Begin Brewing!

Label Peelers had a sale on hemp for homebrewing purposes a few weeks back, and I picked up a package of their Hawaiian Haze hemp variety.  It should be noted that this is NOT a variety of marijuana, but a legal hemp product that does not contain the psychoactive compound THC which causes the "high" feeling but does contain some amount of CBD (which does not get a person high but purports to have anti-inflammatory and other health benefits).  I'd had a commercial beer flavored with some hemp compounds and thought it was interesting, so I decided to try such a beer for myself... because I can. According to the label on the package of hemp, it contains less than 0.3% THC and 14.3% CBD.  I added a half ounce to this three gallon recipe, with a small amount going in early in the boil to release CBD and the rest going in at whirlpool to release flavor and aroma compounds (and probably a lesser amount of CBD). The base recipe here started out as an American Homebrewers Associat...

While watching an episode of Moonshiners recently, I saw Mark Ramsey and Digger Manes create a moonshine mash using nothing more than cans of Mandarin Oranges, sugar, and yeast.  Mark and Digger had a problem with their mash, however, in that they did not account for the acidic content of the oranges.  This acidity caused the yeast to go dormant or die out.  To counteract that, they added baking soda (and maybe some fresh yeast) to jump-start the fermentation.  When a nearby grocery chain had a deal on Mandarin Oranges, I decided to try making a mandarin orange wine myself. Ingredients 5 cans (15 oz. each) of Mandarin Oranges in light syrup 1/2 tsp. Gypsum 1/2 tsp. Yeast nutrient 8 pounds of table sugar (cane sugar) 2 gallons of RO water heated to 150F 2.5 tsp. baking soda (see Post-Brew Notes and Observations) 1 Tbsp. DADY (distiller's yeast) Enough additional RO water to reach 5 gallons in the fermenter Brewing process: Clean and sanitize the fermenter Begin heatin...

I'm doing yet another batch of Rice Wine since I still have plenty of rice and Angel Yeast on hand.  I had some issues with the last batch that I want to be sure I've sorted out. Ingredients 15 pounds of Kroger-brand long-grain White Rice 40 grams of yellow-label Angel Yeast 1/2 tsp. Gypsum 1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient (Fermaid O) 3 gallons of RO water, heated to 177F Additional RO water to get to 5 gallons of fermenter volume As with previous batches, the process for this one is: Heat 3 gallons of RO water to 177F Place 15 pounds of rice in a sanitized fermenter Pour the heated water over the rice and let it sit for at least one hour (I did overnight) Add cold water to the 5-5.5 gallon mark in the fermenter When the temp is 90F, add the Angel yeast and stir well Clean and sanitize your stirrer, you'll need it later Seal the fermenter and hold temp at 90F For days 1-3, stir the contents of the fermenter twice daily with the cleaned and sanitized spoon.  After day 3, leave the fe...