The Cellar and the Pantry Blog
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Posted by: chapka in beer on
May 25, 2010
Okay, so technically it's Philly Beer Week. But more and more homebrew events are being incorporated into the schedule. From specials and classes at local homebrew stores to educational seminars to a plethora of meet the brewer events, even non-brewers seem to realize that to really appreciate good beer you need to understand how it's made. If you're in the Philly area June 4 through 13, don't miss a lot of knowledgeable brewers, brewing information, and of course great beer from the Philly area and around the world.
So, the tomato wine fermentation was a bit more vigorous than I anticipated--I thought with only about three-quarters of a gallon in a one-gallon glass jug, I wouldn't need a blowoff tube. I was wrong. No problem...there was still a little bit of what looked like sanitizer in the airlock. Liquid, anyway. So I carefully cleaned off the outside of the jug, then carefully sanitized and installed a new airlock.
Posted by: chapka in tomatoes, country wine on
Aug 13, 2009
 There has been an explosion of interest in the last few years in the home production of beer and wine, and also of cider and mead. One home fermentation that seems to have been left behind is country wine; basically fermented sugar water with flavor, and sometimes additional fermentable sugar, provided by...pretty much anything you can think of, from fruit to flowers. An old brewing tradition anywhere people lived without barley or grapes, honey or apples, country wine can be made of pretty much anything in your garden.
So far this year, I've had a bumper crop of tomatoes (luckily no signs of blight yet) and I thought I'd give fermentation as shot as well as cooking and preserving. There are plenty of recipes out there, most of which more or less agree. I designed my own recipe based on these. I can't recommend that you follow it yet, but I'll definitely post tasting notes once it's finished. Read on for the recipe and procedure.
 This month, beer desserts are the theme of cooperative beer blogging project The Session, hosted by Beer47.com.
Here at The Cellar and the Pantry, our specialty is the DIY aspects of beer. So instead of starting with beer, my dessert uses the raw ingredients, including homegrown hops, to make a hop lover's version of traditional rock candy. Read on for the recipe and the results.
The topic of this month's installment of The Session is the beer cocktail. This seemed like the perfect excuse to combine two parts of this blog's mission statement by mixing home brewed beer with something from my edible garden. The timing was a bit of a problem, however. In April, my garden was producing very little, except for some fall-planted onions and garlic, some very small radishes, and a little bit of spearmint. Then I realized that the deadline for submission was a day before the first Saturday in May, the traditional day for the running of the Kentucky Derby. So my mission was clear: I would use my homegrown mint to develop a beer version of the Derby's signature cocktail. I set out to create the Beer Julep. Comment on this post at the Cellar and the Pantry Forums
Posted by: chapka in wine on
Apr 6, 2009
It's common knowledge that many craft brewers and brewpub owners got their start as homebrewers. Now, courtesy of the Evening Sun of Hanover, PA, comes a story of a small winery that started the same way. High Rock Winery doesn't seem to have a web site yet, but according to press reports they'll be opening in the wine maker's basement near Hanover, PA on April 16, selling 34 varieties of home-fermented wine. Comment on this article at the Cellar and the Pantry Forums
Posted by: chapka in vinegar, The Session, slugs, rice, pickles, pale lager, onions, leeks, hops, Edible gardening, corn, beer, barley on
Feb 11, 2009
 The March edition of The Session, the beer blog community's monthly cooperative conversation, is pale lager. As in standard American light-colored, light-flavored lagers. Many of the beer-appreciation (a.k.a. beer drinking) blogs aren't too pleased, because it's not what they usually drink. And many of the home-brewing blogs aren't pleased, because it's not what they normally brew. But The Cellar and the Pantry has a wider mission than just brewing, and if you're interested in making your beer by using your gardening skills as well as your brewing skills, it might just be one of the easiest styles to grow. Comment on this post at the Cellar and the Pantry Forums
Posted by: chapka in law, beer on
Feb 6, 2009
In a move little remarked on, especially by homebrewers, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau recently approved the use of polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, polyvinylimadazole, lysozyme, and polystyrene as adjuncts in commercially sold beer. Once again, please remember that the alcoholic beverage industry are the only purveyors of food in the United States that are not required to list the ingredients they use on their labels or otherwise reveal them to consumers. And, of course, remember that if you brew your own, you will always know exactly what's in it.
Posted by: chapka in law, beer on
Jan 30, 2009
The Utah house has finally passed a bill legalizing homebrewing. On to the state Senate. If all goes well, Utah homebrewers could be firing up the burners legally by springtime, leaving just a few states where it's illegal to brew up a batch of beer in your kitchen, including Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Iowa. If you live in one of those states and you'd like to change that, please join the American Homebrewers Association, who do great work on these and other homebrew issues.
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