What’s everyone brewing?

I’ve just bottled something. Went for the parameters in beersmith of a wee heavy. Came out pretty nice, pre-carbonation.

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    15 hours ago

    I just got done with a cyser that didn’t come out quite like I wanted. Every bottle a headache, probably bad process on my part.

    What I really want to do is make a huge, black, rich big beer, something like a dark Belgian penta.

    …But not until I’ve got my process perfect. In the meantime I might do something warming for the coming spring showers. Maybe a porter?

    • AlexanderEnglish
      3·
      13 hours ago

      One of the biggest suspects in this cyser story is metabisulfite treatment that might have happened to apples. I do not know the exact mechanism, but lots of people complained about headache if that was used with apples (and many recipes call for its use, IMO totally unjustified) or in apple juice in factory. Same thing about grapes. Differential is quite clear.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        13 hours ago

        I do hope not - for this batch I couldn’t get a lock on locally pressed juice so I went with a cider extract kit from homebrew supply.

        The idea was something cheap and cheerful, and it relied on a lot of polish wildflower honey from Aldi that other mead makers had mentioned favourably.

        I’m pretty sure it was just brewing too hot and I made some fusels. Hadn’t happened to me before but this was during the summer in an untested spot not far from the oven… 😑 This just occurred to me, I am a goon.

        I need glass, too. These plastic buckets are convenient but I’m wary.

        • AlexanderEnglish
          3·
          12 hours ago

          Well, it’s bad news, all those super-processed products almost always are treated with metabisulfite or something close enough, and only wine and a few other products require it to be listed on the label. It’s pretty much treated as part of detergent for washing fruits. Completely unjustified as product is sterilized later in turning it into extract, but it is simpler to keep buying this historically accepted mild bleach and treating all fruits with it anyway. Maybe increases their storage time in shipping pipeline. Something I do not wish to think about in great detail, for my first lab in Finland was in a rented fruit storage bunker and I washed it and dismantled control equipment myself. Could have been WW2 nazi camp facility for what it was worth.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            11 hours ago

            Thanks for letting me know, it was my first time using apple juice extract. Probably won’t do that again. I’ve never had this issue with liquid malt extract though, do you suppose that’s not treated?

            • AlexanderEnglish
              2·
              3 hours ago

              Sure it is not, grain is not fruit after all. I think grain will turn into angry shoggoth if threated with metabisulfite. At least it would be a mess.