Grocery Shopping

Lately, Whenever I go into Target, there are tons of clearance items everywhere! Those little red tags of discounted pricing bring me so much joy! And who could blame me? I am sure I am not the only one who take a certain pride in finding the best deal.

The husband and I love to cook and we certainly love trying (or creating) new recipes. However, cooking can get expensive if we don't shop smart at the grocery store. There is a grocery store near where we live so I have gotten into the habit of stopping there every other day or so to check out the specials. Because of this, I buy little by little as opposed to one HUGE grocery shopping day. For a day like that, we just replenish out staples.

Simply Strawberry Mead

Heloooo all I am back again with another mead. Summer is here and the fruit is ripe! Strawberries have recently plummeted in price so I decided to pick some up. 5lbs to be exact. This is another mead that is somewhat in real time as it has been in secondary less than a week. Lets start off with what you need. 

Ingredients

• 5Lbs of Strawberries not frozen
• 1 gallon of quality water
• 5lbs of Clover Honey

Nutrients

• Pectic Enzyme
• Yeast Nutrient
• Yeast energizer

Yeast 

• Lalvin K1-V116

First thing I did [that is not pictured] was take the strawberries and cut the tops off of them. I then put them in ziploc bags and smushed them up until they turned into a strawberry puree almost. I can hear what your brain is about to ask. "Why go through all the work of smushing them up? Why not just blend them?" The answer,like this mead, is simple. The seeds would impact unwanted flavors to the mead. After they were all squished up I put them in the freezer to let it freeze.[Freezing fruit helps the cell walls break down and the yeast can better extract color and flavor]

The next day I got my 2 gallon bucket and in it went the strawberries, summer berry honey,water and  nutrients. I took a gravity reading. I think it was off due to the strawberry particles. 

Once I got everything mixed in I whipped it up with a stick blender, [carefully so I wouldn't break the seeds] and got it nice and oxygenated, then I pitched my yeast. After a lag phase of almost a day, the yeast then took off!

These were once strawberries. This was like day 3 of it being in the bucket. 

Because the strawberry messed spread out like that, daily I had to break up the floating mass (aka a Cap in brewing circles) to keep the yeast from being unhappy/dead.

After about a week, she started to slow down so I decided to rack it as I did not want fermentation to be done all the way. 

You can see here how high it foamed up compared to where the actual liquid is. This is why I brew my melomels in a bucket. Pleeeenty of head space. 

I took another gravity at this stage. You can see here it is bone dry. I want you also to take noticed of the color. Noticed how it is a pale unattractive color? 

My astute readers will notice I said I bought 5lbs of strawberries and I only put 4lbs in the bucket. The extra pound is for secondary.

As you can see here, fresh strawberries will turn it from a pale, sickly color into a fantastic red. 

In the closeup you can see how the strawberries are barely even red anymore. All that color, and flavor will be going to the brew. 

And this is now where she sits. I must also clarify the photos of the carboys only show .5lbs of strawberries as there are two carboys. 

I plan to rack it soon at the time of this posting it has been in secondary for about a week. I might do a racking day post as I will have to rack The Midnight Cherry soon as well. 

The Midnight Cherry Is Now In Secondary

Since we last were here not much action happened. I whipped air into the  brew in the first three days to keep the yeast happy. The gravity dropped down to 1.08. Which means, TIME FOR SECONDARY!

For those of you who are like "wut" go check out the first post to understand. 

This means it is time to rack. The yeast are pretty much out of food. 

Some people buy starsan. I just use bleach water with a thorough rinse. I have made almost 10 brews with no issues yet. 

That color is gorgeous. 

I wanted to added more cherry flavor so I picked up a can of cherry puree to split between the two jugs. I forgot to take a photo of the can, but it is the same can as the below photo. 

(Not my pic)

When they said puree they were not joking. This stuff was thinner than baby food. 

Here is where the midnight part comes in. Added more black currant juice. 

Not pictured is added .5lb of honey to the jugs as well. 

I sample the brew and while it is quite dry and fairly hot, the flavor is good and will likely improve with age. I also sampled the cherry, honey, black currant mix and that flavor was fantastic. I really think this will turn out to be a great mead. Now the wait. If these were on fruit pieces I'd rack in 2 weeks. Since I am using a puree I am going to just let this one sit for a while before I rack for clarity. 

I expect the next updated to be around 4-6 weeks from now. I will post an update then with any actions I take and how clear it is/is not. 

See you in some weeks!!

The Midnight Cherry Mead

Hello all! It's been a while since I have posted anything. Thankfully The Wife was holding it down. Any who it has been waaay too long since I have posted up a mead. A lot of my past meads were already in secondary or already bottled by the time I posted here. This one, however, will be posted up in real time. As of the date of this posting, this mead has been in primary for about 24 hours.

This post will also presume you are not completely new to brewing. So I will skip certain obvious steps, like sanitizing.

 To start I got my biggeset stainless steel pot and put the temp on low. To it I add 32 oz black currant juice and 32oz cherry juice.

 This stuff was tart, but dang good flavor.

 Same for the cherry, tart but good flavor.

 Next I heated up the honey in the bottle so it is easier to pour. Some people hate the idea of heating up honey, but I am fine with it as long as it is not boiling.

After you mix in the honey and get it all dissolved (*FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT BOIL) go ahead and dump your mixture into the bucket or carboy of your choice. I chose a bucket because it is my only piece of brewing equipment that is 2 gallons.

 A few photos of me taking a gravity reading. It is hard to read, but the gravity came to 1.060.

 These are the nutrients I use on my mead. Pectic enzyme to help break down the pectin so it is less cloudy. The other two are to feed the yeast.

 Next is time to aerate the mixture. I like to use my stick blender.

 .......So this isn't working.......

 Oh yea, crap, wrong stick. Got the one without holes on the top.

 YEEEAAAAA WHIP IT UP!!!

 Now that is more like it. Foamy, means bubbles and oxygen which is good for yeast. Also note how how that temp is. 

You cannot, I repeat CANNOT pitch  yeast at that temp. All you will do is kill them. 

So stick your brewing container into a clean sink full of water and ice and wait till it cools down. 

Much better! I like to pitch between 75-79 degrees. There are lots of docs on pitching temps. Do whatever works for you. 

I got my yeast slurry dumped in. After a lag phase of about 6-8 hours. She started to burp for me. Right now the container is in the closet burping along. I plan to aerate it daily to get some oxygen in there to help the yeasties. 

The second part will be up in two weeks when primary is over and we move to secondary. See ya in two weeks.  when the gravity drops. 

Edit: Part 2 is up. 

May Is Here

I am too excited that May is here!! Let's have a nice long spring and a nice long summer!
Having breakfast in our garden is a great way to kick things off!

A beautiful bounty

Spring brings new life...and food food! I am super excited about exercising, earring good, and enjoying the season!!

Honey Brown-A Beer Review

Hello, hello hello my readers. I am back with another beverage review! As you all know I brew mead. Mead is a wine where the main ingredient is honey. So when I cam across a beer that is made with honey you know ya boy had to scoop this one up. Its called "Honey Brown" and it is a lager. 

I was excited to try this one. I have been toying with the idea of making a beer with honey and really wanted to taste a commercial example. I was buzzing with anticipation on the way home.Get it? Buzzing? Because of honey? Bee's?.........I'll see myself out...


I cracked this open and took a whiff. It had an ok smell. Nothing really note worthy. I mean it was not bland nor really flavorful smelling. Just kind of in the middle. Anywho I poured up a glass and in my rush forgot to take a pic so here is one I found.  I found it to be a shade lighter than that pictures below shows. Though you can see the kind of head you will get on it.

This photo shows the color much better. 

Being really excited I took a swig......................................and was met with utter disappointment. It may because I was expecting more, but this beer could have been so much more. The flavor was just not there. I tasted the usual grain and malts of a lager with only the tinniest hint of a honey flavor. Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying its a bad beer. However I am not saying its a good beer either. I feel like it is an ok beer. For the makers of this beer to call it extra rich is either an inside joke or just a bad lie. It is the opposite of rich. It is quite weak feeling in your mouth. It is almost as if someone took a decent lager, dropped some budlight into it and bottled it. I just wish it had more flavor. Especially considering it was made with honey. I was really hoping more for some dry honey notes to come through.

I score this beer a 3/5 would not buy again. Maybe this was the world's way of telling me I need to get on with making beer..........................................


Adios folks!

A Beer Review-Chocolate Stout

Sup yall, I'm back with another beer review! I can feel the surprise feeling you have as the title is sinking in. I'm reviewing a beer that is not an ale. *GASP* While ale's remain my go to beer of choice, a recent work trip has shown me the way of the stout. Well while I was in my local international farmers market I was browsing their extensive beer selection when I came across this.

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout is the name of this beer. It caught my eye the last time I was in the store and had picked up a peach lambic. I was there picking up some spices for a chili and decided to go ahead and give it a try.

Normally as soon as I get home, I am popping the tab for a pour, however this was a single bottle and I had chili to make. 4 hours later when the chili was done I sat down at the table and poured me a glass. I was so tired after cooking the chili [I underestimated the time it took and started at like 7pm] I forgot to take a pic, but here is one I found that is accurate. 

Notice all that foam? Yea this is a rather foamy beer. It took me a minute or two to pour a glass.

The first thing you notice when smelling this beer is the chocolate nose. It smells of chocolate strong, though not in a bad hershey syrup kind of way. More like deep earthy chocolate. Again I am no beer snob as some of you might have realized, so no fancy terms here, but I can say that this beer is very smooth. It spreads that malty thickness up front with just a little bit of bitter and washes down with a strong chocolatey finish.

ELI5: It's a good beer. 

If you need a more professional [see snobby] version of that here is a review of it on beer advocate.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/113/86189/

I was happy to see it scored a 93. I would agreed with that score. I like this beer. My only issues were described perfectly by one review on there. 

Creamy smooth yet with an undesired sharpness.

It had this twang to it that counteracted the perceived smoothness of the chocolate. 

Other than that I would still recommend this beer to anyone. I would especially recommend it as a first time stout drinker. It was good enough even The Wife, ok'd it. Good for sure!

Till next time.................

Miller Fortune I Can't Believe It........

Some of you may have seen this new beer pop up on shelfs. Miller fortune. If you are like me you most likely passed right by it without giving it a second thought because it is Miller brand. We know Miller mostly for Miller Lite, Miller High Life, aka shitty beer. (though lesser known for brand Blue Moon which is honestly pretty good) However I received a text from someone who had picked up a case. This text came from a reliable source and it heavily suggested I go and try it right away. Admittedly I was skeptical but I know sir Phlip shares similar tastes to mine so the next time I was in Kroger I decided to pick up a six pack. 

The first thing I noticed that the package was attractive as were the bottles. I also noticed it was surrounded by its piss water brethren. This did not make me any more hopeful. None the less I picked it up for $6.99 with my Kroger card and was on my way. Most of the time when I try a new beer I go straight home pop the tab and start to swig. Not this time. I put two bottles in the fridge and went to work out forgetting about them. 

After I came back from getting my swoll on and cooking I decided to have one with dinner. I popped the tab and took a sniff. To my surprise it smelled good, like an actual beer. Not yellowish brown water that happens to have a slight beer flavor. I took a sip and.........

This beer is fantastic! It is smooth, crisp. If you like blue moon or yuengling you will like this beer. Now if you are a beer snob who can tell the difference between the different kinds of hops used to brew a certain beer then keep walking. The rest of us beer drinkers who just like a good beer will be pleased. I googled it and apparently it is supposed to be bourbon flavored.  My pallet is not that distinguished, though Phlip did mention he detected a bourbon flavor. Under $8 this could be considered a cheap beer by some which would  make it a 5/5 for cheap eats reviews. 

I cannot stress enough GO GET THIS NOW!

Cheap Eats, A Wine Review

Greetings to all my readers who have been waited with baited breath for my glorious return! (What? I can dream)

I return with a review about wine. Wine that is cheap. I can hear buttholes clenching already. Fear not my lovelies, tis not what you think.

I was at a farmers market that is right by my job that has a ton of everything, produce, meats, bread, cheeses beer and wine. The wine section is so large they break it up by country, then type. Zomg.

I was prepping for a date night with the missus and we were having steak, so of course I had to have a wine, red to be exact. For those of you who are looking at your screen in confusion, wine is often paired with food.  Below is a handy chart I stole borrowed to show you.

Now we all know that for us non wine folk choosing red wine is like a guy going into the store to buy tampons for his lady (or a lady going to buy oil for a guy), lots of options with little to no real clue as to what is good and what is not. Thankfully for you all, I get to be the guinea pig.

I don't know a lot about wine, but I do know that American wine seems to fall flat compared to its French and Italian counter parts. So I went to the French and Italian sections to check out the reds to see what they were all about. I would love to say that I went though a rigours decision process to choose my wine.

I totally didn't. Almost all the french red was like $15 and up, the Italian started at like $6. So I went with Italian. Again with the butthole clenching, relax those sphincters, I did not choose the $6 wine. I went with a nice $10 bottom that had an intersting look to it and a label that gave it a 92 rating while mentioning it goes great with steak.

So I had this with a steak I made using my famous technique.

With full confidence I can say, we have a winner in this one. I am not going to attempt to use wine tasting words. This wine being a red is tannic but not overly so. It has a smooth flavor that flows over your tongue and goes down easy. I preferred it at a temp that is in the 60's. Colder than room temp but not yet chilled and for $10 it really is a good bargain 5/5 for sure.

Go try a bottle if you can find it.

Agree/Disagree with me? Leave me a comment, thank me, school me, teach me etc. its all good. 

Beer Review- A Peach Lambic

Greetings All my Loyal readers! I'm so sorry I have been gone so long. I cannot imagine what you two have been doing whilst I was away. I could make up a story about how I have been so busy getting a new job and making new plans, but honestly I have just been lazy. So for that I apologize, here is a cat pic to make up for it.

Now that we are friends again let's get to the reason why you are here. A beer review.

You are probably sitting there asking yourself, Lambic, what in curse word is that? Well per wiki

Unlike conventional ales and lagers, which are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts, lambic beer is produced by spontaneous fermentation: it is exposed to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Zenne valley, in which Brussels lies. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavor: dry, vinous, and cidery, usually with a sour aftertaste.

This beer like the above box mentioned on a label how it was exposed to wild yeast instead of using cultivated yeast. However this beer was sweet. Quite sweet actually. It was very effervescent  with a nice head on it. It had an ok body, was not too flat, yet not too full either. This beer had a lot of peach flavor with a sweetness that was almost cloying. The Wife loved it. I found it drinkable but really found myself wishing it was a bit less sweet, it had next to no sour after taste. As far as alcohol content goes there is no label that tells you (likely due to the wild yeast) so most likely it can vary. This one was fairly light on the alcohol. 

I honestly would not recommend it for a beer drinker but would definitely say buy it for your girl or guy if they do not like beer but like sweet drinks. 

My obsession

Finally the semi annual bath and Body Works sale is here! I had a chance to load up on all the perfume, lotion, shower gel and candles that I need to last me for another 6 months. Not to mention, a few gifts for others. Victoria's Secret is next! I need to get in there before all the good sales are gone. I am so excited. Shopping is divine!!

A future so bright!

Why do I feel so good? I think this new year has invigorated me. One beautiful winter morning deserves a beautiful cup of cocoa. Oh sure, it is my husbands personal mug but he is at work and I'm at home wrapped up in my cozy robe watching the dawn of a new day. I think it's going to be a beautiful year.