Barley and Hops Brewing

This video is a demonstration of the operation of the Turbo 500 still from start to finish.

This video is a walk-through on how to make wine from frozen concentrates. We begin with cleaning and sanitizing equipment as well as describing useful hints and tips to improve success in wine making. We have 12 cans of frozen Cranberry concentrate, 10 LBS of sugar and a fastferment fermenter to brew in. We also discuss the difference between the value of table sugar -vs- corn sugar. This process is only complete when we bottle our wine after fermentation is complete in a few weeks.

There are many ways to filter spirits. These are just a few options . The most important thing is filtering in order to finish, polish and make your spirits taste clean and fresh.

Carbonating beer can sometimes be a challenge. We try to unmask the challenges and explain volumes of C02 in beer as well as how to achieve it. We also offer a tip to a visual clue to know when your beer is ready.

We try to explain the benefits of using copper in the vapor stream of a pot still. Stainless steel and copper are both acceptable but there is some data that supports the use of copper in order to remove sulfites in a spirit. Most sulfite production happens in fruitier washes as opposed to sugar or grain but nonetheless it is still a problem for some people. There are also people who will support the use of stainless steel exclusively for distilling. In the end it is up to the distiller. We have used both methods and are comfortable with either as opposed to selecting one over the other.

This video introduces the dual purpose still. You can run it as a reflux or as a pot still. We cover all it components as well as a few pointers about how to run it.

In this video we run the still but stop short of collecting the spirits. This step is long and straight forward. We hope you can gain a little knowledge and some tips on running your own regardless of how your still is designed.

We discuss barrels in general, their use, benefit , measurements and how to re-char them once they are neutral. We try to explain as much s we can in a short time to help you decide which barrel to chose as well as how to re-use them once you empty it. Although barrels are primarily used for spirits they also work well to mature wines. Hope you get something out of this video.

We made a peach wine from a box kit in the store. This wine is a mist so the ABV is lower than regular wines but much more flavorful. Increasing the ABV is very simple; simply add more fermentable sugars to the wine during fermentation. Please contact us before you do this so we can discuss the amount of sugar to use. We always recommend no more than 2.2 LBS or 1 KG, The process we used was directly from the written instructions in the box. No need to buy anything extra; this kit comes complete. We also used the fastferment to make this wine to highlight its use and simplicity. Check us out at www.barleyandhopsbrewing.com or like us on facebook.

We describe the wide usages and varieties of hops for brewing beer. We also explain the universal measurement system of AAUs (Alpha Acid Units) that brewers use when adding hops and the difference between that and IBUs (International bittering units).

We introduce and describe several wine making kits available from your local brew shop or on line. We also describe the different levels of kits as well as making wine from fresh fruits.

This is a step-by-step video as we made the Pinot Grigio wine kit by Cru Select. We used the fastferment but these instructions can easily work for buckets or carboys.

We explain the process of stabilizing wine. The reasons for stabilizing and follow that with clarifying and de-gasing wine. We spend time explaining the importance of each step as well as demonstrating our technique. We stress that there are many techniques and all work well. It is more personality driven.

This is an attempt to explain a very complex subject in the simplest way. We are demystifying the use of Amylase Enzyme and Beta Enzyme (gluco amylase). The alpha amylase cuts large sections of the starch molecule and the beta (gluco) snips the ends off making all fermentable sugars available for fermentation.

We use iodine in this video to confirm that the starch in our mash has converted to fermentable sugars. Alpha amylase is the enzyme that does this wonderful work for us but it does it a 155 degrees F. We typically just follow the directions and have no way of knowing if all our hard work has paid off. This is one way to verify that your starches are now sugar and your yeast will thrive. When iodine comes in contact with starch it will turn black, scientist call this blue-black. If no starch is present it will remain its own color on solids and dissipate in liquids. It is an amazing test and can be done right in your own home.

This is our technique for making a corn mash. We describe the method we use to steep our flaked corn (you can use corn meal) with 6 row barley to use the Barley's enzymes to convert the starches in the corn into fermentable sugars. After conversion we also demonstrate how to test your success in converting the starches. After all is done and tested we added it to our fastfermnet and finished up by adding the yeast nutrient and yeast.