Making Yeast From Fruit

I am currently trying to start my own yeast from just raisins and spring water. It seems to be working but I have no idea how much to use or how aggressive this strain will be. My current setup is a box of raisins in enough spring water to submerge them. I have this mixture in a 2 liter bottle that has a homemade cap with a valve stem in the middle that I have used to carbonate my concoctions. (I will let you in on the carbonation hows and whys if you're interested) As the raisins ferment they create pressure so I press my thumbnail down on the valve stem to release the pressure once or twice a day. It took a couple days for anything to happen but now, after about 5 days or so, the raisins have a sort of "fizz" to them and I am waiting for that to stop and my mixture to lay inactive to let me know that it is complete. Like I said, this is an experiment so I am kinda shooting from the hip on this one. I have been able to find very few resources on starting a natural yeast strain so I gotta put on my scientific lab coat and do some experimenting. I will let you know how it turns out as my first experiment after the fizzing stops (if it does) is to separate it into 4 different containers and I am going to try to add one of the four to straight apple juice to make a sort of hard cider. Stay tuned and I will let ya know how it goes.

My Simple White Wine Recipe

I have made this wine several times and it always turns out very nice. It is a dry, tart not so sweet wine and I would say that it is more than drinkable. :) This recipe is for 1/2 gallon so you can adjust accordingly.

1 pack frozen concentrated apple juice
1/2 pack of quick rise bread yeast
1 cup sugar
1 balloon
1 1/2 gallon container (Glass is good)
1 small box of raisins
1 funnel ( or a steady hand)

The first thing you need to do is add your raisins, sugar and concentrate to your container. This is where the funnel starts to come in handy. once you have added these, then you will want to fill it up the rest of the way with luke warm water but leave an inch or two of room at the top of the container. Shake or stir well until these ingredients are thoroughly mixed. once you have done all of this then you can add your half a pack of quick bread yeast. You are wanting the over all temperature of your liquid to be around 65-70 degrees to accommodate the yeast. You can mix the yeast in if you want, but even if you just let it float it will still do its thing. Now take your balloon and poke a hole in it with a needle or something sharp. Then you will need to stretch the opening of the balloon over the container you are using for making your wine. Now, just set it off somewhere where it wont be disturbed like a closet or under the sink and let nature take its coarse. In case you are wondering about the balloon, yeast makes alcohol by eating the sugar and creating 2 types of by products.(waste) One is carbon dioxide which is what you don't want so as the pressure builds in your container the hole in the balloon will allow the gas to escape. The other by product is, yep you guessed it, alcohol. The trick is to let the carbon dioxide out without letting oxygen in and lucky for us the balloon with a hole in it does this perfectly! Within a few hours your limp lifeless balloon will be standing at attention and full of gases that are coming from your home brew. It will stay this way the whole time the yeast is working but once the fermentation process is complete the balloon will deflate and fall over. At this point I like to pour my concoction through a coffee filter and leave as much sludge at the bottom as you can. Now, it is drinkable at this point but if you let it set for about another week with a lid on at room temperature most of the haze will be gone and it will have a cleaner taste. This isn't rocket science so give it a try. If you finish your home brew and are not happy with it, make some changes! Add some cinnamon, less yeast, more yeast, less sugar, more sugar, etc. That is the fun part, fine tuning your brew. I hope this helps you get to brewing and please let me know what your results are. I would live to know how it goes! :)

The Joy of Home Brewing

I have created this blog to share my hobby and passion of home brewing. I have been making "fast wine" and beer from beer kits for a few months now and the more I make the more I wanna learn. I say "fast wine" because I don't go to the extent of fermenting fruit, aging, using nutrients, and blah blah blah. My wine is ready in about 21 days and as far as taste, I am pretty happy with it. Now this is not to say that my wine making will not evolve into more traditional methods but for the time being I am still experimenting with readily available ingredients.(Yep, from the local grocery store) I was completely unfamiliar with the whole craft beer movement but once I acquired a taste for the beer and a curiosity of the making of it, the rest was history. My favorite to drink are porters and stouts but I am constantly trying different styles, brands, etc. I currently have a batch of Irish stout brewing, an all natural yeast in the mix and also have some red wine fermenting. Like I said, the more I make, the more I wanna learn. If you have any interest in home brewing then please take the time to follow this blog and by all means throw in your 2 cents. I plan to make videos, include recipes, share any discoveries, divulge my failures, and make a few friends along the way. Cheers!