/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.311970]

I'm probably gonna try to brew mead this week, does this guy seem to know what he's talking about? He recommends putting the yeast and honey in a 2 liter bottle of distilled water and using a balloon as an airlock. Is this safe or do I need to worry about contaminants? I don't have access to a stove so I can't boil anything.
http://scottdavisanderson.com/blog/do-it-yourself/mead-making-101/

[Anonymous No.311973]

[anonymous asshole No.311974]

>>311970

the most likely thing is it will make vinegar, if the wrong bugs grow. the other thing might be mold. none of it iwll kill you, just taste bad and.or eat the alcohol.

everything's gotta be spotlessly clean (wash your hands). RESIST ALL TEMPTATION TO SAMPLE BEFORE DONE!!!!! (i always fail there :-)

The balloon will pop off, use a water trap. Dont let it go dry.

i made mead as atalented /diy/er it worked once great, next time, vinegar. $SADNESS

[Anonymous No.311976]

>>311974
>everything's gotta be spotlessly clean
So should I just forget about the fruit then? The honey and yeast are going right into the distilled water.

[Anonymous No.311982]

bump

[Anonymous No.311983]

>>311974
wow. How about you tape the fucking balloon on and exercise some willpower.

Just be careful, SANITIZE everything, and you'll be ok. It's not too hard.

[Anonymous No.311994]

>>311983
Cool, thank you.

[Anonymous No.312396]

I tried with ballon but only works properly for smal containers, 2 liters and below, for biger ones you should use a "gadget" as in the picture. the water bottle will prevent gasses from entering brew container but wil not let any air in. you shoul dril holes for the tuber on the conteiner caps, and after everything is set airseal everything with ductape (let only the air-out-tube unsealed. you also shoud try adding your fungus after heating up your "brew mixture" to about 35~40º Celsius. Let your aparatus away from direct light for about a month and get really drunk when averything is done.

[Anonymous No.312400]

>>312396
On the "does not need to be distilled water" note, distilled water will lack minerals yeasts like and need. http://www.antiochsudsuckers.com/tom/brewingwater.htm

[Anonymous No.312413]

if cavemen with little to no sanitation can do it, so can you

[Anonymous No.312455]

ok..
your mead will turn to vinegar only if you let air (or rather oxygen) access the contents of the bottle for about 2 days. Unless the alcohol percentage is high enough to kill the germs producing vinegar.

Baloon airlock is one of the most stupid idea I've heard of. Use any other solution.

Raisins, oranges are just for taste, you can add some other fruits, spices or even herbs, depending what you like.

Usually the mead + water is heated before you add the yast to it. It will work without though.

As with wines, prepare the yast about 2 days earlier. Usually yast is sold in form of dry yast + some nutritives (like dry grapes), you need to put it in water (~0.2l) and wait some time. Once you see the grapes go up/down the container, the yast is ready to go.
This will prevent any other form of life than yast to develop enough to spoil your mead before it gets killed by the alcohol.

You don't need to keep it super-clean or something. However i don't recommend you to take the water from a river nearby ;-)

I hope you know that mead is not sweet but rather sour when it's ready ;-)

[Anonymous No.312457]

>>312400
By clean water it means any clean-enough-to-drink water. but however, wouldn`t the fruits give yeast every thing they need???? I mean besides adding flavor, isn`t it to help the yeast to survive the process??? If not you could brew just water and honey....

[Anonymous No.312473]

>>311970
is that some jenkem op?

[Anonymous No.312491]

>>312457
Yeasts are complex things, they need a lot of different nutrients to do their thing, much like we do. Rule of thumb, so long as the liquid is slightly acidic when you add the yeast, you shouldn't go too far wrong. Yeasts need to have a higher internal pH to take up nutrients and sugars, so this makes things easier for them.

[Anonymous No.312494]

>>312457
you CAN brew just water and honey.

Actually you can brew just water and any sugar. Then distill it ;-)

[Anonymous No.312497]

>>312494
you do NOT distill brew.

but then, >>312455 is wrong about the minerals????

[Anonymous No.312503]

>>312497
No. Honey is acidic, so tada, it gives a decent environment for yeast to take in sugars and make alcohol. Same for grapes or raisins or whatever. If the liquid isn't acidic enough, you have to wait a long time for the yeast to drop the pH and start working, by which time they're pretty stressed out and won't do much. Nutrients and minerals help give the yeast a nice environment that doesn't stress it and lets it do its thing.

[Anonymous No.312543]

why do you guys here on /diy/ always go the shit route when it cums to making mead

if you're going to spend the time & money why not do it the right way

unless your 12 years old
brake the fuck down & go to a brew show & buy the right equipment
6gal food grade bucket like $5 - $6
air lock $2 - $3
{Siphon / carboy / thermometer}
proper yeast

if you don't live by a brew shop most restaurant supply story or even smart & final should carry food grade plastic buckets
air lock / um you're on the internet
+
good mead takes about a year to clear & properly age

[Anonymous No.312598]

>>312455
>your mead will turn to vinegar only if you let air (or rather oxygen) access the contents of the bottle for about 2 days.

No.

You need as much oxygen in the brew when you start it as possible for the first part of fermentation. After that, try to keep any new oxygen from getting in. This aids the yeast in starting and when it uses up all oxygen it begins the alcohol production cycle.

After that point, any new oxygen will merely accelerate the aging process. If it ages for too long then it can create vinegar, but that will be quite a long time.

The normal reason a brew turns to vinegar is because of a bad bacteria infection.

>Baloon airlock is one of the most stupid idea I've heard of. Use any other solution.

It is actually a very good airlock.

>Raisins, oranges are just for taste,

No. The raisins are for the tannins, the oranges for taste.

>Usually the mead + water is heated before you add the yast to it.

No, this destroys the flavors of the honey.

>As with wines, prepare the yast about 2 days earlier.

No, you only need 15 minutes of activation time prior to pitching.

>I hope you know that mead is not sweet but rather sour when it's ready

No, the sweetness depends entirely on the recipe and attenuation. Sourness can be recipe related or contamination related.

[Anonymous No.312599]

>>311974
Jesus, if you don't even know the subject matter why do you even attempt to try to answer it?

>anonymous asshole

>>311970
Seems fine to me, OP.

I have two recommendations.

1: Don't fill the jug up all the way. Leave about 4 inches of air space so that the extra foam caused by the bread yeast will have some place to go and not clog your balloon resulting in a blow out. Keep the jug in your shower/bath tub for at least 2 days.

2: bleach the jug then rinse it out well with boiled and cooled water.

3: after racking it a couple of times, let it age for 1 year for absolute best results.

Compare it to this recipe:

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&Itemid=6&recipe_
id=118

I also agree with using a blow off tube like in the pic here, >>312396 bread yeasts create more CO2 than normal and more bubbles/foam as a result. So, they have a higher chance of blowing out.

[Anonymous No.312700]

Directions are solid enough, but there are a few points to stress.

The honey must be unprocessed. When they fuck with it, it gains and loses properties that are vital to the process of making mead. In the end, you'll be sitting with a mess that kind of resembles mead, but not really.

If you can find it, I'd also suggest going for clover honey, which is basically a batch of honey made by bees that were only really allowed near fields of clover. I haven't tried it with any other variety, but I've been fairly pleased with the results. You're free to experiment, of course, and I'd suggest trying new things when you feel comfortable enough with the basics.

As for those saying that the balloon airlock is a terrible idea, they may have a better alternative with the water airlock, as seen here: >>312396. I've never tried it, myself, and it may be far more effective. I've never had a batch go bad on me before with the balloon trick, but anecdotal evidence is about as useful as beating a dead horse. For portability and ease of keeping the mix in a cool, dark place? I'd go with the balloon. If you're feeling frisky, go for his idea. There are no wrong paths, only more adventures.

Finally, aerate your mixture. When you've got your ingredients together in the jug, cap it and shake that bitch. Shake it like it owes you money. Open the cap, close it again, and shake it one more time. This will allow oxygen into the mix, and give you the added benefit of being somewhat fun.

Patience.

[Anonymous No.312740]

>>312543 i'm back don't use bleach even though there are chlorine based sanitizers used for home brewing laundry bleach will get the job done but is far from your best choice if you do use it use an unscented one & dilute it or go to walmart & buy a generic bottle of betadine/povidone iodine even straight 91% rubbing/isopropyl alcohol would be better than bleach & don't use bread yeast you're not making a fuck loaf of bread 100 times better results the honey to water ratio in your must is the main factor that will determine the sweetness i do 2gals honey to 3gals water but the type of yeast you use will also play a part liquid yeast is better than dry imio ale yeast has a lower alcohol tolerance & will produce a sweeter mead wine yeast has a higher tolerance & will ge dryer i liquid wine or champagne yeast the yeast you use will also affect the fermentation time alcohol kills yeast that's what stops fermentation mead made with wine yeast will ferment longer than mead made with ale yeast sure you can pour some honey & yeast into a gallon of water but you might as well just make pruno prison wine for the ones who haven't been there 1st tasted / learned about the sweet amber that is mead partying at a renfaire late 80s & have been brewing it for a good 16 years now & i can tell you anything you make in a water bottle is shit and not mead brewing mead is a skill & art form & takes time & practice to prefect u lazy mother fuckers if you're a little wantabe bitch ass home brew fag & want to do it cheap & fast with shit your mommy will by you here you go http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruno http://www.blacktable.com/gillin030901.htm / wtf they forgot the bread {yeast} ???
my mead recipe or at least one of my faves 2gals of organic orange blossom honey 3gals bottled/filtered water 1 test tube liquid wine yeast fresh squeezed lemon juice

[Anonymous No.312765]

>>312740
Completely ignore this green text section troll crap. Half the "info" in it is just made up bullshit the rest is biased opinion.

[Anonymous No.312897]

>>312765
hey make your ghetto mead
don't give a shit / not like i'm drinking it

but stop reading all the web bs & talk to a brew master or at least some one who works a brew shop or do some real research
&
we'll see who's righ & who's wrong

enjoy you ghetto ass prison wine

[Anonymous No.312899]

http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com/CAGM/guide_to_mead.html

http://www.makemead.net/brewingbasics.aspx

[Anonymous No.312926]

I have no exp in mead production.
I have a lot of exp in making wine. I've been doing wine for last 6 years (mainly out of grapes, sometimes red-+black-currant, dog rose, and once of quince).

>>312598
As for wines: the 'instant' liquid yast SUCK. Never use it. It should be ready in 15 minutes, but usually it just fails.
The image is an example yast I use (for red wine), if you understood polish you could read that even on the label it states 2-4 days. They also recommend adding some ammonia phosphate, but I never do.

Buy some fucking fermentation lock. Baloon? What's an idea is that?

Vinegar IS a bacteria infection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetic_acid_bacteria)), however these bacteria need OXYGEN to turn alcohol into acid.
No way you can avoid the infection. However alcohol can kill these bacteria.
Again, if you understand polish, you can read about it here: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentacja_octowa
That's why you use an airlock (!)

As far as I know, the mead may either be heated or not, the first is called in polish 'sycone', the other 'niesycone'.
I tasted some mead, but it NEVER was sweet. At least the traditional polish mead is not sweet.

[Anonymous No.312970]

>>312897
I am a brew master. I'm not the OP.

>enjoy you ghetto ass prison wine

You don't even know the difference between pruno (prison wine) and hobo wine. Why should we listen to you?

>>312926
>yast

It is correctly spelled, "yeast", in English, fyi.

The balloon IS the airlock.

Mead is merely a type of alcoholic beverage and it has tons of different styles, flavors, and variations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead#Varieties

[Anonymous No.313002]

>>311970
wtf is with everyone making mead? does it even taste good? what does it taste like?

[Anonymous No.313014]

Mead takes so freaking long that anything outside of real carboys/real airlocks is probably not going to turnout good at all.
I've made batches of hard Apple Cider and fruit juice/yeast batches with a paper towel underneath the hole-drilled cap, but since those all took ~2 weeks they turned out fine.
Mead, on the other hand, takes upwards of 6 months, on a mininum, to around 2 years for fully mellowed out mead.

My honest advice is don't even attempt mead in such a makeshift bottle. If you are serious about making mead, get a good carboy, real wildflower honeys, and make sure as HELL you clean the hell out of that with disinfectant sprays like Easy Clean.
Mead sits so long that bacteria, etc. can easily get into it and begin souring the batch, so seriously don't do mead unless you're really going all the way.

for the record I've made two 3-gallon batches of mead in the past and they tasted great, but again they took upwards of 1 year each.

[Anonymous No.313021]

just do what >>312599 said and use >>312396 scheme, nothing could go wrong with >>312396 drawing.

[Anonymous No.313022]

>>312497
Why can't you distill brew?

[Anonymous No.313042]

>>312497

>you do NOT distill brew

Yeah... uh huh

[Anonymous No.313050]

>>312700

Fucking this!

You have to have honey that's labelled as "raw" honey. It's fairly easy to find. You can swing by a farmer's market (depending on where you live), my grocery store actually carries raw honey, health food stores usually carry raw honey, or you can always swing by this link:

http://www.roundrockhoney.com/

and pick up some raw honey.

[Anonymous No.313068]

I get some bomb ass unprocessed honey from my local co-op when I make mead. Whenever someone buys 15 pounds of honey with food stamps people get all butthurt cause their tax dollars are buying my alcohol, but co-op people don't mind as much. I consider it potential job training or skill development...
1. If you are going to invest the money in honey, get a proper airlock, its a dollar or two. Same goes for yeast.
2. Mead will not taste like it should for 2 years so when its done and bottled, but it in a dark basement corner and forget about it.

[Anonymous No.313073]

>>313022
>>313042
distill brew and it is no more brew, it`s cognac, vermute, rum, cachaca or whatever post fermented distilled beverage, when monks started to distill things all the berserkness and manliness from brew was lost. brew was a mixe from rotten fruits wich happened to ferment with the yeast they already had when gathered (dirty on on peels) while kept on a relatively sealed envirorment, this is how barbarians, egyptians, vikings an so more other culture started to brew.

[Anonymous No.313074]

It will work, i have made 3 batches. i would recommend letting it sit for 3 to 6 months. Dont fuck with it while its working. When you decide to drink it make sure it strain it out, there are a lot of floaty things. We used cheese cloth in a strainer, and must have done it 6 times. Over all its a fun experience and the mead will get you FUCKED UP. If you mess up dont let it discourage you, it only costs about 10 dollars to make so you can give it another go.

[Anonymous No.313086]

>>313074
>>313073
>>312599
thats the spirit, give it a try. it`s cheap however and will be lots of fun getting drunk from a brew you brew. use the bottle thing idea from >>312396 .

[313190 No.313208]

bumping for interest.

[Anonymous No.313234]

sure you can do you're little bs water jug wantabe shit mead and it will turn in to alcohol and get you drunk

but it's shit compared to mead that's been properly mixed spiced racked bottled and aged

it's like bud that's been quick dried in a microwave instead of properly dried cured
shit

making a good batch of mead takes about two years from start to finish

don't know why you people even bother to waste your time with or try to help out these little under aged fucktards that are trying to get
at least i hope anyone that's try to brew in a water jug with a balloon is an under aged fucktards because if they are adults they're big fucktards
brake down and spend the $20 {if that} to buy the proper equipment and do it right

[Anonymous No.313249]

>>313234
ditto...
any true mead brewer would laugh in your faces

[Anonymous No.313277]

What's up with all this balloon nonsense? An airlock costs like $3. I know it's /diy/, but come the fuck on. You're grown men and you don't live in a prison.

[Tepache !aO5Mv7EC6. No.313276]

>>313249
I certainly wouldn't. A few simple extra steps like clearing, racking, and aging go a long way with any brew; from hobo to award winning. It would seem most of you would be very amazed with what can be brewed on the stingiest of brewing capital. I know I have been.

The only real thing hobo recipes lack most of the time is consistency because there is almost always substitutions between batches.

Those that cry foul the loudest seem to be the most inexperienced with most forms of brewing except their own singular experiences and methods.

[Anonymous No.313294]

>>313277
blow-off tube > 3-peice bubbler airlock > S-style airlock > pin-pricked balloon > loose cap > napkin > nothing

The last 3 are a recipe for disaster. The others are fine for pretty much anything really. The fist one is best for anything you throw at it.

[Anonymous No.313336]

>>No.313276

i agree with you
we're pretty much saying the same thing

i didn't say you couldn't do it that it wouldn't work

you can but you don't have to blow a ton of $$$
you can do it on the cheap

but why do it 1/2 ass
when like you said the difference in shit ghetto mead & a fine mead is just a few simple steps

keeping it simple an airlock rubber stopper & a 6gal bucket wont run you more that about $10 - $12 at a brew shop & all of that can be reused
if you don't want to make a 5gal batch than get a 1gal carboy or smaller food grade plastic bucket
&
a better sanitizers than bleach can be bought for around the same price if not less than a gallon of bleach

when i see posts like this the first thing that come to mind is some 15 year old that's trying to get drunk & heard if you mix water yeast & honey & put a balloon over it you can make vine

if you are an adult
then you're just a lazy mother fucker

peace...

[Anonymous No.313560]

bump to watch you dumb asses argue some more

[Anonymous No.313813]

>>313276
Holy shit! It's Tepache! Yes. Anyone thinking of looking into brewing, anything this kind anon says can be taken as law. Seriously, I've missed the brewing threads that used to be on /ck/ for weeks at a time.

That said, balloons work fine as an airlock. Look up Joe's ancient orange mead. It's an awesome newbie mead. Age it 6 to 8 months, and it starts to taste really good.

[Anonymous No.313821]

>>313813
and you can use duct tape to hold the bumper on you car on
doesn't mean it the right/proper equipment
might as well use a used condom for an air lock well you're at it

[Anonymous No.313828]

>>313821
Heh, not unheard of. The cool thing about balloons and condoms is the latex closes back around the hole, keeping shit out till pressure is applied. Outside pressure isn't enough to get in, co2 from fermentation is enough to get out. Ok... Not cool with condoms, in certain scenarios.

Honestly, I suggest balloons to every person just starting. I hate spending money on something that's meant for one purpose, if I don't know if I'm going to like the associated hobby. 20$ at a brew store for "proper equipment" is 18$ more than I needed to spend to find out if I'd even like brewing. Hell, my first patch of chainmaille was some rusty wire my grandparents let me take, the rings wound around an old rod from a crib. Loved it. Started ordering rings. "proper equipment is good if you know you're gonna be doing it for a while. But "works" is awesome for finding out if you even enjoy the hobby.

[Anonymous No.313829]

>>313821
Oops. Distracted and posting from my phone. Lol. Please, don't use a used condom. Haha. I missed that very key word.

[Anonymous No.313830]

Oh, Tepache. I hope you meander back this way. I need that queen Anne's lace wine recipe. I tried to find it in one of the 150 or whatever archives, but my personal copies were corrupt, and the online copies seem to be missing a number of archives. Any chance you can just post it here?

[Tepache !aO5Mv7EC6. No.313841]

>>313830
This one? That reminds me, I need to rack the current one and put it into long term aging. You can modify the recipes. The flowers are merely for flavoring and phytochemicals.

The archives are in /rs/ under,

Tepache Brewing Archive 001.part1.rar
Tepache Brewing Archive 001.part2.rar
Tepache Brewing Archive 001.part3.rar
Tepache Brewing Archive 001.part4.rar

The old original recipe was a country wine and not a mead,

16 cups boiling water
1 banana (pureed)
15oz raisins (pureed)
5 cups sugar
1 gallon Queen Anne’s Lace flowers
1 package bread yeast

The image here is the latest one for mead.

[Tepache !aO5Mv7EC6. No.313847]

>>313841
>pic

Terrible typos everywhere. I must have been taste testing that day...

[Anonymous No.313863]

>>313841
Yeah, I wanted the wine. I remember you and someone else talking about it being one hell of an aphrodisiac for women. Or, seemed to be anyway, and have been meaning to try it out for that reason, to be honest. What can I say, I'm a pervert. Heh.

Saved the mead recipe, though. Awesome looking.

[Anonymous No.313864]

Another problem with balloons is that water vapor tends to build up inside them,and bacteria and other airborne nasties can use that to get into your brew.

I can buy a proper airlock for $1.50(airlock and bung),so why not?

>>313022
>>313042
Well for one it is illegal to do so most places,and secondly because you might end up poisoning yourself. You may be perfectly fine doing it,but it's like running a chainsaw or any other power equipment with the safeties disabled. You may be fine 99% of the time,but that 1% comes along and you're fucked.

There is usually methanol in some homebrews(depends on what's in it,how it was made,etc) but it's not in a very high concentration,so your body is able to handle it at the rate you consume it. Let's say there is enough methanol in 5 gallons to blind you,that's only 2ml for every gallon,or fractions of a drop per every wine bottle. If you distill that 5 gallons down to 1 gallon,then you have milliliters per bottle,and it's bad.

If you have the proper equipment and know how,it's safe. If you can do temperature control,you can get rid of the stuff you don't want,and end up with something perfectly fine. It's just the people who don't want to spend the dollar on an airlock that also want to distill I worry about.

[Anonymous No.313887]

>>313864
Lol, there's methanol in every brew. From bud light to the best award winning homebrew, to every commercially distill spirit.

You're right, though. In any brew, the concentration is negligible. In a distillate, with proper heat control after a stripping run on a still, I believe it's the first cup or so that comes out like that. I'd have to double check.

The idea that using a balloon is ghetto, cheap, or as unsanitary as you try to make it seem is ridiculous. It works as well as an airlock. Hell, what's to stop the water in your airlock from growing algae? Dont get me wrong; if you enjoy the hobby, spend some cash to make your life easier, but if you're experimenting to find out, well... Experiment.

Ps. Even if your brew was somehow contaminated from using an evil balloon, you'd know right away. And the chances of it happening are quite slim.

[Anonymous No.313973]

I agree if you're just starting out & don't know if you're really into the hobby or not you don't want to spend a ton of cash

But come on
We're not talk about 100s of dollars
We're talking about like $10 for a simple basic set up

List from http://www.homebrewit.com/

5 Gallon pail with lid - HDPE 2 Food Grade - Item #GK5GFGWL - $5.95 {Cheaper if you go with a smaller container}
Three Piece Airlock - Item #4600 - $0.76 [Less than a bag of balloons at a 99cent store}
Pure Gum Rubber Stopper / Bung / Drilled with hole - Item #4608 - $0.40
Sodium Metabisulfite - Sanitizer - 2 oz {makes 1gal} - Item #6010A - $0.99 {Cheaper than most gallons of bleach}
Muntons Standard Yeast (6g) - Item #2290 - $1.15 {The same price or less than bread yeast at a grocery store}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
= $9.25

The honey & bottles will are going to cost you more than anything else
5gals = about 25 bottles of wine

[Anonymous No.313988]

>>No.313973
PS~ If you can't afford $10 on equipment to start a new hobby so you can do it the right way you might want to find another hobby
But good luck finding one that's going to cost you less than a 10 spot

[Anonymous No.314002]

>>312413
Yeah... but just imagine how many times they fucked up and ugg made crugg test it resulting crugg's death and ugg getting crugg's wife ogga

[Anonymous No.314037]

>>314002
12 year old fucktard
doesn't your mommy know you're playing on the interweb again

[Anonymous No.314051]

http://www.brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/10_toc.html

OP, Get a hotplate. Don't settle for prison brew.

[Anonymous No.314080]

>>312740
There's something called punctuation; You should use it sometime. Ugh.

[Anonymous No.314086]

Whoa OP, are you making Jenkem?

[Anonymous No.314201]

Never, EVER, put oranges in your mead. Whoever thought that was funny congratulations, it worked.

[Anonymous No.314209]

Pure Gum Rubber Stopper / Bung / Drilled with hole - Item #4608 - $0.40
Bung / Drilled with hole
Bung With Hole
Bung Hole
$0.40
Now that's a deal
Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole
Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole Bung Hole

[Anonymous No.314219]

>>No.313973
I'm Sold... Check out the website plus a few other ones... Didn't realize that shit was so cheap... Although shipping kind of fucks up the curve... Will probably order an airlock online... I know I can get a rubber stopper (Bung Hole / LOL) at HomeDepot and going to check uot Smart & Final for a plastic bucket... Going to do this shit up right...

[Anonymous No.314222]

>>314002
now i get it

[Anonymous No.314234]

>>No.314219
that's what i've been trying to say all a long
why go ghetto when you can do it right for like 10 bux
shipping's going to fuck that up but
but that's life

if there's a home brew shop around you & you tell them you're a noob & buy everything at once they'll usually knock off a few bux & ring the sale up as a kit or even kick you down a thing or two or upgrade you to something a little better for free
at lease the one i go to are cool like that

if you don't have one near you
if you're diy i'm sure you can figure something out

[Anonymous No.314235]

>>313828

A package a ballons costs like $3, I can buy an airlock for like $1.50.

Just buy a fucking airlock, it's less of a chance of waiting 10 months to find out you accidentally a whole 5 gallons of honey-vinegar rather than mead.

[Anonymous No.314236]

>>313887

If you use vodka or gin in the airlock, you won't have any algae or bacterial baddies growing in the airlock.

[Anonymous No.314237]

>>314236
Bacterias feed on ethylic alcohol dumbass.
A drop of bleach is what you want.

[Anonymous No.314278]

>>313014
How did your primary/secondary work out? I've had 5 gallons of mead in secondary going on 3 months now, was thinking of bottling it this weekend until I read this.

[Anonymous No.314284]

>>314237

They won't live in normal 40% or so vodka.
Your drop of bleach does the job, too. No idea how long it stays effective, though.

[Anonymous No.314303]

/shrug. I stand by balloons. I used them quite a lot. In fact, I forgot about 4 1/2 gallon carboys of mead (experiments in tastes and stuff) that I used balloons on. Turned out delicious, awesome, and not one was soured. Some need more aging, and perhaps the flavors won't work, but... The balloons worked great for 6 months.

Buy an airlock, I do agree. But, it isn't "necessary". Preferred, maybe, but it isn't "necessary".

[Anonymous No.314309]

>>314201
Joe's Ancient Orange Cinnamon and Clove Mead recipe calls for whole oranges. It turns out really awesome too.

What is your problem with it?

[Anonymous No.314310]

>>314219
>>314234
>>313988
>>313336
For fuck sake, remove the "No." in front of your quote numbers. Look at everyone elses'.

[Anonymous No.314311]

>>313973
>$9.25

Plus $16 in shipping.

$25.25

[Anonymous No.314314]

>>314278
Not him, but go ahead and bottle it. Your brew will age faster in smaller containers, but won't be as consistent as when aged in one large container.

[Anonymous No.314404]

dam you guys are a bunch of cheap ass lazy /diy/ers
even at $25 with shipping / must tools cost more than that
+ everything is reusable so it's a one time investment that you can resell as a kit on like
craigslist if you decide you're not into it

other than the airlock which I'm sure your not going to find anywhere other than a brew shop
you can easily scavenge the other stuff
a 5gal plastic or glass water jug
restaurant supply stores sell food grade plastic buckets
or
do some diy dumpster diving behind restaurants or bakeries
restaurant get food in 3gal & bakeries don't crack eggs 1 by 1 they get them in 5gal buckets
&
if you asked i'm sure they would give any empty ones they had for free since they just toss them out

beside if you're not willing to drop $10 to $25 on equipment are you really going to spend $30 to $45 on a gallon of honey 'cause that shit's not cheap (X 2 for a 5gal batch)

i think not

[Anonymous No.314418]

+ after fermenting
you're going to need
another container & a siphon for racking
&
bottles
about a buck a pop for cheap ones by the case on up for nicer one
&
if you don't get flip top ones you're also going to have to buy
corks & wire twist downs
or
caps & a hand held or table top press (caper)

so just make your wantabe ghetto ass mead

[Anonymous No.314422]

Does honey really cost that much?

[Anonymous No.314503]

has anyone ever tried the apple cider one thats being spread around? does it really take 2 months to get to 14% and the napkin thing seems a bit off

[EXTREMESPEED SLOWPOKE !SLOWqJ5Loo!!qgq8WNLZtxa No.314526]

>>314503
bump, I've been wanting to try this one out.

[Anonymous No.314532]

>>314503
sanitize everything, use montrachet wine yeast, rack into a secondary after initial fermentation and use a real airlock and it'll be good.

[Anonymous No.314534]

>>314503
Wouldn't you have to prep the yeast first or can you really just dump it in and shake it?

[Anonymous No.314540]

>>314503
Put an airlock/balloon with a few holes over the top of it and it'll ferment, give it a few hours and the guy screaming about how this image is a troll will give the version with the airlock

[Anonymous No.314542]

>>314534
Made some kilju for shits and giggles, didn't need to activate the yeast but activating the yeast is always a better idea.

[Anonymous No.314568]

Sweet. I just started a jug of mead with strawberry. My last batch had apple and turned out pretty damn good.

[Anonymous No.314571]

>>314503
>>314526

[Anonymous No.314635]

Actually, it looks like an apfelwien recipe, just overly sweet, probably to kick the abv up. Agreed about sanitization and airlock, but to be honest, if you bought one of those 5 gallon jugs from home depot, and used apple juice concentrate, it'd probably be fine. Just reduce the 10 cups to whatever 2 pounds is. Pop a balloon on it. You don't have to rack it, but it'll be pretty harsh without *some* aging. But, if you're just looking to get drunk, you won't care.