Brewmasters
Madalene and I started a batch of White Zinfandel brewing the other day. It is progressing nicely, and is already quite drinkable. Because it is in active fermentation right now, it has become quite carbonated, and very sweet. Its like a cross between champagne and that ‘non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice’ you see in stores around Thanksgiving. It still tastes a bit ‘yeasty’ but that is to be expected, given the vigorous fermentation. In a week or so, we’ll be moving it to its secondary fermenter for about 3 weeks, and then bottling. We had to buy a case of wine bottles, and 4 one gallon growlers to accept the large 23L batch. We also had to get a corker and a bag of corks, which are anything but cheap. Oh well, each batch we do requires slightly less equipment purchase than the batch before, and soon we’ll have everything we need without having to buy ingredients as well as some new piece of equipment. The problem so far is that we’ve done champagne, beer and now a still wine, all of which have a few specialty bits that are only needed for that style.
Also, we are starting a new rule! We aren’t giving out wine and beer anymore, we are trading it for bottles! Bottles, oddly enough, are just about the most expensive part of this whole process. Originally we asked that people return the bottles to us when they were done, but it turns out that most people wanted to keep the bottles because of the charming label we designed for them. So instead, we are now asking for any bottle in return, or a few bottles if possible. If its not convenient, or you live far away, don’t worry about it, since we aren’t going to be very strict, but we are asking that if its convenient, people save a few bottles for us. We are in need of the following types of bottles:
- 12 ounce, 16 ounce and 22 ounce glass beer bottles. They must be ‘pop top’ style returnable bottles, twist-offs do not work with our capper. Also, amber is the only color that will work well for me. Light makes beer taste ‘skunky’ and green and clear bottles make that process much swifter. Also, if you have any Grolsch style swing-top beer bottles, those would be great!
- 750mL or 1.5L glass wine bottles. These can be green, amber or clear, but need to be the kind that takes a cork, not a screw-cap.
- 1 gallon, 4L, 3L or 2L glass growlers. These are generally large clear jugs, and often come with a small handle on the neck. You see them most often in stores on the bottom shelf of the wines, brands like Carlo Rossi and so forth. The ‘jug-wine’ inside them typically isn’t very high quality, but its cheap, and the bottles are good (filling one 4L bottle saves us 5 regular bottles!). These typically use a screw cap, which is fine, but make sure the cap is in good shape and not torn up. We can get replacement caps for some sizes, but not all.
- Champagne bottles. These are usually 750m, and green. They need to be the kind that took a champagne style cork (the kind that looks like a mushroom) and a wire cage over the cork. Screw caps don’t work for us. The original cork could have been real cork or plastic, either kind will work for us. We don’t need the cork or the cage, just the bottle.
For all bottles, the easiest for us is if the labels are already removed, and the inside of the bottle is rinsed clean. The best way to remove labels is to simply soak the bottle in hot water for an hour or so, after which the label will slip right off, and you can use a plastic scrubby pad to remove the bit of glue left behind. For cleaning the inside of the bottle, the best way is to simply rinse the bottle immediately after use, and then you don’t have to worry about it again. If there is caked on stuff at the bottom, then soak in hot water and a weak detergent solution. In either case, if there is a stubborn label that won’t come off, or something weird stuck to the bottom, or if you just don’t have time to clean them or remove labels, don’t worry about it.
So anyway, in a month or two we’ll have Zinfandel ready, and as soon as the Zinfandel moves to the secondary fermenters, I’ll fill the primary again with a batch of California Common (Steam) beer, which would be ready in 6 to 8 weeks. This is a fun hobby!
Friday 20 Jun 2003 | Sam | Brewing