From Brew to Racking - Video

I photographed our second batch of JAO every day for a month till it was racked. I am bored so I've created a video of the changes that took place and thought I would share that with you guys. Enjoy! There's no sound by the way.

What's Happening in Brewland - Part Two

This is the second update of posts I have forgotten to post. There will be one more once I get the Hard Apple Cider recipe from Brian.


These are my notes from racking on 2/20/2013

5 Gallon JAO: has a spicier taste than previous brews, fruity, sweet, and bitey. Gravilty 1.33@75.3F

JAO2: Tastes like alcoholic water, may need to be back sweetened in the future. G 1.1@75.9F

JAO3: (Double Spice) Spicy alcoholic water, needs to be back sweetened. G 1.07@75.2

Ginger Capsimel: Woohoo! Sweet & Spicy, slightly less spicy than the first taste. We bottled this one and I look forward to sharing this winner with anyone brave enough to breathe sweet fire with me...okay its not that hot, but still yummy!

What's Happening in Brewland

I was looking over my notes and apparently forgot to update the last couple of times on our brewing activities, so, here are the goings on.

On 11/25/2012, we bought 5 organic apple juices since we needed more glass jugs, and it is cheaper to buy glass with something in it than going to the local brew shop for empties. Four were meant to become hard apple cider for Christmas, more on that in another post, I just need to get the recipe from Brian. For the last one we had the bright idea to try to make apple mead using the same idea for the JAO. Lastly we put together a 5 gallon batch of JAO in our new 6 gallon carboy so we can share our yummy brews with our friends.

5 Gallon JAO calibrated gravity 1.123 @ 101 degrees F

For the Apple Mead we made up our own recipe using these ingredients.

Apple Mead

2 quarts apple juice
1 teaspoon bread yeast
2.4 pounds honey
Enough water to fill to one gallon
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon yeast nutrient
1 clove
1 smidgen nutmeg
1 smidgen allspice
30 raisins

Calibrated gravity 1.113 @ 91 degrees F

Bottling

We bottled our JAO the other day it was nice and sweet, no aging needed. We got three and a half-ish bottles out of it. The partial bottle is already gone, since we passed it around to our friends for a taste!

Now, be amazed at my gorgeous pictures! Thank you new camera!

The original hydrometer reading was 1.129, final was 1.048, and came out to 10.75% ABV.

Next we racked the other two batches of JAO and Ginger Capsimel. 

JAO from 9-15-12, was very orangy because of the giant orange we used in it. The hydrometer read 1.009, currently at 13.4% ABV, it makes your head swim! We think it will finish out a bit dry.

JAO 9-17-12 with double spice was spicy, surprise surprise, we liked it though. It's hydrometer reading was 1.005, 13.6% ABV, not nearly as bitey as the 9-15 batch though.

Then the final batch of Ginger Capsimel was an awesome surprise. It was spicy, peppery, and sweet. There was a little heat right before you swallow but not so much that you couldn't share with the average person. The hydrometer said 1.025, 10.72% ABV. I think this baby will be our favorite brew ever!

Notes: Next time we sanitize fill one jug with water and sanitizer, shake and transfer the mix from bottle to bottle to help sanitize the racking cane and tubing thoroughly.

Gurgle gurgle

The brews are still gurgling away, our first is obviously ready to be bottled, it is so clear. The other three are still burping every few minutes at about 3 weeks old. I can't wait to try the Ginger Capsimel! I wonder if it will be lacking heat like Scout's originally did? I've been taking pics of one of them each day so we can watch its progression from cloudy to clear when it's all over. I'll post a gif when it's ready. (;

Tasting Loki

I tasted my Loki today, it is much more mellow at 2 months that the first one we made, it should be great in another couple months.

Explosion

We had a mini explosion in the second batch of JAO.