Possible New Project/Hobby/Mental Illness – Home Brewing Beer, Wine, Cider, and Mead

I have a confession to make. I don’t know if it’s due to having been keel-hauled by Captain Morgan a few times too many over the years or if it’s just because of the accumulation of imaginary stamps for my trips around the sun, but I just can’t drink straight hard alcohol like I used to. Heck, there was a time when I considered Bacardi 151 to be a wonderful drink all on its own! Thankfully I never made a habit of it, but there were a few times when I found that I’d had a bit more than maybe I should have and I had to struggle mightily to ensure that I did not fall victim to highly localized gravity storms Whatever you do, don’t believe any stories Cindy or Adrienne tell you – they might be true

Don’t get me wrong here, I still love margaritas and I’ve found that real Belgian chocolate liqueur is a thing of beauty. Thankfully, I’ve found that I can still enjoy Jeremiah Weed if it’s straight out of the freezer

I can’t quite tell you just when I started getting the idea that it might be fun and even a good idea to learn how to home brew beer, wine, and mead, but I’m getting pretty interested in it lately. I’m by no means a big beer drinker, but I do enjoy a bit every now and then and I figure even if I can’t drink it all myself, I have friends I know who will. As for the wine, cider and mead, well those probably have more to do with Cindy and Harry Potter than anything else.

You’re probably just a touch confused by that last bit. OK, I should clarify it a bit. Cindy’s no big drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but she does love fruit. One of her favorite fruits happens to be Gooseberries. She had them as a kid growing up and loves the tart taste I got to thinking about what fun I could have making up fruit wines and one of the ideas I got was gooseberry wine. After digging around a bit, I’ve found a source for gooseberry wine base that might be worth looking into Of course, you just know there’s going to be mango wine around at some point in time if I get into this

So that covers Cindy, but you might still be a bit puzzled by the reference to Harry Potter and I wouldn’t blame you. Well, I’ve gotten into a bit of a Harry Potter mood lately and have started reading the books along with re-watching all the movies. One of the things that’s mentioned in and which plays an important part in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a bottle of Mead. I’d heard of the stuff, but had never known just what it is. I did some research and found that it’s basically wine that’s made with honey instead of fruit juice, but can have fruits and other flavors added to it as well. Now that sounds like something good

As for the cider, it’s also mentioned in Harry Potter and I figured if I’m going to be making wine and mead, why not cider ?

Those who know me already know I’ve been shopping around a bit for equipment.  It’s been just window shopping for now, but that will likely change in the not too distant future.  I’ve found that a beginner’s setup for wine, mead, and cider making (which are all very similar) will cost somewhere between $100 and $150, but I might be able to bring that down in a few ways.  Much of the equipment for wine making also works for brewing beer, so it shouldn’t be a stretch if I decide to do that as well.

One thing I puzzled over was how I could make a press for apples and berries and such that wouldn’t break the bank.  Commonly available fruit presses start at about $150 and go up from there and I don’t want to spend quite that much.  I have a juicer, but I don’t know how well it would work for berries.  I found my answer in some lumber (or possibly pipe) and a simple $10 bottle jack like you’d use to change a tire

This whole idea is still under consideration, but it’s growing on me.  If I do go through with it, I’ll make sure to keep everyone posted here on the blog

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?