Christmas Cocktails in February

Well, Brandy is defiantly a Christmas time spirit. We finally broke into one of the Korbel Brandies we picked up while we were visiting the Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville earlier this month. We decided to try the VSOP first. VSOP was originally released in 2000, but it is considered the top of the line of the Brandies by the Korbel Gift Shop employees. I had picked up a 750ml bottle of it, so we have a bit to get through. It’s a good brandy, but neither of us is really into Brandy, at least at this time of year. VSOP is labeled as the Gold Reserve Brandy. The distillery is in Digiorgio, California, which is south of Bakersfield. The brandy is then brought to the Guerneville Cellars to be aged in charred American Oak barrels. After aging, it is mixed and bottled. They use grapes from the same vineyards from which they select grapes for the Champagnes. It has a distinct butterscotch and smoky flavor. It’s just the wrong time of year for Brandy, but we did like the flavor. We just couldn’t get into drinking a brandy in February. It should be really good come Christmas time. Since we couldn’t get into the VSOP, we decided to wait a while to open the other two, the standard Brandy and the XS Brandy, which I’m told stands for extra smooth. I haven’t found anything that says what VSOP stands for, but it is supposed to refer to the crowned heads of Europe in the 19th century.

Bottling Time!!!!

It’s finally time to bottle the wine! We went out to buy some bottles, corks and a corker today then came home to bottle. We already have a bottling tube, from doing beer, so we cleaned that out instead of buying a new one. The bottling tube is a nifty little device that allows you to fill any bottle perfectly. It has a pressure activated valve at the end which lets the fluid into the bottle only when it’s depressed into the bottom of the bottle. This makes it much easier to fill bottles without making a huge mess. The tube is also the perfect size so you fill the bottle up to the rim with the tube in the bottle, then when you remove the tube you are left with the perfect amount of space between the top of the fluid and the top of the bottle. With beer, this allows some room for the bottle carbonization to occur. Most home brewers carbonize their beer by adding a small amount of corn sugar to the beer just prior to putting the beer in the bottle. The remaining yeast in the beer reactivates and ferments this additional amount of sugar. As the sugar ferments, carbon dioxide is released into the beer, thus giving the beer the bubbles of carbonization. For wine, this extra space allows the perfect amount of space for the cork. After filling all the bottles, we used the corker to put corks completely into the bottles, just as any wine you buy from a store is, flush with the top. The corker has two handles that are moved together, which causes a mechanism inside to squeeze the cork small enough to easily slide into the top of the bottle. One the cork is compressed, you simply place the corker on top of the bottle, push down another handle and voila, your wine is corked. The homebrew store also sells foil wraps to go over the end of the bottle. After we decide on labels for the wine, we plan to pick up some foil seals to match the labels. The wine is okay right now, but it still needs to age to bring out the full flavor profile.

Rotary Club Mardi Gras Wine Tasting.

Tonight my mom asked me to go with her to a wine and food tasting event put on by the Rotary Club. It was Mardi Gras Themed. We decided to take the baby with us. It was kind of nice to have the stroller tray (my stroller has a parent tray up by the handle) to hold our glasses. Great Basin Brewery was there, with a selection of a few of their beers. Another interesting beer at the event was one from Leinenlingers Brewing, out of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It is called Berry Weiss, and as the name implies it is a Berry flavored wheat beer. It was actually very good. I’ve never seen it in this area though. I think my favorite wine of the evening was Ferrari Carano’s Fume Blanc. It was nice and crisp, with a sweet fruity taste and nose. My least favorite was a Cabernet Sauvignon from Shooting Star. It had a sulfuric taste and seemed a bit cloudy. Another good one was Chasing Venus Sauvignon Blanc. Chasing Venus is from New Zealand. I spoke with the representative for a moment. Apparently, New Zealand’s weather can present some challenges for grapes and limits the harvest time. Despite their harvest problems, it was an excellent selection.

Mardi Gras Lunch at Great Basin and a little about Proof...

Yesterday, for Mardi Gras, we decided to take a drive for lunch and ended up in Sparks, NV at the Great Basin Brewery. I was driving, so I didn’t get to drink. My husband had their IPA, called Ichthyosaur or “Icky”. It’s a single IPA made with Cascade hops. It’s named after Nevada’s State fossil. I didn’t realize states had official fossils. It has 6.4% ABV. ABV means alcohol by volume; it’s one of the standard measurements of alcohol in beverages. It is related to proof, in that a beverage’s proof is a number equal to twice it’s percentage of alcohol, or ABV. For instance, Captain Morgan has just come out with a new spiced rum that is 100 Proof. What this means is simply that it has 50% ABV. However, typically you will see only liquors and spirits listed by proof and beer and wines listed by ABV. Anyway, the Icky is pretty good, but not too hoppy. My husband was on a hops kick today (As Vinnie from the Russian River would say, he was having a Lupulin threshold shift), so while he enjoyed it and had 3, he wasn’t quite satisfied with the hop level. After, lunch we headed to the brewing supply store to buy bottles and corks for the wine, as it’s going to be ready to bottle any day now.

Why is it illegal to distill your own alcoholic beverages?

My anonymous friend asked another question that I missed; why is it illegal to distill alcohol? The primary reason that it is illegal to distill your own alcohol is because the revenuers want their cut of the action and it’s too hard for them to track what a smaller distiller owes, without all the proper permits. Another reason is that it can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Alcohol, both methanol and ethanol, is flammable. The higher the concentration of alcohol, the more flammable it is. Add heat and flames to alcohol and you have the potential for serious fires or explosions. While beer is boiled to release the sugars from the grains, it does not have alcohol in it yet while it is exposed to the heat. It is only after the wort has cooled and yeast is added that beer has alcohol in it. Wine does not get heated at all; the sugars in fruit juice are easily digestible by yeast so it does not need to be boiled. Another safety issue with distillation is that if you don’t distill at the right temperatures, you can end up with methanol, which is toxic. Of course, in large quantities, ethanol is also toxic, but it takes much more ethanol to kill you than it does methanol or isopropyl alcohol.

That being said, it is remotely possible to obtain a license to distill your own alcohol. I have not done this, and would not attempt to distill near my home considering I have a young infant, but I have been told that they way around the prohibition on distilling alcohol for consumption is to obtain a permit to make alcohol for experimental fuel use. I’m not exactly sure how one would go about doing that; it’s just what I have been told is a way to get around the distilling issue. Using distilled alcohol as a fuel may be a viable alternative to fossil fuels some day, and a much more renewable resource.

Wine Tastings

The wine is getting very clear. It is almost completely cleared now. In the meantime, we’ve been trying various Gewurztraminers. It has been difficult to find them. Most places we’ve been only have 3 or less choices, and most of those choices have been the same. We tried a Fetzer, which was by far the best one we’ve had. It was sweet and fruity, with not much of an alcohol bite to it. Another variety we tried, which we didn’t care for was Two Vines from Washington. It was not good. We barely drank any of it. We are somewhat surprised by the lack of choice for Gewurztraminers. Other varieties of wine, like Rieslings, Chardonnays and Pinots have much more selection to choose from. So, we’re basically hoping ours will taste like the Fetzer, as it’s the best one we’ve tried.

Oh, to answer the questions raised by anonymous in the comments, yes the two headed goat was alive. As to the other question, some varieties of wine are aged in oak barrels, but for the clearing, it is better to clear the wine in something you can see through, for home wine making at least. Also, different woods can be used for the barrels of some wines, as well, depending on the flavor profile the vintner (wine maker) is looking for.

Touring Lagunitas and transferring wine

Sorry it took a couple days, but we’ve been busy this week. On the way back home, we stopped into Lagunitas in Petaluma. We took a tour of the brewery. They recently got a brand new brewing system from Germany that is twice the size of their old brew kettles. Now they can make much larger batches. We sampled a few of their beers; my husband’s favorite is called Brown Shugga. They had a circus going on while we were there, complete with circus freaks and a two headed goat. So it was interesting. Apparently all the guys on the line like Randy Savage, the wrestler; they had action figures of him all over the place. All their fermentors had funny names, cartoon characters and such.

One of the things that have been keeping us busy has been transferring our wine into the carboy. We are on the final step of fermentation before bottling. We put in sulfites and a bunch of other additives. The sulfites and potassium slow the fermentation process. The other additives help clear the wine. The wine has gone from a cloudy yellow to almost clear. We can’t bottle it until it’s completely clear, which will take a couple weeks. In the meantime, we have to drink some wines to collect bottles.

Tiny Bubbles and sushi, but no tiny champagne shirts...

We went to lunch with my sister and nephew at Tex Wasabi’s today. It’s one of the two restaurants co-owned by Guy Fieri, from the Food Network. He also co-owns a place called Johnny Garlic’s. Both are here in Santa Rosa. There’s nothing quite as good as getting barbeque and sushi on the same plate. Usually the barbeque at Tex Wasabi’s is pretty good, but today it seemed a bit dry, almost like it was leftover from yesterday. I had the barbeque and sushi combo, which comes with BBQ chicken, ribs, and a sushi roll. They give you the choice of a California Roll or some house roll with French fries and BBQ Pork, one of their “gringo rolls”. I think it’s kind of cool that they have non- fish and seaweed sushi-style items. Some of the creations are really good. My husband had a Lagunitas Draft beer while we were there. Tomorrow we plan to take the brewery tour at Lagunitas, so more on them later.

After lunch, we went out to Korbel. We had Korbel Sec Champagne. That was a nice, light, crisp variety. Apparently, it’s not sold in stores; it’s just available at the Cellars. We also picked up a bottle of each of the three varieties of Brandy they make, as that is not available in our area. We are saving the brandy, so I don’t know what it tastes like. Come to think of it, I should have picked up some shooters of the brandies too, so we could taste them. Oh well.

Neither Tex Wasabi’s nor Korbel has onesies. Now that we have the Russian River and Bear Republic ones, I am determined to get as many onesies as I can from different places for her. She also has a Margaritaville one my mom picked up for her in New Orleans. I think I’ll try to get her a collection going.

Dinner at Chocolate Mousse Republic, err, I mean Bear Republic

Today we hit Bear Republic in Healdsburg for dinner. Another beverage I enjoy trying different varieties of is root beer. Bear Republic has a house made root beer. Of course, I had to try it. It was pretty good. It had a subtle vanilla flavor. Apparently they make it on-site, along with a cream soda and their beers. I had a Western Burger for dinner, which was fairly standard, nothing much to remark about. But, for desert, I had their chocolate mousse. This mousse has won awards and it is obvious why. It is so creamy and smooth, it is heavenly. It’s served in a wine glass with whipped cream on top, drizzled with chocolate syrup. It makes the drive up to Healdsburg and the 20 minute wait for the table (it is Saturday night though) totally worth it. I may make another drive up there this weekend to get some more. We also got the baby a Bear Republic onesie. This kiddo is going to have a wardrobe full of alcohol related clothes soon.

My husband had a Big Bear Black Stout. It’s a strong beer, with 8.1% alcohol. It’s his favorite there. He also tried a new Hop Rod, an IPA that was aged in cabernet barrels and has cabernet juice in it. He says it has a wine quality to it. It was 8% ABV, and he says it was a bit different from most high alcohol beers he drinks. It was served in a 10 ounce glass, instead of pints, which he doesn’t like. He feels the hop selections they use in the Hop Rod don’t mix well with the cabernet and it had an odd flavor profile. He had their deep fried calamari, which is another of his favorites there. Unlike many places that serve fried calamari, they leave the tentacles intact, and he said they are delicious. But nothing beats that chocolate mousse.

Visit to the River...

While our Gewurtz is fermenting, we decided to take a trip to visit our family in the Wine Country. We also decided to hit up some of the local wine and beer spots. Our first spot was, of course, the Russian River Brewing Company. There were a few new beers on tap from the last time we were in town. One was Pliny the Younger, the nephew of Pliny the Elder. It is a Triple IPA. It’s got tons of hops in it. But, instead of being way too bitter like many heavily hopped beers, it had a more floral taste. Another good new one was Consecration. Consecration is aged for six months in used cabernet sauvignon barrels with currants added. It has a sweet, almost fruity taste. I’d say it’s my new favorite beer. I think I’ll be having some more when we go back. We also bought our daughter a new onesie with the Blind Pig Logo on it. She already has a blue one, but she’s about to outgrow it, so we got her the next size. She came home from the hospital in the one she has, and we’ve taken pictures of her every month on her birthday in it. So now we have a bigger one to continue with the photos. I think I’ll do a scrapbook layout with each month’s picture up to her first birthday when I get them all. We’re also planning to hit Korbel and Bear Republic this weekend. So, stay tuned for more…

It's alive!!!

Our wine has started fermentation! Unlike beer, wine is not boiled to release the sugars. This is because wine is made from fruit juice, while beer is made from grains. To make beer, you have to boil the grains to release the sugars from the grain for the yeast to eat to produce alcohol, in the fermentation process. In fruit juice, the sugars are already available for the yeast. Wine is much easier than beer so far. On the first day, we put the grape juice into a fermentation bucket, added yeast and a flower that adds some flavor aspects and closed it. We put the airlock on the bucket and set it aside. Now 5 days later, the airlock is bubbling, a sign that the wine inside is fermenting. As the yeast eat the sugars and turn to alcohol, they release air, which is what causes the bubbles in the airlock, which is filled with fluid to keep bacteria out of the wine. The beers we’ve made usually have aggressive, almost violent fermentations; there is no rhythm to the bubbling. A couple of our stronger beers have actually had such violent fermentations they have blown the airlock or lids off the fermentators. That is a huge mess to clean up. (By the way, never ferment your beer in a closet full of clothes you wear, or where a wedding dress is stored. We had one beer explode in the closet, the foam almost ruined my wedding dress.) The wine is interesting though. It is bubbling in a “thump-thump” pattern, much like a heartbeat. Tomorrow or the next day we will transfer the wine into a second fermentation vessel. The fermentation process with wine is more complicated than beer. With beer, you pretty much leave it in one vessel for most the fermentation. With wine, you have to move it a couple times, leaving the sediment that forms on the bottom of the fermentator, so it comes out clear. Beer clears itself pretty much. It’s a new learning experience. But, it does seem to be working so far.