweeter now, more like
a ginger ale/beer.
Made a cocktail tonight with some Goslings and my sweeter fizzier
ginger brew and WOW!!!! is it good. I think the ginger brew has a
pretty good ethanol level now too. I gave 3L away and have 9L more,
so need to work on it! More Goslings needed!
OOOPS my cocktail is gone, buhbah!!!!
--R
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