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First steps 2013

Rose hips

2013/11/26 There is 9.8kg in the plastic container. I think I will shake them portion-wise in the white colander to filter away the leftovers, petals etc. I'm betting on that it'll come off easier when they're frozen. I'm thinking the hip-wall needs softening, that is what seem to happen in nature when they're left in the colder weather. They soften inside and the skin/wall grows soft too.

2013/11/27 I shook the frozen rosehips to try to shake off the dirt, this was somewhat successful. Then I rinsed them with the showerhead. Then I cooked them at low temp for about an hour.

They went quite soft. I reused the water 3litres twice, then added 2kg of sugar and put it back in the vat. I also took about 200ml and added 5ml of the yeast for a starter.

2013/11/28 I added 1L of water and 1kg of sugar, so 4litres and 3kg in total. I also moved to a 30L vat, the 15L vat seemed to have too little room on the top. Total weight = 9.8+4+3 = 17kg.

2013/11/29 Have added in the starter, put on the airlock and moved the vat into the boiler-room. This is going to be interesting. 16:50 Saw a bubble from the hips.

2013/12/01 there is pressure in the rosehips, but no sustained bubbling.

2013/12/02 the rosehips have started to bubble slowly.

2013/12/8 rosehips are bubbling steadily, three times faster than pearjuice and -mash.
2013/12/16 rosehips are bubbling steadily.
2013/12/28 rosehips are bubbling steadily.
2014/6/1 rosehips bubbling slowly.
2014/1/13 rosehips are bubbling. 
2014/1/14 rosehips bubbling. 
2014/1/20 rosehips bubbling.

2014/02/02 rosehips bubbling.

2014/09/13 the rosehips have stopped bubbling long ago. I am wondering if adding some pektinase now might change anything? Hmm, apparently rose hips do not contain any pektin. Maybe give them a good stir with the drill?

Birnebrand 2014

I have about 25kilo schwarze Johannisbeeren, frozen for about two weeks. Thawing took a while, but they're hovering on the stove slowly warming up. I bought a bohrmaschine Rührer to help mash the berries.

The paint is coming off the Rührer, I won't be using that anymore. Will need plastic or galvanized steel.

Vat I - johannisbeer+pear, 5+5L

Vat #1 is a 15L vat.

5kg Johannisbeer, 5L pearjuice and 4kg sugar = 15.2kg.

2014/08/09 Start.

2014/08/27 Bubbling happily.

2014/09/16 seems to have pretty much stopped bubbling. Probably the odd bubble every 5 minutes.

2014/09/23 There is some pressure, maybe a bubble every hour, I don't know. It interesting to note that vats I-III with the mix have mostly stopped fermenting, whereas vat IV with plain juice is still going.

Vat II - johannisbeer+pear, 5+5L

Vat #2 is a 15L vat.

5kg Johannisbeer, 5L pearjuice and 4kg sugar. Weight 15.0kg.

2014/08/09 Start.

2014/08/27 Bubbling happily.

2014/09/16 seems to have pretty much stopped bubbling. Probably the odd bubble every 5 minutes.

2014/09/23 There is some pressure, maybe a bubble every hour, I don't know.

Vat III - johannisbeer+pear, 7.5+3L

Vat #3 is a 15L vat.

7.5kg Johannisbeer, 3L pearjuice and 4kg sugar = 15.4kg.

2014/08/09 Started bubbling.

2014/08/27 Bubbling happily.

2014/09/16 seems to have pretty much stopped bubbling. Probably the odd bubble every 5 minutes.

2014/09/23 There is some pressure, maybe a bubble every hour, I don't know.

Vat IV

2014/08/12 I extracted about 10-11L of juice from the rest of the pears and added 4kg of sugar, stirred well with the drill. Now bubbling happily.

2014/08/27 Bubbling happily.

2014/09/16 Still bubbling steadily.

2014/09/23 Still bubling, albeit slowly.

Vat V - birnetrester, frozen+fresh

No. 5 is a 30L vat. It's got the remnants of

• 15kg fresh+squeezed pears, also pureed in Nadine's Champion juicer,
• 15kg fresh+squeezed pears
• 2 x 15kg of frozen+squeezed

Approx 30kg mash in total, it's pretty much full.

2014/09/06 Have added 10ml pektinase diluted in 100ml water to the trester. The first part had already started fermenting, and smelled like acetone.

2014/09/07 Added yeast from a starter made with 2ml from the bottle.

2014/09/10 Added 2L water and 2kg of sugar.

2014/09/10 Bubbling violently, almost overflowing.

2014/09/11 Still bubbling a lot, did not overflow sofar.

2014/09/12 The overflow risk is due to air (CO2) from below pushing up the mash.

2014/09/14 still bubbling a lot, the vat is full, overflow risk still real.

2014/09/23 Has not yet overflowed, I should be getting an airlock today.

Vat VI - birnetrester, frozen only

No. 6 is a 30L VAT. I've kept the squeezed pears in this, only from frozen batches. I am debating whether or not to add pektinase before starting to ferment it.

2014/09/12 It has started to produce the acetone-like smell, nothing has been added sofar.

2014/09/13 Weight is about 15kg. Have added 10ml pektinase diluted in 150ml of water. Expect to add last 5kg of trester tomorrow.

2014/09/14 Have added most of the left over from squeezing the last 15kg. Also added another 10ml pektinase diluted in 100ml of water, 2L of water with 2kg of sugar and the yeast starter.

2014/09/15 Have added another 2L of water with 2kg of sugar.

2014/09/18 Bubbling nicely. Still smells strongly of acetone. Very sharp smell, it "bites".

2014/09/23 Bubbling steadily.

Vat VII - birnemost

No. 7 is the 100L VAT I got at the Landi moving sale last year in Egg.

I'm filling it up slowly with pear juice and sugar. It started fermenting by itself fairly quickly; next time I'll add my Brennmaischhefe right away. I've worked out that to make 95L @ 20% alcohol, I need 80L of juice plus 27kg sugar. I'm guessing that I should be subtracting the sugar content of the juice, but I don't have an oechsle (refracto-)meter.

2014/09/12 Status: 67L of juice, 23kg sugar mixed in. Have another 15kg of pear defrosting, should be ready for Sunday.

2014/09/14 Have added the rest, status appears to be 79L of juice with 27kg of sugar. The vat is full, it even spilled over a bit when I added the last 2+2. Just be careful and add the last liters slowly.

2014/09/19 Continues to bubble nicely.

2014/09/23 Has been bubbling in little strings of bubbles for a few days. One sets off a string.

2014/10/02 The tap on the end broke and started leaking juice, albeit very little. I had to half empty the vat (into whatever containers were available), then tip it and replace the tap. Bit of a mess. I'm fairly certain it was due to my screwing the tap on to tight.

2014/10/03 Still bubbling.