Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Building a Better Homemade Beverage

Last year (2012) I asked friends and fans for ideas about flavors and styles of home-fermented beverages I should try. Huge responses came in for mango and cranberry, and oddly enough quite a few also came in for savory ingredients including chili peppers. Here's how that worked out:
  • A mango infused mead, which started with a base of orange and vanilla (a current fave) is done and ready to drink!
  • A cranberry wine, and a mead variant, will take final forms later in the spring. All the base wine is clear and aging right now. 
  • Both our lemon and lime beers have consistently shown well at home, and the lemon (a riff on a Shandy) took a first place last year. 
  • A three-chili mead won Best in Show at a regional competition last Fall. Once I can grow peppers outside again this year, a new batch of this is on the list. And I'm going to go bigger than one gallon!
Clearly our collective efforts (and I say our) were successful. Got any more crazy ideas?

Jason

No comments: