Way too long... NO CHILL Centennial Pale ale featuring Cargill malts...

Ok so this year has been tough.  Two of our team had babies, I got a promotion, Mark... well Mark was already living the busy life of KC's most eligible bachelor.  So we haven't been as active as we normally are.

But that doesn't mean we haven't been brewing.  WE HAVE.   We just haven't been posting about it.  Recently we brewed a Belgian Blonde with Raspberries, A BDSA (with Dingemans...Post coming) and an American Light Lager that should be great once it finishes lagering, we also brewed a raspberry kolsch, and several pale ales.  We have continued our sour projects as well.   But now life is calming down a bit.  So it is time to hit the blog and hit it hard.  In upcoming weeks you will see blogs on our raspberry Belgian blonde,  BDSA, a tripel, a spiced winter saison, and on our version of an East Coast India Pale ale.  So we are getting back after it in a big way, hoping to finish the year strong.

But tonight, tonight is about a classic grapefruity Centennial India Pale Ale, with a twist.    Tonight we keep it simple and we make a basic American classic.   Our recipe has changed and grown from it's original simplicity but the heart of the recipe is still beating strong.    A basic american india pale ale, inspired by an american classic, Centennial IPA.  But when it is me and Mark, we never leave well enough alone.   We always do something to push the limits and learn.  So classic Amerian west coast IPA made with East Coast IPA techniques.  Tonight we brew hazed and confused.

In keeping with our desired classic out come, we are keeping tonight's brew day simple.   Just a single sachrification rest,  with a sparge rinse.  Brew in a bag, straight forward and easy.   And we are no chilling the beer. The point?  You can brew a beer on a week night, on your stove top.  We are making 2.5 gallons of the beer. 

We started the evening by drinking some wine I made as we got set up for brewing.   If you make beer but you don't make wine, you are really missing out.   I don't profess to be a sommelier, but I use Winexpert and Master Vintner kits to make wine that friends (1 of whom is a sommelier) assure me is fantastic stuff.   I like it, they seem to love it.  It's a win / win.  I have made 20 or 30 different kits over the years (and some actual all grape wines) they have all been really good.   My favorites winexpert kits are California Trinity White, and Diablo Rojo ( I leave out the K pack).  My favorite Master Vintner kit so far is the weekday Pino Noir.  I am making the wine makers reserve Moscato right now.  Should be great by spring.  If you think about it, you are really in the fermentation hobby.  If you can make beer you can easily make wine, cider, mead... pizza, cheese, or even fermented pickles.

The most interesting thing about our brew?   We are using a blend of 6 row and 2 row malt from Cargill Malts  That has become our go to.   You may ask why?  Well first off, I would argue that 6 row is delicious and people should use more of it, but more importantly, because 6 row has more diastatic power than two row.  Diastatic power is measured in degrees linter.  The Linter scale is a measure of a malt's enzymatic ability to reduce complex starches into sugars.   Where as most two row has about 100 degrees linter (up to 110) ,  Schreier™ Six-Row Pale has 145 degrees linter.   It is just way more potent stuff.  In theory it can convert it's own starches and upto 45% additional starches.

As brewer's we have all but forgotten about diastatic power.   All modern base malts do a pretty good job converting themselves. But there was a time when diastatic power was a major component of our recipe planning as home brewers.  I will admit it isn't such a big deal any more.  But it is nice to know your grist is well designed for success.  I would also add that 6 row malt tastes great.   What does it taste like you ask... well it tastes like 6 row.  I perceive it as more cracker like, and maybe a little sharper.

So we set out to brew an easy week night IPA with the no chill method.    When you brew a no chill hoppy beer you need to make some adjustments to your hop schedule.   The hops will be in contact with the hot wort for much longer than a standard batch.   So basically, just back your flavor and aroma additions up by 20 minutes or so.  Those methods have been covered, and covered again else where, so I wont belabor the method here.  I will say, Brewersfriend and Beer Smith both have settings for no chill.  We generally do a bittering charge and then nothing until the flame is off and the wort is cooling.   We hit a five gallon no chill with 3 to 4 oz of hops when the wort gets to 190 F.  This was a 2.5 gallon recipe and we used, 1.75 oz of hops for the "chill" addition.  This beer will get an additional 2 oz of dry hops.

Since this was an easy brew night, we used 5.2 stabilizer for our water adjustment.   The pH stabilized at about 5.34, hot, so probably around 5.5.  I'll take it, not bad for tap water and no real water adjustments.  As always the smell of the Cargill grains was amazing...just some how more, than the other grains we sometimes use.   We boiled for a full hour.  When you "no chill"  you have to be aware of potential DMS.  The easiest precaution is to boil hard for 60 minutes.  Also a good idea for any brew with lots of 6 row malt, it has a bit more sms, the precursor to the dreaded dms.

My favorite thing about this method, is you really can brew on a week night.   We ended up way overshooting our gravity ( probably due to the 6 row malt )  so we ended up brewing 3 gallons of IPA.  We originally planned for only 1.5 oz of hops in the "chill", but ended up adding an additional .25 of Centennial, and .25 of Equinox.   Should be a grapefruit bomb, can't wait to try it. update:  it has been over a month since brew day.  The beer was exactly as planned.  It was hazy and totally grapefruit...citrus... juicy... great stuff.   This may create controversy, but I am now clear... I prefer traditional IPAs.  Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed the haze craze... but I really dig a bitter, citrusy, grapefruity, crystal clear West Coast IPA.  

Stay tuned more posts coming up.  And more Belgian Inspired Brews.  AS we head into spring, we will be making some lagers for spring and summer consumption. Can you say decoction neighbor?  I know you can...

The easy method...Countertop 3 Vessel...

Everything you need to make great small batches of beer!

Ok, today I roll out what I have been doing for sometime now. My super easy counter top 3 vessel brewing method.  This astonishing development in home brew, this amazing technique is... well OK it isn't exactly new.  In fact, it has been around forever and  is about as easy and traditional as home brewing gets.  As I get older... an unavoidable fact of life... I find my desire to make huge batches of the same beer waning.  Sure, we still brew 10 to 15 gallons as a team, but when I brew on my own I tend to brew 2.5 gallon stove top batches.  After SWMBO and I split up, I moved into a tiny apartment. (literally the same size as our master suite)  That was part of the motivation to make more small batch.  Not surprisingly the quality (which was already good after 27 years of brewing) has reached a very high level.  So much so that I'm considering returning to competition.

This hobby can get out of hand,  you owe it to
yourself and your friends to stay responsible.
It's the best way to promote and protect home brewing.

For me small batch just makes sense, I mean what the heck do I need 4 cases of Belgian Strong Ale for?  No one needs that much beer on a regular basis...if you disagree, I think you need to think about how much beer you are consuming.  I know what you'll argue... "I have lot's of friends I give lots of beer away..." sure so do I.   I still make 5 - 10 gallons every month.   I just don't make 20 to 40 gallons any more. We never talk about the dark side of our hobby, forgive me for a moment, it's going to get a little dark, but every now and then I have to bring us back to reality.  Guys seem to want to make bigger and bigger batches at home...I know a guy who can do 3 Bbls  In his garage... why?   what the heck does anyone need to make 93 gallons of beer for?  I've also know many guys over the years who could not handle this hobby.  This year alone I know of a couple of guys who were turning into full blown alcoholics... they both had to quit brewing to get their lives in order.   So, yes I am clear... no one needs to make 93 gallons of beer at home every weekend or even every other weekend.

So for me,  I tend to brew 2.5 gallons on the stove top.  Up close and personal with my wort and my boil... it has been awesome.  I also find that I am brewing about 6 recipes over and over again.   Risen Pale Ale, Centennial Blonde Ale, Centennial IPA (Bells two hearted), Cream Ale, Raspberry Wheat, and Chocolate Milk Stout.   Every now and then I let the yeast cake inspire me to brew something else... I actually use lager yeast for my cream ale, so occasionally the yeast gets reused for a Schwartz Bier...or a Honey Bock.   Every now and then the stout yeast becomes a honey brown...But mostly when I brew on my own, I brew stuff that anyone would enjoy.  That lets me brew almost every weekend.  Certainly every other weekend.  The beer I make is approachable for beer muggles.  It is easy to give away (with one rule, "bring me back rinsed bottles").

Like everyone else I have been caught up in the Brew in a Bag phenomenon.  And like everyone else I recognize its ease and accessibility.  It is a great method.  I think it, along with partial mash (which I will never stop defending) is a fantastic method for making beer.  BIAB is probably the best way for a newb to start doing all grain brewing.

Brew bag as a filter!

But I am not a newb.   I am currently 28 years and over 800 batches into this hobby.  I am an experienced... aging, curmudgeony brewer.   And well, to be honest... I like 3 vessel brewing.   I enjoy it.   I like step mashing, I like batch sparging, heck I even like vorlauffing.  With my counter top system I can control my wort exactly how I want, and I can do the things I enjoy.  And isn't that what brewing is all about.  Having fun and making the best beer that you can make?

So here is my current set up.   You will notice I have eliminated anything that is hard to clean,  I have minimized valves, there are no thru wall
thermometers, no sight glass,  no pumps, and no re-circulation ports.   If I need the wort to whirlpool or to move, I get out my spoon and stir it.  As I have said before although spoons are a new technology, I am confident they will catch on. 

• 5 gallon round cooler mash tun
• Brewers Best Mesh Mash Bag filter
• 3/8" Ball Valve
• Floating mash thermometer
• Long probe digital thermometer.
• 5.5 gallon stainless steel kettle
• 4 gallon stainless steel HLT

That's it.   Less than $200.00 worth of equipment for a lifetime of brewing fun.   And with my set up I can make 2.5 to 5 gallon batches of beer.  I still own larger pots.  I still  own a ridiculous propane burner, (12" 231K BTU), I still can do large batches,  but for the most part this is what I use to brew.

Now... the big question... my process.   Most of the recipes I brew are medium original gravity beers.  I rarely brew anything over 1.070.   So I adjust the mash water calculations so that my sparge is around 1.25 to 2 gallons.  I batch sparge.   I always do a mash out step, always.  I often do a 3 step mash (146 F, 156 F, 168 F) This is the practice for beers I want to have attenuate very dry.   I know what you're thinking... the self appointed step mash champion doesn't always do a 4 step mash or decoction?  well no, no I don't.   After 27 years of brewing, I know when to do a complicated step mash, and when not to do a complicated step mash.   The truth is I use mostly Cargill base malts and grains and the quality is so high, I just don't always need to do a step mash.    Here is an example of a mash for my american pale ale... Risen...  which is just a good ol fashioned early 1990s all cascade pale ale (Think New Albion).  NOTE: I always use reverse osmosis water, and I always make adjustments.  I have been using the Brewersfriend water program, but I also like EZ water, and BruNWater.  I shoot for 5.2 pH, and a balanced profile.


5lbs of grain
Strike 2.5 gallons of water at 162 F (72.2 C 9.5 L) stabilize at 154 F.
Mash out - Infusion of 3.5 quarts (3.2 liters) of water at 211 F (100 C)
Sparge with 5.75 quarts (5.44 liters)  of water at 170 F (76.6 C)

Do you know how fast you can heat 2.5 gallons to 162 F (72.2 C 9.5 L)?  Even my crappy stove can do it in less than 20 minutes.  It is so much faster to brew this way.  And you are up close and personal with your brew.   It's right there in front of you.  On the stove top, on the counter top.  You can smell it, you can taste it.   I still take all of the same measurements as before.  pH, temperature, gravity, and taste impressions.  I still write everything down in my brewing journal.  But somehow, I have more control, I'm able to correct things.  I always use fresh never opened hops.   I always calculate the hops with the correct AA% and adjust my additions.   One thing you will need if you are doing a lot of small batch is a gram scale ($6 - $14) at Wal-Mart.   Grams are just far more accurate than ounces or tenths of an ounce.   

With a minor modification
two 3 gallon carboys will
fit in a mini fridge.

My mini fridge died.  So I need to get a new one for my fermentation chamber.   I prefer to ferment in Glass.  Two of the common 3 gallon glass carboys will fit into a mini fridge with very little modification.   Right now, it is early winter, and the space beneath my big window is stable at 63 F.  I kinda got lucky on that one... So that's where I am fermenting.   But soon I will get a new mini fridge and do a post on how I modify it for fermenting.  It is really easy to do.

For now I am bottling, force carbonating in two liters, and using 2.5 gallon cubes.  Alas, my keezer is in storage.  I just don't have room in the apartment.  As we head toward contest season I will have to go ahead and make a mini keezer so that I can bottle from the keg.   But I am loving small batch so much I may sell my old one and switch to 2.5 - 3 gallon kegs exclusively.

So that is what I am doing.   I have a strong desire to make more crystal clear perfectly fermented beers.  I think I am kinda over the murky IPA thing.   I appreciate them, and they are delicious.  But for me... I prefer to be able to read through my beers...   I guess time will tell if this approach is as excellent as I suspect it might be.   It's certainly faster, it's certainly more engaged.   And I am still having a blast brewing beer.  Cheers. 

Raspberry Belgian Blonde... with Cargill Malts... Oh yeah we're BACK!

Allegement des Framboises

So this year has been busy.  Promotions at work, families growing,  team members moving.   Brewing as a team has taken a smaller role in our busy lives.  It's not that we haven't been brewing, we have.  Recently we have brewed a Centennial Blonde, a couple of pale ales, and an American Light lager, that will be fantastic after it lagers.   Our sour projects are continuing and coming along beautifully.  But actually brewing what we brew, "staying in our lane"as it were and doing some crazy decoction or step mash... well that has had to wait.   But this Saturday, the wait ended.   We gathered in the brewery (John's Garage) to brew our ridiculous Raspberry Belgian Blonde Allegement des Framboises.  If you have never tried this recipe, cancel your next brew, get some Dingemans Pilsner malt, and some Fermentis BE 256, and get ready to step mash.

This is the real Belgian Grain that you have been looking
for.  Your search is over.  Dingemans is the real deal.

We have been so honored by the many of you who have supported us and brewed our beers over the years.   This one has been a favorite.  And you can expect many more Belgian Inspired Brews coming up.   In the next weeks you'll see a tripel, a BDSA, a Saison Noel, and a Belgian Amber.    Like I said we are staying in our lane, complicated step mashes and decoctions coming up.   We are also planning some fun IPAs that are cooled partially with frozen grapefruit juice, and mango juice respectively (with special thanks to Basic Brewing where we got the idea).   But today is all about the cross over beer.  The beer that is loved by soccer moms and craft beer nerds alike.   I present... Allegement des Framboises.

Allegment is a Belgian Blonde, it is pretty darn fantastic without the Raspberries, but it takes on a a whole other character with the fruit.   It is also amazing with Peaches.   Something about the esters of the BE-256 and the fruit just goes so well together.  We have tried other Belgian style yeasts,  like White Labs 530 (our go to for BDSA) and Imperial Monastery, but honestly they are too estery for this beer.  We want a hint of fruity esters and cloves... not a punch to the face.   We find that with BE 255 we can control the esters with our step mash, creating more or less of a desired flavor by modifying our step times.

Yes, this is a decoction mash,  yes you will have to do some math but brewersfriend step mash infusion calculator makes that easy.  Yes, our brew day was 5 hours long.   5 hours of awesome fun and craft brew sampling with other brew nerds is a fun way to spend a Saturday.  And yes there are more ingredients, see below.  We generally rack onto thawed frozen raspberries, and then use raspberry extract to round out the flavor.  Yes, we generally secondary age this beer.    All the crazy stuff we do pays off in a elixir that is worthy of an offering to Ninkasi herself.  We do a fairly basic water adjustment, you are shooting for about 60 CA, and about 95 Chloride.  For us that is John's tap water mixed with 5 gallons of RO water and 1.25 G of Gypsum, and 2.5 G of Calcium Chloride, but you will have to calculate your own water adjustments.  If you need help, send a message, we try to respond.

And yes for Belgian inspired beers, the grain you choose matters.   We use, love, and promote Dingemans Pilsner from Cargill.  Ask for it by name.  It will make all of the difference in your Belgian inspired ales.  All of Cargills malts have been fantastic.  But this one... well this one is particularly fantastic.   It is the real Belgian malt you have been looking for.   You can use what ever Belgian yeast you prefer, but we recommend Fermentis Safale BE 256.   We have tried Wyeast and WhiteLabs with varying degrees of success.  If you choose liquid, please get fresh yeast.  It really loses viability quickly.

The new mill set up is
awesome!

The brewday started, as always with lots of cleaning and preparation.  John milled the grains while MA and I cleaned.  And when you are brewing I suggest you clean everything that needs cleaning in your brewery.  Remember, if you don't like cleaning, you don't like brewing, you just enjoy making wort.    MA and I cleaned everything.  We went through a whole container of PBW.  But now everything is crystal clean.  We scrubbed, things soaked, we rinsed... it was great.

Crushing fine improves
efficiency!

John crushed the grains to .3 mills.  Like our new mill set up?  That is a corona mill mounted in a 5 gallon bucket with a 3 gallon hopper on top.  It can hold about 12 lbs of grain. (well it can hold more, but the bucket gets full, so when we redesign it there will be a larger bucket)  Dust free milling in half the time.   The idea came from Wilserbrew on Home brew talk.  We love our new mill set up.  And we crush fine.  It improves everything.   Those of you who have brewed this beer before may notice that we no longer add sugar.  The truth is we are getting 75.8% from no sparge brewing.  So why add any sugar to the beer?  It really doesn't need it.   Plus last time, the beer was a little high on alcohol aromas.  So we wanted to bring it down just a bit.

Your first steps will be thick... RDWHAHB

We then started our step mash.   As you can see from the mash instructions above, this is a complicated mash.  But infusion step mashing really isn't hard.  You pour boiling water into your mash.  That's all it is.   We used to have to step mash, now we do it because it makes better beer.  Beer with real mouth feel, beer with real head retention.  Can you make a meringue like head last on a beer with out adding tons of adjuncts?  We can... because we step mash.    The first step, the acid rest is always extremely thick, don't worry about it.   By the end, it will be very thin and it will flow easily.   With the help of the calculator on Brewersfriend we nailed our step mash.   Resting at each level for our desired time, and the furthest we were off on a step was 2 degrees Fahrenheit.   Pretty darn good.


Step mashing is so much more active than single infusion brewing.  I personally think it is just more fun.   This is the step where we were 2 degrees to high.  We were shooting for 132 to 134 F.  We ended up at 134 for most of the grist, but some spots were at 136 F.  No big deal.  We know from our post boil trub that we accomplished our goal of modifying proteins into medium length chains.  (UPDATE - the ol trusty long probe thermometer is toast- so we were probably spot on)  This is the step that really makes the difference in our beers.  The protein rest.  You see, we never ask sugars to do the job that should be done by proteins.   We use the proteins to create the head retention and to create the mouth feel that you can only get from a good step mash.

We had two more additions after the protein rest, and a schluss mash decoction to get to mash out. By then end of our mash, our wort was thin, the brewery smelled like heaven.  And our mout (wort) was digestable.   That is what you want when you are making a Belgian inspired beer.   By the way, the flavor of the wort was amazing, sweet, biscuit, toast, slight sourness from the acid rest (the yeast will turn that into awesome Belgian flavors)   This should be a great beer.

I know I have told you to take records while you brew.  But I really mean it.  Take good notes, keep records.   John documents our brew days in a brew journal he got.   I use my computer.  MA takes photos.  I can't tell you how many times the records have saved our bacon, or allowed us to figure out what went wrong or right.   It is also fun to go back and read your brewing notes from previous brew sessions and see what was going on.

Record your gravity through out the process.  You will quickly learn how your brewery operates, and what changes you need to make to craft the beer you want to make.  This is how you learn your system.  This is how you brew world class beer.  Learning and experience... there's nothing that compares to Learning and experience. 

The boil was uneventful, we boiled hard, hoping to destroy any long chain proteins that weren't modified by the step mash.   There is only one hop addition.   At the end of the boil we had 9 gallons of delicious wort.   We were shooting for 1.060.   We got... 1.060.   We will gain a couple of points from the sugars in the raspberries in secondary.   It was a great brew day.  Lots of fun.  And most importantly we're back.  So get ready for a whole slew of new posts from us.  We'll keep things rolling, and if you are ever in KC on a weekend, and want to brew with us, let us know.  We'd love to brew with you. 

Keep checking back.  We're brewing a tripel this weekend, our infamous "desir".   We have some cool stuff coming up on decoction mashing, and on how to correctly add spices to your beers... can you say Christmas farmhouse ale?

I think I may already own my dream brewing rig...

This is Marshal's (Brulosophy) old set up, but mine is identical.
I didn't have a picture handy, so I used his.  
If you don't read Brulosophy, well
start reading it today.

So as I have been responding to questions and comments about my recent post about using your head when brewing, it occured to me... I may already own my dream 5 to 10 gallon brewing rig.  I already know my stove top gear is ideal for 2.5 to 3 gallon batches.   This might be the perfect rig, or at least the rig that makes the most sense for me (and probably for most of you).   I have an old 48 quart cooler mash tun with a 3/8th" valve.  I have a bad ass burner (231K BTU 12" banjo) that I have had since the Clinton administration.   I have a Keggle,  and I have an electric turkey fryer. (it's getting harder and harder to find a 30 quart electric turkey fryer but you could also use a large coffee urn)   So all I really need again is a stand and some PVC tubing and some silicone for my sparge arm.  If I use my pump it will be more for vourlauf and temperature stabilization than for anything else.

PVC Sparge arm for my cooler mash tun. Pretty easy build
consistent rinsing of the grains. 

I used to own a huge gravity system we called the beast.  We made 30 gallon batches on it with out a single pump.  If our mash temp fell we didn't worry about it.  We knew another step was coming up, and that we would be adding near boiling water.  We made fantastic beer.  Balanced and malty, clear enough to read through.  And our beer had head retention and real mouth feel,  even if it was crisp and fully attenuated. I know the concept of mouth feel and crisp together is hard to explain to single mash step brewers, but think of a Pilsner Urquell.  It has mouth feel even though it is crisp and light.  You see a Pilsner Urquel doesn't ask sugars to do the job of proteins.  It is lovingly and carefully step mashed through a decoction process.  Long chain proteins are modified in this process into medium length proteins, melanoidal flavors are developed.   And that my friends you can not do with single rest mashing.   To get close you have to add more grains that are designed to mimic the taste of the authentic process.  So why not just do it right from the beginning.  In the old days if we wanted a dry ultra crisp beer like American lager or dry Irish stout we just changed our step mash in order to create a dry beer.   I still believe multiple step mashing is the control panel of wort creation.

My trusty ol Keggle and Burner

It might be time to take what I have learned over the past couple of years and apply it to my current gear.  So here is what I am thinking.  I prefer mashing in a cooler mash tun with a brew bag as a filter. I crush fine, and always get 75 to 80% efficiency.  I can get over 90% when I  slowly fly sparge.  But I want to do a kinda modified fly sparge. (basically, I am going to do a step mash but I will try to make sure I have 30% of the brewing liquor left for sparging.)  I always step mash.  (you all know my feelings on single temperature mashing). So with that in mind.  I am stealing bits and pieces of what I have learned from BIAB and 3 vessel to brew in the way that makes the most sense to me.

If you read this blog you have seen the
Cajun Injector countless times. 

So my electric turkey fryer will be my hot liquor tank.  My keggle and bad ass burner will be my... well my keggle and burner.   My old extract pot will be for decoction (the keggle is just too deep).  My trusty old blue cooler mash tun will be my mash tun.    I will be step mashing with up to 70% of the water.  To ensure that the wort temperatures even out I will be using... a spoon!  (Although the technology is unproven, I am confident that spoons for use in brewing will catch on. )  The remaining 30% of the water,  I will use for a modified fly sparge, like a sparge rinse but slower and more controlled.   I am going to try to keep my system short, even though I am 6'1" and two of the other team members are 6'4" or taller, shorter systems are easier to manage. So,  I am going to collect the wort in a graduated bucket (bottling bucket) and transfer it manually to keggle.  That way I can stop my sparge when I get to the volume i want to be at, or the exact gravity I want to be at for my boil.

We'll make the ol girl look
like this with some elbow grease!

Now, I may add some features to my brewing set up, like a thermometer for my keggle.  Just because it is cool to know where the temperatures are as you are cooling, and when you are almost to a boil. And a sight glass, to make volume determination easier. And a With this system and process I should come in around 75% to 80% every time, but this also allow me to fine tune my mash exactly how I want it.   And more importantly it gives me more connection to the brewing process.  The more hands on the better. The more focus needed the better.  That is what makes a great brewer.  Great brewers are focused and connected to the brew... every time. 

So yes, my decision is made,  unless I win the lottery,  I have what I need already.  And I'm guessing most of you have what you need as well. If you don't already have what you need, I'm guessing you can get what you need for less than $350.00 USD total.  You probably have most of what you need.  And anything and everything else you need you can get online, or at your local hardware store.  There is just no reason to spend a fortune on home brewing.  It is learning, cleaning, and actually brewing that will make you a great brewer, not equipment.   Lots of guys (and gals) have won big time awards on basic equipment.  The difference between them, and you... they really, really know what they are doing.   So, yes, I have my brewing rig already. I'm guessing you do to.   I know you probably surf the web and look at the awesome stuff that is now available.  My best advice is change how you surf.  Begin researching the awesome brewers who post their stuff to the web.  Begin learning about advanced brewing techniques, there is a reason last years brewer of the year did a ferulic acid rest... just saying.  There is a reason last years Ninkasi award winner does decoctions.    Not all of these guys would agree on everything, but by researching them you can learn what works for you.   That's all for now brew nerds...

• Burner 
• Cooler Mash tun
• cooler valve 
• Kettle  if you are a no sparge brewer you only need one kettle, your old extract kettle works fine as a hlt (in fact you can use your stove top and save some money on gas...)
• Brew Bag  
• pH meter
• refractometer

OK Knuckleheads its time for some TRUTH again

This blog was launched years ago largely on the back of a blog post called A quick Rant.   Years later I find myself still saying and preaching the same things.  Listen to me round eye... you go brew how you want to brew.  If you want to make nothing but no boil hibiscus flower gose... then do that.   If you want to boil everthing for 90 minutes than do that.   But please use your heads about brewing.  There are some disturbing trends that I am noticing that I think need to be addressed. So, today I am addressing them... again.

1.)  It is all about the skill of the brewer not the equipment.  In the past couple of years there has been a near explosion of quality brewing equipment for home brewers.  And most if it is awesome.  Most of it will really help you make excellent wort.  But it will only help you if your recipe doesn't suck.  If you have great fresh ingredients. If you've calculated the correct amount of hops to add. If your process is solid.  If you know how to aerate.  If you can control fermentation temperatures.  If, If, If!  

This is a dream set up for almost all of us.  The electric brewery
sells everything you need to craft your own dream set up. But
remember you can make great beer with a cooler mash tun. 

If you are a brewer who prefers to step mash your beer, these systems are very appealing. I will admit that the idea of wort moving through tubes and then back into the mash tun is kinds cool.  I will admit I am still considering the purchase of one.  But, since I step mash anything and everything I brew, and I happen to own a stove and a pot and a spoon. I'm still not convinced they make much sense.  I can accomplish the same thing by adding near boiling water and stirring.  The effective cost to me...$0.  I already own a pot for boiling and a spoon for stirring.  Remember wort doesn't know it is being recirculated, enzymes couldn't care less.  You see the equipment won't do squat for you if your water profile sucks, if your grain is stale, if your hops are old, if your fermentation temperatures rage uncontrolled. And it won't save you from a lack of general skill and knowledge.  

Listen, you can probably get away with messing up one variable of your beer, and have it still be pretty darn good. (the Brulosophy guys are testing this).  But don't imagine for a minute that a fancy wort production machine will make up for abject failure in other areas of your brewing.  I've said it before, and I will say it again.  Wort production is less important than; great recipe design, water adjustment, aeration, fermentation control, and above all else cleaning.  So follow some common sense in making beer.  Your first big investment is of course your kettle, burner, and mash tun. But your second big investment should be fermentation related.  Remember, brewers make wort, yeast makes beer.  

Commit to 1 or 2 processes for the production of wort (we always step mash unless we are doing German beer, then we do a decoction step mash). Commit to a method of chilling your wort.  Commit to a method of yeast preparation (vitality starters for this guy). Commit to a method of aeration.  And finally commit to temperature controlled fermentation.  Most importantly we use quality fresh ingredients.

2.) You can not make great beer with crap ingredients.   It can not be done, do not dispute this point.  So I understand that you want to save some money and buy in bulk, and it isn't a terrible idea for your grains.  After all, grain is malted and kilned in part to preserve the grain.   But please understand that if you are entering a contest with 2 year old pilsner and you are hoping to win category 2B (Bohemian Pilsner) you're screwed if I show up.  Because I'm getting the freshest pilsner I can get.  (Probably from our amazing sponsors at Cargill) And I am lovingly, carefully performing a step mash decoction with out the aid of a recycling wort system. You'd better not try to use the remaining Saaz from the 1 lb bag you bought last year, cause I'm showing up with fresh nitrogen flushed Saaz from our friends at YCH.   And I can promise you I will get perfect fermentation with a brew-day starter of SafLager 34/70 carefully controlled in our fermentation chamber.  And forget it completely if you do not know how to adjust your water to the correct profile for a Bohemian Pilsner.

How many times have you watched a YouTube video where the guys brewing didn't really know what they were doing, and they never mentioned how old their grain was, and they didn't utter a word about the AA% of their hops? And they are trying a brand new process they have never tried before... shockingly they miss their target OG, and then they blame the process and conclude it doesn't work.  Do yourself a favor, ignore those guy.  Remember the aspects that make quality beer, and keep your process consistent keep your ingredients fresh.   Do the same things every time, for that matter brew the same beer over and over again with great ingredients.   Commit to quality ingredients (if your LHBS doesn't have fresh hops, order them on line)

You can not make great beer if your brewery looks like this.

3.) FACT - most of the problems we face as brewers are because of a lack of cleaning,  a lack of understanding, or a lack of quality ingredients.   If you get even reasonable efficiency, your problems aren't because your wort production sucks.  It's because something else, or everything else, in your process sucks. Most common error?   Lack of sanitation.   So, best advice is slow down and clean everything.  Think carefully about every step of the process.   And again clean your stuff a lot.  I am known to grab a piece of gear and clean it while I watch TV.  My gear is pristine.

You don't have to spend a fortune on any particular step of the process to make great beer.  You do have to be clean.  You do have to think carefully about each step in the process.  Incidentally if you do want to spend a fortune, spend it on quality ingredients, temperature controlled fermentation, on water filtration, and on aeration.  Too many guys are focusing on the wrong things. Remember many of the equipment choices commercial brewers make are motivated in part by ease of cleaning.  They don't have the advantage of being able to easily carry and break down their gear.   They can't deep clean a mash tun while watching Sports Center.

4.) It's not a race.  They don't give out awards for brewing quickly. And why would you want to? Brewing is so much fun.   Just slow down and use your heads, yes I know you are busy.  Yes I know you need to carve out time to brew.  But remember there are no short. If you are serious about making world class beer, Clean, Clean, Clean.  Learn to adjust your water.  Build a mash tun and learn to do infusion step mashing.  Buy a brewbag for a filter, they are just better mash filters than false bottoms, or toilet braiding.  Those changes alone will improve your wort way more than a $2,000.00 wort machine.  (don't misunderstand me, If you are flush with cash go for it! If I win the lottery I'm buying all kinds of cool stuff from Colorado Brewing Systems and SS Brewtech )

For your German beers learn to decoct, it makes a difference.  Who cares if your mash takes 2 hours? It makes superior authentic German beer.  And please don't tell me you can make the same caliber of beer with a single sacchrification rest.   You CAN NOT so don't bring that weak sauce up in here. Only pitch healthy vital yeast.  Learn to make a starter, or at least a vitality starter.   Aerate your wort, so it can become healthy beer. And for the love of Sally control your fermentation temperatures.

Above all else have fun, RDWHAHB, and don't be a douchebag.   I have to suggest that you consider brewing beers that expose problems you are having.  Brew a basic Blonde,  brew a Cream Ale.  If you can, brew a basic lager.  And if you can't control temperatures on a lager, why are you worried about a wort production machine?   Once again for excellent brewing,  expenses related to water adjustment and temperature control should come before wort production expenses.

I write this today as much as a reminder to myself as I do a reminder to all of you.   I also see the fancy rigs on line and think how cool it would be to have one.   I also see the shiny stainless fermenters and think, "man that would be cool,a glycol controlled system in my basement."   But the truth is you don't need that to make world class beer, you can ferment in a keg, or in a stainless steel pot for much less.  You can literally purchase 4 kegs to ferment in for the price of 1 stainless fermenter, and with a keg you can ferment under pressure.   Just a reminder to all of you and to myself, stay clean & use your head.

UPDATE:  I was just thinking... Riddle me this batman, how come standard brew in a bag gets 80 -90% efficiency, and the recirculating units don't get anywhere near that.  You have to do all kinds of stuff to a Grainfather mash to ensure 75%?   Robobrew is no different.  Gash Slug reports 80% on his robo brew with no pump, and we're hearing reports much lower with the pump.   So yeah for me, I will keep my pot, and my spoon.  I will use my BrewBag and crush as fine as I can, No sparge in the cooler infusion step mash.

5 gallon all grain on an average stove top? Concentration Cream Ale

Good ol' cream ale.
Delicious for you, and for your beer
muggle friends.

So recently I posted that I actually prefer the craft beers of my youth.  With the possible exception of my MWIPA, I prefer simple clean beers.  I prefer basic flavors.   This weekend I will be brewing a Basic Cream Ale.  Old School Style in my mash tun, with my brew bag as a filter, step mash, to full volume.  I will be draining slowly to see if that has an effect on my efficiency. Infusion step mash no sparge in my cooler is always around 72% efficiency.   I will be stirring throughout the process.   I think I prefer cream ale to American lager and American pilsner.   Something about it just really agrees with my pallet.  I think it is the corn.  So I am going back to my good ol' Cream Ale recipe.  And I will be making 5 gallons of a concentration batch.  Because... well... It's Cream Ale.  And because I don't think I've ever shown you all how to do a concentration before.

Concentration is a simple process of making a smaller higher OG (concentrated) batch of wort, and then blending it with water to get to volume.   It used to be a common practice in home brewing.  Basically you brew a high OG small batch, in our case 1.075 and then blend it with water to reach volume.   You then stir and aerate to thoroughly combine the wort and the water. I use one of my wine degassing whips attached to a drill to mix the concentration and the water, and to aerate the wort.

Say what you will, Genesee is Delicious.
And, I'm reasonably confident the Genesee River
is safe to drink out of...

This is one of the recipes I will be focusing on. I love great cream ale.  It is hot as heck in KC right now.  I don't feel like firing up the turkey fryer.  So I am going to make this on the stove top in the air conditioned comfort of my apartment.  And show you all how you can make 5 gallons of all grain beer in a 5 gallon kettle on your stove top, by only boiling 3.5 gallons. And it is delicious.  And it tastes like any other all grain brew.  If you follow close instructions, it tastes just as good as any other beer you make.

I will be making the recipe below. And don't worry I will post all about how I do it with lots of photos, so that you too can make your own concentration wort.  This is a great technique for those of you who want to keep brewing in the dead of winter, but who don't want to stand in a freezing garage.

Concentration Cream Ale - All the grains... 
OG 1.047
FG  1.008
IBU 14
ABV 5%
72.5% efficiency
SRM - 2.63 predicted - probably around 3.5

Grain Bill
5 lbs of American Pilsner.  I will be using IdaPils from Cargill
2 lbs of Flaked Corn
1 lbs of Flaked Rice
.5 lbs of White Wheat Malt - yes wheat! I'm trying to get some head on the beer by doing a protein rest and using some wheat.  Feel free to substitute CaraPilsner if you like.

Hop Bill
.8 oz. of Liberty Hops at 60 minutes Yes I realize that at 4.77% this is not 14 ibu's remember this is a partial boil brew, like an extract. You have to account for that.
.5 oz. of Liberty Hops at 15 minutes

Yeast & Extras
1 package of US05
1 whirflock tablet
1 tsp of yeast nutrient

Mash schedule
Rest at 132 F for 15 minutes - dough in with 2.64 gallons of water at 142 F
Rest at 146 F for 40 minutes - add .7 gallons of 210 F water to get to this rest (why 210 F ? Well to be truthful, 210 F, because you can not actually add boiling water to your mash tun, the minute you take the kettle off of the stove it will stop boiling, I account for that in my calculations by using 210 F)
Rest at 156 F for 15 minutes - add .7 gallons of 210 F water to get to this rest
Rest at 168 F for 10 minutes - Drain 1.3 gallons of wort from the mash and heat it to a boil, when boiling add it back into the wort to get to this rest.  This is a Schluss Mash Decoction.
Collect 3.6 gallons of wort Check gravity, it should be about 1.068
Boil and follow hop schedule
As you near the end of the boil, check your gravity, you should be around 1.072 to 1.074.
Chill the wort to near pitching temperatures

I know they call it a farmhouse ale
but they are esoteric, and much smarter
than we are.  Trust me it is a cream ale!

Blend the wort with water to get to volume
Mix it and or shake it up so it is totally combined.
Pitch your yeast
Ferment
Package
Enjoy
Repeat

That's it.  That is all you have to do.  Yes, you can make 5 gallons of all grain beer on your stove top. And yes, you can do this with any style of beer.  And yes they will come out just fine.   For very high gravity beers, you should plan on doing a partial mash, where a portion of your sugars come from DME.

Wine HACKING part 1... Using Kits and Concentrates to make great wine at home.

So obviously here at Counter Brew we are mostly focused on beer.  But,  I also have a passion for great wine.  Not just drinking it, but also reading about it, and making it.  For most beer dudes, wine has kind of a negative stature.  After all, we all know the "fake ass" wine snobs who claim they can detect a hint of "lemon balm softened by a touch of french milk chocolate" in a glass of average Cabernet.   But, you'll find that people who actually know and love wine, are kinda like home brewers, they are happy to talk and share what they know about wine.  And they are happy to help you appreciate wine more completely.  And wine appreciation is a blast.   You really can pick out all kinds of flavors if you learn how.

But this time of year we wine makers are playing the waiting game.  The harvest is months away.  Oh sure we could just grab kits at the LHBS, and there are some great kits out there.  But kit wine is kinda like the extract beer of the wine world.  It is good, but it just isn't the same.  In truth,  Home made wine is almost always delicious,  and it can be great (think Grand Cru, world class stuff).  But making kit wine is not the same as crushing the grapes, punching down the cap, pressing the wine and adjusting the acids to make the exact wine you want.  I should stress again the high end kits make world class wine, wine that would cost you $35 to $80 a bottle at the liquor store (it's that good).  But it just isn't the same as making wine from grapes.  So let me assure you if you can make beer, and you or your SWMBO enjoys good wine, you can easily make great wine from a kit at home.  Don't worry, you don't have to become a wine snob to enjoy good wine.  But you shouldn't be an anti wine guy either, you'd just be depriving yourself of a lot of fun.

freezing strawberries and using them
as ice cubes in a Strawberry wine

So what is a guy who likes to make wine to do in the summer months?  What can I make to get that wine making kick?  The answer: fruit wine.  Strawberry Moscato wine.  And that is just what I did.  I am also making a 1 gallon wine expert Pino Noir, and a 1 Gallon Merlot with Blackberries and Raspberries.  Pino Noir and Merlot are very drinkable young, so I will probably drink a bottle and age the rest for 6 months.   (UPDATE I got a hold of a Wine Expert Trinity White Kit and made it too).  In a later post I will talk about what to age and, what you don't really ever need to age.

When you make fruit wines (as we have before here on Counter Brew) you can just use the fruit to give the wine flavor and color, and table sugar to get the fermentables that you need to make the alcohol.  And that process is the standard way to make fruit and country wines.  But those wines are kinda hit or miss, and without a grape wine base, fruit wines can be kinda thin and flabby. (Even with tannin additions.)

So when I make fruit wine I generally start with a wine concentrate base or a 1 gallon kit. This gives the fruit wine more interest and rounds it out. To give you a beer comparison,  think of it this way- it is like adding 20 and 30 minute hop charges so there is no hollow area in the taste of a hoppy beer.  For strawberry wine, I usually use Moscato or Savignon Blanc ( Reisling is incredible with green apples).  I usually make 3 gallons with a can of Alexander's wine concentrate.  Alexander's Muscat will give you the gravity you need for 2 gallons of great fruit wine, you'll add sugar for the remaining gravity.   And for those of you who already make wine, yes I know Alexanders is not vintage level concentrate, but it works really well for this practice.  To be fair, I sometimes just make 1 gallon of fruit wine with a Wine Expert Kit.  Both approaches make great fruit wines.

Now it is important that you know that wine is easier to make on brew day than beer, but where beer is all about the skill of the brewer, great wine is all about the quality of the ingredients.  "World Class" wine can take years to make and age and it will never be better than the grapes (fruit) you start with.  And there are advanced techniques in wine making just like brewing.  So, if you are trying to make world class award winning wine you need to purchase the highest level kit you can afford ($175 - $200) or learn to make wine from actual wine grapes and frozen grape must and skins.  Just like brewing, you will need to learn how to adjust the acids, pH, and sugar level of your wine to make a world class wine.  Just like brewing and blending sours, you will need to learn to blend wines to make a world class wine. But have no fear Mark Anthony and I will be doing that for you all in the fall.  But today is not about world class wine, it is about the best strawberry wine you have ever had.

For easy drinking delicious fruit wines... this is the way to go.  So here is what you will need need to make a great summertime strawberry wine.  Everything is available at your local home brew store.

Memories Last - a Strawberry Moscato ( Alternatively titled - Soccer Mom)
1.074 OG
.980   FG
1.014 Back sweeten level
12%  ABV
.65 g / 100 ml  Acid Titration Level
Profile - Sweet and loaded with Strawberry flavor - Smells like fresh berries.
Color - Red and clear

Ingredients

• 1 Can of Alexander's Moscato (Alexander's Muscat)
• 4 lbs of frozen mixed berries (this will provide some interesting flavor and  deeper color Strawberry wine can turn kinda orange over time)
• 5 lbs of fresh or frozen strawberries (very ripe but not rotting, I prefer frozen berries and it took me years to accept that they make better wine)
• 2 - 2.5 lbs of sugar (you will have to use a hydrometer to figure this out)
• 2 crushed Camden Tablets
• 1.5 tsp of Pectic Enzyme
• 1.5 T of Bentonite
• 1 tsp of Yeast Nutrient
• 1 tsp of Acid Blend (or exact amount needed if you can test.  Adjust wine to .65 / 100 ml acid level)
• 1/2 tsp of wine tannin
• Wine Yeast - Lalvin 71B 1122 is my go to for this one
• Brewer's Gelatin or Super Clear KC - fining agent.

Equipment needed

• 5 Gallon Food Grade Bucket with a lid and air lock. (good idea to add a racking spigot if you will be racking your wine)
• 3 Gallon hardware store PET water jug ($7 at Walmart by the primo water)
• Hydrometer
• Auto siphon and tubing
• Wine Thief or Sanitary turkey baster, or .75 inside diameter silicone tube.
• Wire Whisk or wine whip
• Air Lock for secondary fermenter
• 3 1 gallon jugs with screw caps.  or 6 half gallon jugs.  
• I am not recommending you buy an Italian floor corker quite yet.  Lets see if you enjoy this first. (I suggest the 1 gallon jugs because you can use them for pico batches of beer as well)
• Plus if you really get into wine you will need to make 1 gallon batches of wine for blending with larger batches.

Optional
Acid Test Kit (worth it, and necessary if you get into wine)

Brew Day -

1. Add .5 gallons of water to your sanitized fermenter add the bentonite, and with a sanitized whisk get it dissolved. 
2. Add the Muscat concentrate 
3. Add 2 gallons of water to the fermenter stir with whisk to get the Muscat Concentrate mixed in, check your gravity.  It will be around 1.050.   
4. In the remaining water dissolve enough sugar to bring the gravity up to 1.070, the fruit will provide the rest.  For me it is always 4 to 5 cups of table sugar.  
1. Remember when you are doing this you will have to account for the additional water as well.  So 2.5 gallons at 1.050 means that if you just added water to full volume your gravity would drop to 1.042.  (Because you are going from 2.5 gallons to 3 gallons.)  2.5 is 83% of 3 gallons. 1.042 is 83% of 1.050 (roughly).   So you need to add enough sugar to get your gravity up 28 points per gallon.  1 lb of sugar has 42 gravity points per pound per gallon.  so you need to add .66 lbs per gallon.  28 / 42 = .666   or 1.9998 lbs of sugar = 2 lbs.  or 4.5 cups of granulated sugar, dissolved in the .5 gallon of remaining water.
5. Add the sugar and water to the fermenter - check gravity  you should be at about 1.070, the fruit will provide the remaining gravity points. 
6. Add the berries to a disposable brew bag (nylon paint straining bag, 4 for 2.50 at my local ACE Hardware store in the paint area).  Tie the top closed.  If you are using frozen berries, thaw them first and don't lose that precious juice as they thaw. 
1. I like frozen berries for this.  Half the work is done for you already and I have to tell you they tend to make better wine.  You need 3 to 3.5 lbs of berries per gallon of wine you are making.   For this batch I used fresh berries, well see how it turns out.
7. Crush the berries with your clean and sanitized hands - get them well crushed.
8. Add the berries to the fermenter
9. Test the acid if you can, if not just add a tsp of acid blend.
1. Adjust as necessary to get to .65 / 100 ml. 
10. Add the pectic enzyme
11. Add the wine tannin
12. Add the crushed camden tablets (crush between two spoons) - 
13. Cover your fermenter with a clean towel, hold it in place by setting the lid on it.
14. Walk away for 24 to 36 hours.  Why isn't this precise?  well you have to wait for the Sulphites to off gas.  When the sulfur smell is gone, you can pitch your yeast.  

Day 2

1. Uncover fermenter
2. Check gravity with sanitized hydrometer, it should be deep enough to float in the must, just hold the fruit bag off to the side with a sanitary whisk. Record the Gravity
3. Add yeast nutrient - stir in to dissolve 
4. Add the yeast (follow the manufacturer's instructions for this) You may need to re-hydrate.
5. Cover with towel and lid
6. Walk away for 24 hours

Day 3-7

1. Uncover Fermenter
2. Check Gravity and Record
3. Remove fruit bag to a sanitary bowl
4. Whisk the wine - you are de gassing as you go, this isn't beer don't worry about adding oxygen at this phase.  
5. Add the fruit and any juice that drained off back into fermenter.  Give the fruit a squeeze- I usually press it against the fermenter wall with the whisk.
6. Cover with towel and lid
7. Repeat

Day 8 - 1st Racking

1.  Use your auto siphon to transfer wine to a clean and sanitized 3 gallon fermenter of your choice.
1. This is not a wine you will age.  So PET works just fine.
2. Make sure you squeeze all the yummy goodness out of the fruit, before you start your transfer and stir it in.   
3. The wine is safe to taste, so go ahead and try some.
2. Fill it as full as you can - leave only an inch or so under the air lock.  If you need to add wine, choose a light fruity wine like White Zinfandel.  I use other wine or mead I have made.
1. Now we care about oxygen. So go easy and don't aerate the wine.
1. This is not always the case...some big red wines you actually want to aerate at this point. 
3. A fix and air lock and walk away for at least 2 weeks

Day 21 - 2nd - 4th Racking (OPTIONAL)

1. If you want to clear your wine naturally (no fining agents)  you will need to let it sit and rack it a couple of times, and it will take a couple of months minimum. 
2. Each time it is clear and lees develops on the bottom of the fermenter, transfer the wine to another 3 gallon fermenter - top it up if necessary with other wine.  I use bottle I made previously, but if you don't have those just use a cheap White Zinfandel. 

Stabilizing and Fining Your Wine

1. Check your gravity, it should be around .990-.980
1. If it is not, it is not done. 
2. I do not rack fruit wine more than once - it's fruit wine not Grand Cru. If you are like me you will probably choose to stabilize and fine the wine in secondary. 
3. To stabilize your wine you will add 1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulfite and 2.25 tsp of potassium sorbate.  
1. Stabilizing will stop fermentation. 
1. When a wine is stabilized you can then back sweeten the wine. 
2. Stabilizing wine will provide preservatives for the long term storage of the wine
4. At the same time you stabilize your wine you will want to fine the wine.  Fining makes the wine brilliantly clear.  
1. Since you are a brewer I suggest you consider using Brewer's Gelatin to clear the wine.  
1. Do it just like you would a batch of beer
2. Dissolve 1 tsp Gelatin in cool water, then heat it to dissolve. Then add it to the wine.  It will clear just fine at room temperatures. 
5. Add your fining agent to the wine and stir / degas.  this is when you degas the wine.  This is when you hook the whip up to your drill and go to town.  Your goal is to get all of the CO2 out of the wine.   You may need to rack a gallon of the wine to another container while you de gas, so that there is room for the bubbles and the spinning wine. 
6. Walk away for a week.  When you return the wine should be brilliantly clear.

Back sweetening and Bottling

1. Transfer the wine to your sanitized bottling bucket.
2. Fruit wines taste best with some sweetness.  I generally back sweeten to 1.014. You may prefer more or less.  
3. To do this you have to calculate how much sugar to add, just like above.   
1. Most of the time you are going from 0.0098 to 1.0140, that is  .0042 gravity points per gallon.   1 lb of sugar has 42 gravity points per gallon.   So you need to add .1 pound of sugar per gallon, or .68 cups of sugar dissolved in a warm liquid of your choice, I actually usually use another wine I have made for this but you can use water.
4. When the wine is back sweetened to your liking, it is time to bottle.
5. Drain your wine into the 1 gallon (or half gallon) glass jugs.  Put the screw cap on the jugs. 
1. If you are able to cork, then really you probably already know how to do this. 
6. Fruit Wine is ready for drinking as soon as you bottle it.

Well beer nerds, that's it.  That is how you make awesome wine from fruit. It is a lot of fun, and it makes a reliably delicious batch of home made fruit wine.