I did a pretty basic ferment, and my first one. I took a gallon jar, put in two whole garlic cloves, filled it with halved Roma tomatoes from my garden, then topped off with a 2% salt water brine (spring water and pickling salt. No chlorine or iodine), put a glass pickling weight on top to hold everything under the brine, screwed on the airlock lid from Amazon, and let them sit for about 10 days.
Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_NHMLBbHE77XCH
The jars and airlocks I get at my local brew store don’t have any branding on them, but they look just like these
$11 for a jar with a lid and airlock is cheaper than throwing away the batch of veggies that would fit it in. 🤷🏻♂️
I can’t speak to the quality of the brand, but the jars and airlocks I get at my brew store look just like these.
A local brew shop if you have one, Amazon if you don't: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?adgrpid=54897881206&gclid=CjwKCAjwpKyYBhB7EiwAU2Hn2R2D49vrvm4VIbOIwxgA140VfKEK5fNp-9SU6hgE8WndEPmSvPXPcBoC4zcQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274686704157&hvdev=m&a...
Just as a heads up, I'd highly recommend getting a device to measure specific gravity (hydrometer/refractometer) so you can make sure that your fermentation is actually complete, especially if you're putting in glass bottles so you don't end up making bottle bombs. It also gives you an idea of abv when complete. Otherwise as someone else pointed out I'd get a seal on that lid around your blowoff tube.
I also recommend these jars for anyone looking to get into wine/cider/mead/kombucha etc because they are so stupid cheap and come with airlocks. It's helpful for working out recipes on a small scale before going to larger batches.
My first go-tos were these and it cost me $17 when I got them a few years ago.
FastRack One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2, multicolor (B01AKB4G9E) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_EG4KNT4MGFGTGCDSVT8R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I love these. I use them for my big hot sauce batches. Super easy to clean and good quality.
FastRack One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2, multicolor (B01AKB4G9E) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_1M678R48W9KWN2TRNH9D
Amazon had them. I like to go the LHBS for most things, but these were to sweet to pass up.
Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_MVKRjOBHOsdO9
I only used it for a year or so making kombuchaor pickles and I was trying out zucchini kimchi and as I'm unscrewing the lid it gets stuck and breaks. I threw the whole thing out because I was afraid I missed some glass...
Any ideas? Just unlucky?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07115V3F7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Last week was pretty good. Got some new 1 gallon carboys. 100% recommend. Perfect size, glass, easy to clean.
Primary- 1 gallon of Resistance IPA, because the last batch got infected. Worried it'll be too bitter. I don't make a lot of hoppy beers, but my homebrew club wanted to all make the same beer and score each other on it.
Also a 1 gallon batch of oatmeal stout that was cold mashed. Ended up getting 50% efficiency after all the oats but it'll make an amazing breakfast stout. Don't really know how much coffee to add for that but I'll figure it out.
Bottled - Irish Red Ale I made for coworkers. It's going to take a while to give out, but it's been well received so far.
In planning - bought a vacuum chamber a while ago to make NA beer, and originally I was going to use it on the oatmeal stout. But now I'm hyped for oatmeal stout so I'll have to figure it out. Wish I had made more than a gallon haha.
Active projects - I talk about beer pretty regularly, and here in New England we have a pretty big craft beer scene, so in the past few months I've met a few people who want me to teach them to brew or will slip me a few bucks to fill a keg. It's super flattering and I'm happy to give out beer.
If you are going to do fermentation, I recommend these.
Alembics are cheap and always good to have on hand, though in my experience they are rarely "needed"
I'll be interested on hearing how your work for the vegetable stones goes. I'm doing the same.
I've been out of the game for a bit, brewed quite a lot with my brother but the last few years he's not lived close and I haven't kept up.
I'm looking to get back into it. But living in an apartment I'll probably start with 1 gallon batches.
I've got a brew pot that will definitely be big enough so I'm set there. I also have some one gallon jugs that I could probably just add an airlock to but I'm thinking of getting some wide mouth ones just to make cleaning easier (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07115V3F7/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1).
What other gear should I pick up as a necessity or as something that would simply be nice to have?
I got a 2-pack off amazon. I think these were the ones.
They’ve been working great! I just need to stop over-filling them.
Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_qSaKBbFVAZRJZ
I think this is the one I bought (at least it is very similar)
FastRack One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2, multicolor (B01AKB4G9E)
Here ya go:
FastRack One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2, multicolor (B01AKB4G9E) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BGG6AVQHR0SZYR9MED3A
Just a note, I picked these up after my first fermentation, the airlock is so much easier and you don’t have to worry about exploding jars- https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7
Well, to make it simple you have a lot of recipes for mead and it is the most , from traditional which has nothing and all other kinds that has ingridients with names that i've never heard before.
So step 1 would be is know that is fermentation.
Fermentation is the process where the yeast that is a fungus, makes alcohol from sugar by eating it and "pooping" alcohol. So, most basic add sugar in water with yeast and boom! You got alcohol.
The mix that you're going to ferment is called must is your base sugary solution for fermentation, for this case your must is the honey in water basically
​
Step 2
get yourself a vessel for fermenting, it can be a big bottel or jar with a sealed cap, and you need also a valve or a bubbler to make the gas go out and not let oxygen comes in (Yes, fermentation produces carbon monoxide gas)
An example of vessel can be this:
Step 3
know your quantities, for example i like to mix 2 kilograms of honey per gallon of water (thats like 4 pounds) and it must be bottled water it cannot be tap water
Step 4
Clean very well anything that will be in contact with your brew, like your vessel, spoons, hydrometer, et cetera....
Clean it with alcohol and tap water and make sure it is well dried.
Step 5
Prepare your must: basically mix the water with the honey and make sure is all well mixed up, You can heat it a little bit (not to the point of boiling)
let it cold if you heated it and then put the must in your vessel (make sure is between 30 to 40 C° or in any case 86F° Remember: the yeast is a living thing so you must understand it will die if its too hot or too cold)
if you have all that done already you can put the yeast in it, for the moment you are new so you can use basic bread yeast, its the same, the diference is that brew yeast has more tolerances befor being poisoned
Also remember, do not use too much yeast no more than 8 to 10 grams, sometimes it comes in little bags
(look on youtube how to activate your yeast, if its dry yeast or fresh yeast)
Step 6
So, we made it this far, wohooo!
once you added both your must and your yeast in the fermenting vessel, you have to remember this:
the most important ingridient for making alcohol is patience... yeah really.. the more time you let it in the vessel the better, but a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks.
You'll know when its done when it is clear and the yeast is sedimented
then you have to remove the mead from the vessel, there are a lot of ways, try not to move too much your vessel because the sediment is going to move and you'll make a mess, you can see that on youtube also. either way it doenst matter if you drink that sediment, its good for your stomach, its more like a "beauty" factor.
​
then you removed it from the vessel put it in the fridge for 1 week extra. and then you can bottle it or drink it.
​
i think a said all that you need, if you have doubts you can text me a private message i will answer all your questions.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_0et4Fb9KDV2HK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
They were 18$ when I bought them, but some local homebrew stores tend to have them in stock too.
It's easier to use something like this with a wide mouth. I used that and put my fruit in a cheesecloth bag. Easy cleanup of the fruit and easy to squeeze it out to extract the juice too.
I bought this set of 2 1-gallon jars w/airlock on amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549129969&sr=8-3&keywords=1+gallon+fermenter
They came with the jars in a double pack from Home Brew Ohio on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GuOGCb1989WQ3
Sure thing. I use the fairly common one gallon jar with lid and twin bubble airlock. If you have a brewing place locally you can likely pick up these supplies for considerably less than online. For things that don't require an airlock I use the same jars but place a large coffee filter over the top and secure it in place with a rubber band. Works just fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=sr_1_2?
The higher the ABV, the longer the aging time. The wiki has a lot of good info and some recipes. A packet of yeast will do 5 gallons, so hydrate and refridgerate the rest and you will be able to do many small batches. 1 gallon jars are avaiable from Amazon. I like the wide-mouth, easier to clean. https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2CKNTCW8IP9L6&dchild=1&keywords=one+gallon+brewing+jar&qid=1601314317&sprefix=one+gallon+brew%2Caps%2C214&sr=8-5
You can get em on amazon, here
I purchased them though amazon
I got these of amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_3Q3IEbXPEZW5B
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/
I have these ones, they're glass and the lids fit well.
Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_5lnxDb705ZCDJ
Looks very similar to the ones I buy above. Haven't had any issues with them.
I got these 1 gallons from amazon and use them for fermenting peppers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07115V3F7/
I have 4 of these, great cost, easy to clean
Home Brew Ohio One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Th6wCbT5RZX6M
I like using these to ferment:
The one gallon are these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07115V3F7 . They come with lids and airlocks. I "made" the other lid using an old airlock and grommet from my beer making days.
You can buy wide mouth 1 gallon glass fermentors. Edit: $23 on amazon.