Woke up feeling a little frayed? Wild dreams?

[woodbloke]

When I first started, and offerred a glass, you could see people accepting it out of politeness, then they'd come back for the recipe!

Roy.

Happened to me as well Roy. I once made 23 gallons of apple wine in one hit :shock: (kitchen was one vast, huge, sticky mess), bottled it and then started to drink it after a while. I then moved jobs to the South Coast and offered one of my colleagues a bottle to try. He sort of wrinkled his nose and I could see him thinking...'if I must :roll: ' but he liked it so much he came back the next day and had another 5 gallons of the stuff from me :lol:
I also made the horredous mistake of producing half a gallon of neat elderberry juice which I put into demi-john and then stuffed a solid rubber bung on it. I put it onto the top of the kitchen cupboards fully intending to do something with it the following weekend. I'd forgotton though, that the natural yeast in the juice would start it fermenting, with the result that the gas blew out the bung at 2.30am in the morning with all the juice following like a volcanic explosion!...SWIMBO not a happy bunny :evil: and the complete kitchen had to be re-decorated - Rob

 

[studders]

... the natural yeast in the juice would start it fermenting, with the result that the gas blew out the bung at 2.30am in the morning .... Rob

That brings back memories of when I were a wee nipper. My Dad had some home brew lager in bottles under the stairs; we were woken up during the night when they all started exploding. :lol: Eeee it were funny (to us kids, not sure my mum was too happy and my dad was probably a bit gutted)

 

[woodbloke]

... the natural yeast in the juice would start it fermenting, with the result that the gas blew out the bung at 2.30am in the morning .... Rob

That brings back memories of when I were a wee nipper. My Dad had some home brew lager in bottles under the stairs; we were woken up during the night when they all started exploding. :lol: Eeee it were funny (to us kids, not sure my mum was too happy and my dad was probably a bit gutted)

That never happened to me and I usually had plenty of bottled beer around the place If a hydrometer is used to accurately measure the amount of sugar left in the brew at the end of fermentation and if only a scant level teaspoon of priming sugar per quart bottle is used, it's quite safe and you'll end up with a lovely clear brew after a few weeks.
Get either wrong though and you're in for a very sticky (and dangerous) time. Exploding beer and wine bottles isn't my idea of a fun time...apparently there's around 7 atmospheres of pressure inside a champagne bottle. That's around 100 psi :shock: - Rob

 

[Digit]

Happened to me as well, softened the varnish in the base of the cupboard!

Roy.

 

[studders]

...Get either wrong though ...

I seem to remember that was the problem, too much sugar at bottling time. He never used screw top bottles again either, they might have been fine for Lemonade (this is going back quite a few years for any yoof, we didn't get much in plastic back then) but fermenting beer might be another matter?

 

[woodbloke]

...Get either wrong though ...

I seem to remember that was the problem, too much sugar at bottling time. He never used screw top bottles again either, they might have been fine for Lemonade (this is going back quite a few years for any yoof, we didn't get much in plastic back then) but fermenting beer might be another matter?

That's always the problem...people only think the brew's finished 'cos there's no visible activity on the surface, but it'll acutally go on fermenting for a few more days. The only real way to determine the final sugar content left is to use a hydrometer. I didn't used bottles with an external screw thread (the modern types) as they never seem to screw up tight but always used the old fashioned quart beer bottles with an internal thread, which are highly prized amongst home brewers, having gone out of production in the early sixties ( or so I believe). The other alternative is to use a crown cap on pint bottles which also works well, but again, you have to know the final sugar contnet of the brew before bottling - Rob

 

[Ironballs]

If I'm ever stupid/desperate enough/have no other beer to drink and I drink Budweiser then by the time I've got to the bottom of the second bottle I have a headache. A straw poll in the office shows I'm not alone and I believe Clarkson also described it as a headache in a can. Foul stuff. I'd rather drink Stella and that's saying summat

I'm currently petitioning Yorkshire Water to have our supply switched over to Timothy Taylor's Landlord

 

[Russ]

Then put it down to that glass of chilled white wine that you drunk last night from that part-opened bottle that was lurking in your fridge for the last couple of days. There is a growing body of evidence that wine makers - across the world - are stuffing more and more chemicals into their wines to try and improve yield from what are often mediocre raw materials...ie duff wine. These chemicals change and react with the air over a relatively short time and which explains why after only the one glass you had a night of vidid dreams and have woken up feeling very frazzled and lethargic. There is no legislation to force wine makers to put on the label all the c rap that they stick into their wines...and this applies across the range from premier cru to lidl's best. The only thing they have to put on is sulphites.

There is a movement back towards natural wines..ie with no chemicals ..but in the meantime, we've decided to have days alcohol free and days where we 'Geoff'* the bottle.

Roger

* In honour of Geoff down the gym, who when I mentioned this to him, raised an eyebrow and said 'You mean you don't finish the bottle'?

It's not just the chemicals that certain wine producers pour into their stock it's also all the other stuff that's collected during a machine harvest.
Many of the cheap wines contain ingredients such as dead lizards, snakes and whatever else is harvested off the vines by the machines. I help out in our local harvest every year (only a small vineyard) and takes half a day with a dozen people, all the grapes are hand picked and thrown into a machine where the fruit is separated from the shoots then filtered into a vat with no other ingredients added, pure grape juice and thats it. Tastes great and will never give you any funny after effects.

A fine example is Madiran, a decent enough wine and the handpicked is great but the machined taste awful.

Russ

 

[woodbloke]

If I'm ever stupid/desperate enough/have no other beer to drink and I drink Budweiser then by the time I've got to the bottom of the second bottle I have a headache. A straw poll in the office shows I'm not alone and I believe Clarkson also described it as a headache in a can. Foul stuff. I'd rather drink Stella and that's saying summat

I'm currently petitioning Yorkshire Water to have our supply switched over to Timothy Taylor's Landlord

IB, I suggest you try the original Czech Budweiser:

which looks almost identical to that filthy 'murrican stuff :-& but which is in fact a much superior brew :wink: - Rob

 

[Jacob]

.....
It's not just the chemicals that certain wine producers pour into their stock it's also all the other stuff that's collected during a machine harvest.
Many of the cheap wines contain ingredients such as dead lizards, snakes ...

That's normal isn't it? Farm made cider is supposed to be better for a drowned rat or two in the hogshead.
TBH I reckon our OPs headaches were not entirely due to devious foreigners putting dodgy stuff in their wines, but were probably more a consequence of his going around after the party and downing all the leftovers. :roll:
Bin there dunnit. That way madness lies. Personally I wouldn't even touch the peanuts. :shock:

 

[gregmcateer]

There was a program on some while ago that said putting any fizzy mixer with alcohol multiplied the effect of the alcohol, including the after effects. So... wanna stay sober longer? Drink it neat.

Tonic gives the gin a quicker hit - that's the whole idea! But it wears off quicker too :roll:
A nicely made G&T is the alcoholic equivalent of a snort of coke (I'm told) though a dry martini is also a contender. Any other suggestions?

It's a faff to make, but Damson Gin is a cracker - and doesn't really need the tonic.

Now's the time to do it - Damsons are ready and the concoction will be perfect by Christmas, if you're interested.

(Mind you don't go in the workshop after a glass!)

Greg