Run Rocks Rhymes

Peter Piper's got nothing on these.

Several nice big banana peppers, sliced into rings; a couple heads of garlic, husked and smashed, a bit of salt, and just enough water to cover.  Then the age-old pickling routine: weight, wait, great.

Actually, they are a little soft and not hot enough.  I think for the next batch, I should add some hotter peppers.  I'm also going to experiment with making a small fraction of the brine with some live vinegar.  Not so much that they are "pickled" by it, but I'm looking for ways to reduce the salt content and add bacterial diversity.

They'll be great on burgers or hot dogs, or on some juicy barbecue.  I'll probably end up taking them a serving at a time in with my lunch to work.  A nice salty snack for warmer months.

Gingerlicious

The wild-fermented ginger beer in bottles.

It's so gingery.  Holy moley.  If you are not super-into ginger, this is not for you.  It is also coming out flat, which is disappointing, since I primed the crap out of it.  Perhaps it needs more time, but it's been a few weeks, it should be done.  I think next time I am going to add way more than 3 lbs of palm sugar for a stronger drink.  Still good, though.

Wine in Line

Second Malbec bottled: 

Cabernet Sauvignon begun:

I've learned a few things, and got a few good tips at a Northern Brewer mead class.  Number one: I think I leave my oak in too long.  After 6 weeks it starts to impart a woody flavor.  In a bad way, like actually sucking on a piece of wood.  So I'm going to rack it out of there before that happens.  Also, more racking, more better, so I'll probably try a tertiary, quaternary, whatever-five-is-ary, until it's as clear and well-aged as I want it to be.  I think a little exposure to oxygen is a good thing for wine, too.  It helps keep fermentation going, and you actually want it to oxidize a little, apparently, especially for reds.  And shaking is a good thing for wine.  It helps degas and keeps things well mixed, which also supports strong and complete fermentation.  In later stages of racking, I will probably also degas with my whip-on-a-drill mixer.  Wine is pretty great.

Wine Sheves

The first one, with space for 16 bottles in 48 inches.  It's a little crowded, so for subsequent shelves, I made space for 15 bottles, and that makes a huge difference.  There are still some bottles that clink together, or don't quite lay flat, but you can usually arrange them to fit.  The bottles I used for my Port are the worst offenders.

I would have liked them to fit a little closer vertically, but between the unit spacing on the shelf rails, and the space you need for the bracket itself, that's as close as they get.  Perhaps I could have been a little more strategic matching the spacing of the rails with the spacing of the bottles to squeeze things a little closer.  In the end I am happy with them.  They are the same style of construction as the beer shelves, so theoretically, I can stack beer over here, or wine over there, and they are totally modular, so I can remove them and reconfigure to whatever I need.  

The vertical spacing thing doesn't really bother me either, since as you can see, if I make a few more shelves, and can store ~120 bottles of wine, I should just stop.

Fermentation exchange

Part of the Fermentation Revival/Revolution is the building up of community around the things we ferment.  In this case, I've traded kimchi for pickles.  This fall, my coworker Susan gave me some Napa cabbage from her garden, which I turned into delicious kimchi.  I gave a jar of it to her, and she gave me a jar of these Chinese pickles which she made.  They have a brown sweetness that I can't quite put my finger on, other than that they are "Asian."

I'm beginning to wonder if I like traditional pickles any more.  There are a few brands I still love, particularly Bubbies from San Francisco, but something tells me I just don't like the texture of fermented cucumbers.  This is reinforced by how much I love the texture and taste of fermented cabbage.  I am excited to try some fermented kale and collards out of my own garden this summer.

Back on Track

No long musings about why and how long it's been since I posted.  On to the good stuff.  This happened:

Pre-blog aficionados of my brewing legacy will know this as my first and best beer, not yet repeated.  It sits patiently, waiting to be tested; or perhaps I am waiting for it...  It had a rocky start in primary, sort of getting stuck but coming back strong with a vigorous restart after racking.  It tasted wonderful when we bottled it, with that characteristic estery essence, unadulterated by too much malt but enhanced by alcohol, because of the sugar addition.

There's plenty more going on.  Rather than make one huge post, I'll split it up.  Perhaps I'll come back here and add links...

Finished products in use.

Tasty, tasty homemade vinegar blended into vinaigrette on greens with sausage and cheese.  The sausage is venison summer sausage courtesy of Shane.

  

Ma femme in the background using her Christmax present.