Wine and Beer Vacation

What's a wine and beer vacation? Well for me, it is taking the next 3 weeks off from blogging to slow down, drink some wine and beer and enjoy the Holiday season. After 14 months of writing articles, I'm pretty well spent. It also doesn't help that I'm working 60 -70 hours a week and my wife is going through chemotherapy.

I do plan on working on some new articles and such, but won't post them until the new year. So, I'll see you next year.

Enjoy your holidays.

Give generously to those less fortunate.

P.S. - Here are some links to some interesting articles.

Is your holiday cheer hot mulled wine or cold, strong beer?

American Homebrewers Association Sees Surge in Homebrewing

Students get credit for learning the fine art of brewing

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Beer, Homebrewing, Winemaking, Vacation, Christmas

Paw Paw Wine

I don't know what inspired me to post a recipe on Paw Paw wine. Maybe it was because I had one about a year ago and enjoyed the flavor? Or, maybe it was because I wanted to post something a little different? Who knows. Well the recipe is listed below and right after that is a little description from Kentucky State University about paw paws.

PAWPAW WINE

* 2-3 lbs ripe pawpaws
* 2 lbs granulated sugar
* 7 pts water
* 1-1/2 tsp citric acid
* 1 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1/2 tsp grape tannin
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast


Put water on to boil. Meanwhile, peel the fruit and cut into pieces. Put fruit in nylon straining bag, tie closed, and place bag in primary. Mash fruit in bag, pour sugar over fruit and, when boiling, pour water over that. Cover primary and set aside to cool. When room temperature, add all ingredients except yeast. Recover and set aside 12 hours. Add yeast. When the must is fermenting vigorously, stir twice daily for 7 days. Drain bag and squeeze gently to extract most juice and flavor, then transfer juice to secondary. Fit airlock and set aside for 2 months. Rack into sterilized secondary, top up and refit airlock. Rack again after 3 months, top up and refit airlock. Check wine for clarity after additional 3 months. If wine has not cleared, fine with gelatin, wait two weeks, and rack into bottles. Age additional 6-12 months.

From Kentucky State University

The pawpaw is the largest edible fruit that is native to the United States. Pawpaws are indigenous to 26 states in the U.S., in a range extending from northern Florida to southern Ontario and as far west as eastern Nebraska. They have provided delicious and nutritious food for Native Americans, European explorers and settlers, and wild animals. They are still being enjoyed in modern America, chiefly in rural areas. There are 27 varieties (Table 1) currently available from more than 50 commercial nurseries in the U.S.

Most enthusiasts agree that the best way to enjoy pawpaws is to eat them raw, outdoors, picked from the tree when they are perfectly ripe. But there are also numerous ways to use them in the kitchen and extend the enjoyment of their tropical flavor beyond the end of the harvest season.

The unique flavor of the fruit resembles a blend of various tropical flavors, including banana, pineapple, and mango. The flavor and custard-like texture make pawpaws a good substitute for bananas in almost any recipe. The common names, 'poor man's banana,' 'American custard apple,' and 'Kentucky banana' reflect these qualities.

Pawpaw's beautiful, maroon colored flowers appear in the spring, and the clusters of fruit ripen in the fall. The Kentucky harvest season is from late August to mid-October. Ripe pawpaw fruits are easily picked, yielding to a gentle tug. Shaking the tree will make them fall off. (If you try this, don't stand under the fruit clusters, and don't say we didn't warn you.) Ripeness can also be gauged by squeezing gently, as you would judge a peach. The flesh should be soft, and the fruit should have a strong, pleasant aroma. The skin color of ripe fruit on the tree ranges from green to yellow, and dark flecks may appear, as on bananas. The skin of picked or fallen fruit may darken to brown or black.

Fully ripe pawpaws last only a few days at room temperature, but may be kept for a week in the refrigerator. If fruit is refrigerated before it is fully ripe, it can be kept for up to three weeks, and can then be allowed to finish ripening at room temperature. Ripe pawpaw flesh, with skin and seeds removed, can be pureed and frozen for later use. Some people even freeze whole fruits.

Pawpaws are very nutritious fruits. They are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese. They are a good source of potassium and several essential amino acids, and they also contain significant amounts of riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. Pawpaws contain these nutrients in amounts that are generally about the same as or greater than those found in bananas, apples, or oranges.

Tags : Wine, Winemaking, pawpaw

Clover Wine

Red clover wine can be made with either fresh or dried red clover flowers. Pick the clover flowers early in the morning, but after any dew from the early morning pre-dawn has evaporated. After picking, remove the stems and wash the flowerheads well. You can pick more flowers than needed and dry them for future use. To dry, lay them on a cookie sheet and let the pilot from your gas oven dry them. Turn every 2-3 hours until absolutely dry. If you don't have a gas oven, you'll have to use a dehydrator. When dried, measure 2-1/2 ounces by weight and seal these in a ZipLoc bag for later use to make one gallon of wine. Use recipes below, substituting dried flowers for fresh.

RED CLOVER WINE

• 1 qt fresh red clover flowers
• 1 pint white grape juice (reconstituted from concentrate)
• 2-1/4 lb finely granulated sugar
• 2 tsp acid blend
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1/4 tsp tannin
• water to one gallon
• wine yeast

Bring 1/2 gallon water to boil and dissolve sugar in it.

Destem and wash the flowers and put in primary.

Pour boiling water over flowers and add grape juice, acid blend, tannin, yeast nutrient, and water to bring up to one gallon total liquid.

When lukewarm, add yeast. Knock down cap 2-3 times daily.

After 7 days, strain liquor into secondary and fit airlock.

Rack after 60 days, top up, refit airlock and set aside 4 months.

Wine should be clear.

Stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, sweeten to taste, and bottle.

Wait 6 months before tasting. [Adapted recipe from W.H.T. Tayleur's The Penguin Book of Home Brewing & Wine-Making

---

Tags : Clover, Wine, Recipe, Making, _Wine

Gluhwein or "Glow Wine"

Not having been a wine drinker until I started making wine, I 've never had to make a mulled wine. This Christmas season, I'm finally going to make and sample some mulled wine or as the Germans call it gluhwein. Gluhwein or "Glow Wine" sounds pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

I found a couple recipes and fiqured that I would pass them along to you. The first comes from the German Embassy in Washington DC and the second one comes from Virtual Finland.

Enjoy!!!

German Recipe

Germans enjoy Gluhwein or "Glow Wine" quite a bit around Christmas and New Year's Day. A favorite place to sip a warming glass is outside at the Christmas market.

(makes 24 glasses)

Ingredients:

2 bottles red wine
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
1 lemon, sliced
20 whole cloves
6 to 8 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, sliced for garnish

Directions:
Mix water, lemon and spices and simmer for an hour. Strain. Heat but do not boil the red wine. Add wine to hot water mixture. Ladle into cups and serve with half a slice of orange.

Finland Recipe

Christmas glogg

1 bottle red wine
2-3 tablespoons Madeira (optional)
1/2 cup raw sugar, or to taste
1/3 cup raisins
1-2 sticks cinnamon
5-6 whole cloves
peelings of 1 orange
1/4 cup blanched, slivered almonds
1/4 cup vodka to spike it up (optional)

In a large kettle, combine all the ingredients except the vodka. Heat slowly, until the drink is steaming hot. Stir every now and then, and taste with a spoon whenever you feel like it. Do not let the drink get even close to boiling. Just keep it warm. Before serving, add vodka if you wish.

Servings: 1 to 6



Tags:Wine, Winemaking, Holidays, Christmas