Experiments in fermentation
This has been a summer of fermentation. That sounds utterly disgusting when I read it out loud but I promise, it’s not.
By sheer coincidence, J and I planned similar gifts for each other for Mother’s and Father’s day. I gave him the gift of a day learning how to brew beer and he gave me the gift of learning to make wine.
For the wine, we went in halfsies on a batch with some friends. In the interest of full disclosure this is not the true art of fine wine making but really just carefully following some instructions laid out by a person at a shop that specializes in this sort of thing. I’d still like to try doing it under more traditional circumstances and I’m hoping that will happen in the next couple of years but for now this was an adequate facsimile.
The wine is a shiraz and though we’ve already bottled it, it won’t be ready for drinking until December. As we were bottling I couldn’t help thinking how this would have been the perfect thing to do for wedding favors or if that’s too big of a budget for your wedding, maybe just as gifts to your wedding party and the parents? Either way, as far as the spirit of handmade weddings goes, this would be perfect. I’m only slightly bitter about the fact that I didn’t know this could be done until well after my own wedding was behind me.
We named the wine Dos Niños in honor of M and Fee since they are the whole reason for that Mother’s Day gift.
Notice that on the label, the little ‘n’ in Niños is missing a tilde. The fellow that was typing out the label for us was not computer literate (to be kind) and we thought it easier to just write the tilde in with a sharpie after the fact.
Now regarding the beer, I found a place close to our home which serves as both a supplier to the home brewer and a place to buy beer (you can bring a growler and have them full it up or stop in at their pub and enjoy a pint right there) but also a place to learn the art of brewing. Better still, if you are a seasoned brewer you can also reserve time to use their equipment to brew your own.
J went with a porter after trying several varieties made from one of the shop’s tried and true recipes. He will bottle it some time this week or next and it should be ready sooner than the wine. Certainly in time for late summer barbecues, camping trips and picnics. I can’t wait!
As it happens, the shop where J brewed his beer offers a similar service for making wine though that is not where we made ours. Should you be so inclined as to embark on your own fermentation experiments here are the details:
For making beer or wine:
Gallaghers in downtown Edmonds, WA
For wine only:
Classic Winemakers in Lacey, WA
Making wine this way is actually quite popular in certain parts of Central New Jersey, like in Wall Township where I live. The first time you do it, it turns out to be the most expensive because you have to by your bottles with the first batch. Because you reuse them it’s cheaper for subsequent batches. Of course the trick is to get friends to do it with you to spread the cost as it’s done in rather large barrels. With friends you can fractionalize the wine but also your costs.
We’ve helped friends who did this when it came time for the bottling and labeling part. Of course, we had to drink some too. Seems the way they do it here is when it comes out of the barrel for bottling it’s ready to drink.
Now beer making… yum.
Meant to say, “… buy your bottles…” Sorry about that.