Hey there, the owner of the house I live in has a cellar with a few bottles left from her ex-husband who used to make wine and mead. The wine is much more potent than tradional wine, close to brandy proofed, but still has the wine flavor. Speaking of flavors, ofcourse they have red and white, but also many other less common like elderberry, blueberry, peach, mulberry, and honeysuckle flavored wines and such. For those who don't know, mead is fermented from a honey base and can also be flavored like wine and such. I'm not a drinker anymore, but occasionally have the chance to sample some when she opens a bottle. And they are very good, quite smooth, and I like them all, mostly the peach wine and the mead. If interested, perhaps you should find a book on making wine and beer. Choose one that also makes them using flowers and fruits for more variety. Peace to you and good luck
mead is prett easy to make, but very time consuming. brandy is distilled and not brewed. burgundy refers to wine from the burgundy region of france. natural fermentation is caused by yeasts and, sometimes, bacteria (such as in the case of a lambic beer). these organisms "eat" the sugars/starches present either in the fruit juice used (in the case of wine), the honey (in the case of mead), or the grains (in the case of beers - ales, lagers, lambics, sakes) the various yeasts and bacteria in question, as well as the conditions in which the brews are kept and the amount of "food" the fermenting organisms have available, will in the end determine how much alcohol is in the end product. natural fermentation has it's limits, though, as alcohol is in fact the waste of these organisms, simply a byproduct of them consuming the materials in the fermenting liquid. eventually fermentation must stop at a certain point, as the yeasts and bacteria can only live in the solution up to a certain point....eventually they produce too much alcohol, which will, obviously, kill the yeast. the strongest beer i'm aware of is 25%ABV, stronger than any nonfortified wine. it is Sam Adam's Utopias. i have no idea how they managed to get it this strong without killing off the yeast, as even wines are virtually impossible to get this strong without being fortified (such as port) considering the fact that brandy is distilled and usually between 40-50%ABV, i find it nicredibly hard to believe that it is anywhere near as strong as brandy. brandy may be added to the ingredients (it will kill the yeast) to create a fortified wine, but this will reach more around 20%ABV. the claim that yeast alone could manage to ferment something to the point of being as strong as hard liquor is, well...pretty hard to swallow. it may be a little stronger than normal wine, in the 16-20%ABV range if a special alcohol-resistant yeast was used, but theres no way its as strong as brandy... this is not to say the wines and meads this person made in the past are not high-quality, but i think some of the claims may be a bit exagerrated.... homebrewing is a terrific hobby for any beer, wine, or mead enthusiast, and i highly recommend it. its fun, educational, artistic, and intoxicatingly enjoyable. i can confidently say there are few joys so great as opening your first bottle of homebrew and pouring yourself a nice big glass of super high quality beer, and the freshest in the world..... i'd even go so far as to say that many, if not MOST, of the best beers and wines in the world are homebrews. homebrewers must satisfy only themselves, and as such are freed from regulations and restrictions on how they must be made and what "style" they must be in....in short, it has the ability to take on a much more creative aspect than even most microbreweries are at liberty to have. i also highly recommend people brew their own, at least once or twice, just for fun. its a highly satisfying and educational hobby. i recommend getting a copy of the complete joy of homebrewing, by charlie papazian...great guide for both beginning and advanced homebrewers. i look forward to the next batch of homebrew i get to make....i'm thinking of trying my hand at something a bit more complex than the last two i made....i did a chocolate stout first, assisted by my father, and then i did a kolsch completely on my own. i'm thinking in a couple weeks about going and getting ingredients for a good beer for the spring months ahead....its about time to start thinking about that....
but while i encourage people to learn more about homebrewing, home distillation (making brandies, rums, whiskies, and so on) is highly illegal in the united states and as such poses a number of serious risks. if one chooses to do this, i definitely recommend thinking long and hard about whether or not you think its worth it....there's plenty of legally distilled and acquired commercial liquors out there with plenty of variety, and it has the added bonus of NEVER potentially blowing you up....if you fuck up a still, it can be physically and legally dangerous.... just something to consider.
I agree, legallity must be considered... there are just left over bottles from when the ex did live here... there hasn't been brewing here in a long while... also, the ex is a cop so I'm sure he had the proper permission to do so.
brewing is perfectly legal unless state or local laws prohibit it. on a national level, anybody is allowed to brew wine, beer, or mead in quantities recognized as for "personal consumption" (i forget how many gallons are allowed, but its hard for a homebrewing hobbyist to exceed it unless they're illegally brewing for commercial purposes) without needing to obtain any permits or licenses. all the equipment and ingredients are also legal. distillation, on the other hand, is a completely different story. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00005171----000-.html
Thanks on the info, you seem well informed... I myself have never brewed anything, I'm just a guest here and have only sampled the home made stuff. The cellar is small and very dusty, it hasn't been functable in several years. I did make a peach daqueri with the mead a few times, it was very good. And the mead seemed to "hit" me faster than the other stuff. i flipped through a book on making wines, and was amazed at how many things you can use, not just fruits, but also flowers, and even vegetables... I saw a wine made from beets... yuk, I bet the creator lived on a beet farm.
i've hear dandelion wine is very nice, but never had it. if you are ever curious about trying to make a beverage of your own, there are a number of different types of liqueurs that are very easy to make.... heres a good guide for beginners: http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs.htm
Funny you mentioned that... its one of the one's I couldn't remember... its down there too...lol. Haven't tried it yet, but looking foward to it. Dandelion wine is also a song from Blackmore's Night, they're a new age and midieval rock band... very good. Check them out.
Ray Bradbury's novel is a classic. The labor involved in taking *that* many dandelion heads is intense. It would definately add to the sweetness of the product.
I used to home brew beer for years, wine and mead take too long for me. I almost made some dandy lion wine before but all the recipes I found were with sugar and I don’t like fermented sugar only natural ones. I’m sure you could make it with honey but honey takes so long to ferment. For people who want to try some mead there is this place in Boulder Colorado called Redstone Meadery if you go and visit them and go on a tour of the place they will let you sample like 10 kinds of mead or more it is very cool and free. They have some good mead all different kinds some that have been aged 3 years or more. I had a lot of fun brewing beer my place is to small now. I would highly recommend it to people curious find a good brew shop and The complete joy of homebrewing, by Charlie Papazian. Beer only takes 30 days so when you brew it every 30 days you get a new batch of beer you made. Very fun after a bit you can work on making your perfect beer. If you have more time to wait you can make wine and mead you can ferment almost anything that has sugar content. If you just want to make a small batch for under $10 you can make some hooch with some juice, sugar and champagne yeast. If you do it right you can make a gallon of 12% hooch for about 50cents. It is some cheap alcohol though you will probably get a hangover. If anyone is interested in making some I will post some instructions, it is some rough stuff but it is fun and cheap and fast, if you have never made alcohol before. Brewing is very fun and educational. .
