Overflow

So I pitched my "Bavarian wheat" yeast on Monday. Today when I got home I checked on my fermentation and it had overflowed through the airlock. I called Jake because I thought I remembered the same thing happening to him and he informed me it was normal for wheat yeast. It's cleaned up now and ready to go. Jake or Mark, do I need to be worried about it happening again?

Der Brauer

Inspiration

Knowing little to nothing about winemaking and having some leisure time during a Christmas break, I sought the advice of my fiance's grandfather, who has been making wine since the mid 1960's. He showed me some tricks, how he stores his wine, and a basement that contains old metal cabinets full of wine from the past four decades.

Grandpa's winemaking process is notable to me for many reasons:

1. He was an apprentice to no one except text. He learned how to make his first batch of wine by going to the local library and copying down old recipes from books. He is a heavy advocate of 'winging it'.

2. He now uses only the fruit he has grown in his garden with his wife. He is in his mid-80s and still doing it the same way.

3. No preservatives or chemicals have ever been used in his wine. After he sanitizes, he uses only hand-pressed fruit juice, sugar and water. When the first batch aged and he drank it, it didn't kill him, and that told him chemicals were unnecessary. At Christmastime, I tasted from a bottle made in 1978. I am indeed alive and I get a goofy grin anytime I recall the taste of it.

4. All of his wine is excellent: The strawberry wine, the gooseberry wine, the muscadine wine. It is as good as, or better than, any wine I've purchased at a store.

5. Most of it is semi-sweet to sweet and it is consumed during family gatherings, much like coffee is served in other places, during a late night family card game. Never have I seen anyone plow through a glass of it. It seems to be an unspoken rule that it is to be enjoyed slowly.

This in mind, I have a lot to learn through trial and error over the next several years. My fiance and I plan to toil in our own garden and work toward our own little plot of Wine nirvana and we hope our friends will be joining us for years to come.

Coming next from me will be a story-so-far description of my first attempt at a blackberry wine.

Blackberry Provider

Antonio,

I found someone who may be able to provide us with enough blackberries each season for a 5-10 gallon batch. Do me a favor and let me know how much you would need for a 5 and a 10 gallon batch. I will see what can be provided, maybe more than I thought. The supplier is a teacher who has a massive garden in her backyard.

-Matuz

Wedding Beer

First off,

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on your brewing on Sunday, DerBrauer. Looked like fun, and I am sure it will turn out great! Next thing we need to do is get you a webcam so you can take longer videos. I hope Windows Movie Maker worked out for you. Let me know if you have any questions.

Secondly,

Irish Rover, Antonio, and I secondaried only the Witbier on Sunday and not the Hefe. We did this because we noticed while the Witbier was putting out a steady bubble every 30 seconds or more, the Hefe was pumping out a bubble every 3 seconds! Perhaps in a few days it will die down and the secondary fermentation may be able to then take place.

Thirdly,

Tony, I know you mentioned a Pear wine. Real quick why don't you give us an update on the Blackberry wine, its process, ups and downs, what you expect out of it, and then your ideas of how and when you are going to do the Pear wine.

-Matuz

Dunkelweizen Brew

Here is some info on the Dunkelweizen that I did on Sunday March 28th.
I started at 165 in order to hit 151 on my mash and was right on. Here are the grains I added.


My camera only takes 60 secs of video. I added 5 lbs. of wheat in between videos. Here is the rest.


My roasted barley was old from the last brew that I have kept stored. Since I was on the lower end with the temp. I decided to go longer than 60 mins. I went 70 mins. until I added my 1 gal of boiling.

For the boil, I added .5 oz of Tettnager for 60 mins. and another .5 oz for Tettnanger for the last 15 mins.



I tried a new method for cooling. Before, I have tried putting it in the refridgerator, also I tried putting it in ice in the bath tub, both of which did not work. This time I filled the bath tub with cool water and even added some ice to it. It cooled much faster with the water providing a larger surface area.



Well, hope you guys enjoyed it. Comments and advice welcome!

-Der Brauer

Inaugural Post

Welcome to Two Things - Beer & Wine!

This blog has three main purposes. One, to share and discuss the endeavors of four men and their journey's of brewing and wine making! Secondly, to perhaps become an outpost for beginners to advanced brewers and vintners alike. And thirdly, most importantly, to create an online journal of friendships developed and hardened through time and now fused together with the great passions of beer brewing and wine making! Enjoy!

- Matuz-