Welcome to the Brewers Wort Online Newsletter! Well, the Bathtub celebrations are well on the way, and the weather is beautiful! Lets catch up on some news, and believe it or not, talk about Christmas. This newsletter is brought to you by subscription only. Unsubscribe information is at the end of the newsletter.

• Estate Series Stag's Leap Merlot and Monterey Bay Pinot Noir...
  
• Sale wines for August...
• New bottle washer...
• Fruit wine anyone?...
• Prairie Wheat a hit...
• Contest winners...
  
• A new summer contest...
• August's coupons...
• The last word...
  
  

Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot here to stay!...
The first Stag's Leap Merlots have been bottled, and they are fantastic, even at bottling time. The body, oak and fruit undertones combine to produce the best Merlot we have to offer! The Estate line, unfortunately, will be without its Monterey Pinot Noir, as supply exceeded demand, but I'm sure Brew King has plans to replace it with a fantastic new region-specific wine in the near future. Come on in and see what the Estate line has to offer!

Sale wines for August...
The sale wines for August in the Vintner's Reserve line are Pinot Blanc for $52.99, and Chianti for $55.99. In the Chai Maison line, the sale wines are Chamblaise (Chablis) for $37.99, and Vieux Château du Roi for $39.99. Finally, in the Vintner's Reserve Passport Series line, the sale wine is French Cabernet Sauvignon for $61.99

A new bottle washer for The Brewer's Wort...
We have something new to offer our U-Brew customers, an automatic bottle washer/sanitizer. It sanitizes 49 wine or beer bottles in just under 2 min, and customers are more than delighted so far with the ease of using it. Pop your head in and take a look!

Fruit wine anyone?...
Quite possibly one of the most asked questions this time of year is "I have a ton of blackberries/plums/raspberries, how do I make wine out of them?" The answer could eat up an entire newletter or a few lines, depending on how in depth you want to get. I thought I would start you off with what you will need for the more popular fruit wines. I'll give you the ingredients you need for 5 gallons, if you are making less than 5 gallons, simply divide all the ingredients by 5, (except the yeast), and multiply by the number of gallons you want to make.

For 5 gallons of blackberry wine, you will need:

25 lbs of blackberries,
14 lbs of sugar, or enough to give you a gravity of 1.085,
2.5 tsp of acid blend,
2.5 tsp of pectic enzyme,
4 tsp yeast nutrient,
4 campden tablets, crushed,
1 pkg wine yeast.

Wash and drain the blackberries using a straining bag, (trust me, do it now, if you do it later it is a pain in the behind), tie up the straining bag and place it in the fermenter. Add all of the other ingredients beside the yeast, (the 4 camden tablets you add kill the wild yeasts that are on the fruit, but they take 24 hours to do this, and will kill your wine yeast if you add it now), and stir. After 24 hours, add the yeast and stir well. Punch down the pulp that rises to the top twice a day, and rack after approximately 7 days. Let it sit in the carboy for a mininum 3 months, racking once after 2 months. After 3 months, stabilize and add finings to the wine, then after 2 more weeks, you have blackberry wine!

For 5 gallons of raspberry wine, you will need:

19 lbs of raspberries,
14 lbs of sugar, or enough to give you a gravity of 1.085,
2.5 tsp of acid blend,
2.5 tsp of pectic enzyme,
4 tsp yeast nutrient,
4 campden tablets, crushed,
1 pkg wine yeast.

Wash and drain the raspberries using a straining bag, (trust me, do it now, if you do it later it is a pain in the behind), tie up the straining bag and place it in the fermenter. Add all of the other ingredients beside the yeast, (the 4 camden tablets you add kill the wild yeasts that are on the fruit, but they take 24 hours to do this, and will kill your wine yeast if you add it now), and stir. After 24 hours, add the yeast and stir well. Punch down the pulp that rises to the top twice a day, and rack after approximately 7 days. Let it sit in the carboy for a mininum 3 months, racking once after 2 months. After 3 months, stabilize and add finings to the wine, then after 2 more weeks, you have raspberry wine! P.S.: Raspberry wine ususally is a blush colour. I usually add some wine conditioner to mine to make an off-dry wine, but again, it's up to you.

For 5 gallons of plum wine, you will need:

25 lbs of plums, pitted (the pits will make your wine bitter),
12.5 lbs of sugar, or enough to give you a gravity of 1.085,
2.5 tsp of acid blend,
2.5 tsp of pectic enzyme,
4 tsp yeast nutrient,
4 campden tablets, crushed,
1 pkg wine yeast.

Wash, drain and pit the plums then squeeze out the juice using a straining bag, (trust me, do it now, if you do it later it is a pain in the behind), tie up the straining bag and place it in the fermenter. Add all of the other ingredients beside the yeast, (the 4 camden tablets you add kill the wild yeasts that are on the fruit, but they take 24 hours to do this, and will kill your wine yeast if you add it now), and stir. After 24 hours, add the yeast and stir well. Punch down the pulp that rises to the top twice a day, and rack after approximately 7 days. Let it sit in the carboy for a mininum 3 months, racking once after 2 months. After 3 months, stabilize and add finings to the wine, then after 2 more weeks, you have plum wine! P.S.: Plums vary in acid levels quite a bit, be sure to acid test to make sure your acids are not too high.

These recipies should give you a good head start into the world of fruit wines, but are only a guideline. The key is to taste the fruit to determine how sweet or bitter (acidic) they are. Don't make wine with fruit you wouldn't eat! If you have any further questions, dont hesitate to call or E-mail us with any questions.

Brew House Prairie Wheat a hit!...

The newest seasonal addition to the Brew House line is Prairie Wheat, and it is one of our most popular beers right now! Summertime is prime time for wheat beers. Brew House "Prairie Wheat" is a light, summer thirst-quencher filled with the distinctive, refreshing flavour of malted wheat. A Canadian version of the classic German wheat beers, it leans towards the "clean and crisp". Brewed with the yeast included in the kit, Prairie Wheat will produce a light bodied, clean brew, with a subtle hop character, and it is a perfect beer with pretzels, smokies and grilled meats. Check out this and the other beers in the Brew House line today! (And don't forget, if you get your beer U-Brewed, you are able to put it in cans, which is perfect for camping!)

Contest winners ...
Thanks yet again to Brew King for supplying the prizes for the last contest! The winner of the Selection hat was Gloria S., and the winner of the Baron's beer mugs was Bill C.. Thanks to all who enetered, the response was fantastic!

New summer contest ...
I don't know about you, but summertime means beer to me, so the contest this month will be to win 2 Baron's beer mugs. Sorry, you have to subscribe to the newsletter to enter this contest.

 

The coupons for August...
Sorry, you have to subscribe to the newsletter to get the coupons.

Let's talk about Christmas! Yes, I am a sadist. It is only 5 months away, and if you figure on 2 months to make a Selection kit or a month to make a Vintner's Reserve kit, that leaves you with 3 or 4 months for aging, which will make it ideal for serving over the holidays. Plan ahead, and you'll thank me during the holidays. Enjoy the Bathtub Race on the 27th, and we'll see you right here in your inbox soon!

 

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