How to make "fizzy," aka country wine
A video tutorial from meeee! If you can't see the YouTube video below (for instance, Chrome isn't displaying it correctly), here's a direct link.
We call it "fruit fizzy" at our house, but fermentation expert Sandor Katz calls it "country wine." It's a lightly fermented, full-of-probiotics drink that can be made from just about any fruit. You can ferment it with a wine yeast or catch a wild one. I used to make this using kefir grains and got out of the habit when most of us in the house stopped drinking milk, but when I bought Katz's new book "The Art of Fermentation" I decided to start making it again.
It's very mildly alcoholic; I don't have a hygrometer, but I'm betting it's well below 6%, probably closer to 3%. I'm a really "cheap drunk"--a glass of wine or cider and I'm tipsy--and I can drink a tumbler of this without the slightest wobble, and when it's quite young I have no qualms about my daughters drinking it. Of course, the longer it's aged, the more alcoholic it will get. It never lasts long enough around here to get to that point!
Remember that whenever you store anything carbonated, you MUST use a bottle that can withstand carbonation. Otherwise you risk the bottle exploding. Use an EZ Cap bottle as shown in the video, clean old plastic soda bottles, or beer bottles and NEW caps from a brewing store. DO NOT store in mason jars and the like. I'm not responsible if you do something dumb and get hurt, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt.
I have no relationship with Sandor Katz apart from a friendly conversation once over a little cup of his amazing kimchi. You can buy his terrific new book The Art of Fermentation at Amazon and learn a lot more about country wine, kimchi and fermenting pretty much everything from fruit to meat.
We call it "fruit fizzy" at our house, but fermentation expert Sandor Katz calls it "country wine." It's a lightly fermented, full-of-probiotics drink that can be made from just about any fruit. You can ferment it with a wine yeast or catch a wild one. I used to make this using kefir grains and got out of the habit when most of us in the house stopped drinking milk, but when I bought Katz's new book "The Art of Fermentation" I decided to start making it again.
It's very mildly alcoholic; I don't have a hygrometer, but I'm betting it's well below 6%, probably closer to 3%. I'm a really "cheap drunk"--a glass of wine or cider and I'm tipsy--and I can drink a tumbler of this without the slightest wobble, and when it's quite young I have no qualms about my daughters drinking it. Of course, the longer it's aged, the more alcoholic it will get. It never lasts long enough around here to get to that point!
Remember that whenever you store anything carbonated, you MUST use a bottle that can withstand carbonation. Otherwise you risk the bottle exploding. Use an EZ Cap bottle as shown in the video, clean old plastic soda bottles, or beer bottles and NEW caps from a brewing store. DO NOT store in mason jars and the like. I'm not responsible if you do something dumb and get hurt, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt.
I have no relationship with Sandor Katz apart from a friendly conversation once over a little cup of his amazing kimchi. You can buy his terrific new book The Art of Fermentation at Amazon and learn a lot more about country wine, kimchi and fermenting pretty much everything from fruit to meat.
Comments
Post new comment