Damnuel Adams

I've started making hooch. There's really no other name for it . . . wild fermenting extra strength wine? Post-apocalypse weak shine? Whatever it is, it's pretty alcoholic and never very good. But I'll keep trying.

First off was T'ej. The recipe I got was from a Wild Fermentation book and it was pretty simple. Honey, water and some organic fruit (organic fruit doesn't have pesticides on it to kill the wild yeast) so I used raspberries. It was pungent. Like nail polish remover. The recipe in the hyperlink there sounds much better . . . and since I have some buckwheat honey that's not so great it tea (it's got a pretty deep taste) I might give it another try.

I bottled one big bottle (seen in the sink there) and one beer bottle. I left the customary 2 inches of air space in both. I left them in the utility sink down stairs to rack - the longer they "rack", basically sit there, the dryer they are - for about three weeks. Then I painted the shelves upstairs and had to move the bottles to wash the paint rollers. 

I took the bottles out, eye balled them to see all the yeast and stuff floating in it, then put it on the floor. 

Well about an hour later, when I was at Home Depot, I got a call from Dianna. "Why is there glass all over the basement????" 

The little beer bottle exploded. And how. It shredded the glass. I found pieces probably 20 feet away.

That's when I decided to strain all the sediment out. Try to stop the yeast from building up enough CO to blow the big bottle.

Then I tried it. And, damn, was it astringent. Imagine drinking nail polish remover fumes.

 So I'm going to lose that recipe.


And a few months back I posted a bunch of pics of the kids and I picking fruit. Then I did the Peach Cake and posted those pics. Scan back, it's there. Well, I used the peels and pits to make this recipe. Basically, peach pits and peels, sugar and water. Then bury the jars. The ground keeps them at a set temp and they ferment away. All you have to do is dig them out, strain them and drink.

You need to stain or, as the video puts it, you get the runs. He's very serious on that point.

So I dug them up.

This is what they looked like, pre-straining.

And I got about 2 quarts of highly liquorified peach . . . wash. It's not as strong as the t'ej but not as stomach knotting, either. I'm sure it'll do nicely in my compost bin.

BUT, I still have high hopes for the apple hooch I have buried behind the garage . . . though I'm wondering if it's ok that the seeds are in there . . .


Music videos! I made my dad my version of a Steve Earle Best Of a while back (which was not easy to fit on one disc) so I've gone pretty deep back into his music. Especially his last album I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. Great stuff. And a hair cut I've given serious consideration to (hell, I'm halfway there on the beard).