Personal pages/First steps 2013

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.

2013/12/08 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.

2014/06/01 rosehips bubbling slowly.

2014/01/13 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?

2016/10/30 I took a little sampling of the juice to see if it might useful as colouring. I also measured the sugar, 70+ !!! Have taken a bit of the juice and added .5ml og yeast.
2016/11/06 Added 6litres of water today, seemed to have produced a bit of pressure, although not enough to cause bubbles. I though the maische might be too acidic for the yeast to work, so I added the water to dilute. I also added water to the yeats starter from above.
2016/11/07 added 3 litres of water, produced bubbles when I swirled it strongly.
2016/11/09 there is pressure on the airlock, and it has bubbled. There is also condensation, which suggests heat production in the mash.
2016/11/11 definitely bubbles. Observed 4-5 over a couple of minutes.
2016/11/12 steady bubbles, 9/minute.
2016/11/20 steady bubbles, less frequent.
2016/11/21 I noticed many hips rising to the surface, apparently full of air or CO2. I used the drill with the paint stirrer to mash up the hips into a pulp.
2016/11/22 Gave it another go with the drill and the paint stirrer.
2016/11/27 still pressure on the airlock, many bubbles after giving it a swirl. Checked the sugar the other day, around 40.
2017/03/18 Felt like many whole hips had sunk to the bottom. Gave it another go with the drill and the paint stirrer. Still bubbling slowly.

Mirabelle

2015/09/16 I am retro-adding this as I didn't write up much when I did the first steps. From the fruit picked up over at Lydia's place, I had one batch of mirabelle. After fermenting and distilling once, I added more sugar and water and left it to ferment a second time. See below for details on the distillation.

Elderberry/holunder

2015/09/19 I am retro-adding this as I didn't write up much when I did the first steps. The elderberry spent 18 months maturing in a bottle (since Feb 2014). It has come out very nice, nice nose, nice taste.