Homebrewing

So, it isn't illegal in Australia to homebrew, so long as you don't distil your brew.  I started my 3rd attempt today.  My first attempt was a kiwi based concoction, my second a mango and apple, and today, an apricot and apple.

Each batch has had its differences, besides the obvious differences in starting fruit base.

The kiwi was a 1:1 weight ratio of fruit to sugar.  Bakers yeast.  Small container, limited air interaction.  10 day ferment and rapid cooking off to kill any further ferment.  Quite sweet, and after about a month, the flavours changed due to the yeast bodies still present.  Hint of kiwi present, alcohol content unmeasured. 

The mango apple was no white sugar, but only two tablespoons of honey as yeast food.  A waterlock method to keep all air interactions out.  Ferment until no further gas exchange occurred.  2 month aging, with a secondary ferment after some raw sugar was added for balance.  The result was quite sharp, definitely not as palatable as the kiwi.  Definitely no mango or apple flavours present.  Measured at 2.5-3% alcohol by volume.

This latest is a 1:1:.75 apricot:apple:white sugar.  Also with bakers yeast.  I am currently fermenting using a vat which is more similar to traditional wine type making, so I will periodically stir the mash through until the ferment ceases, probably around 10-14 days.  Then I will bottle into plastic bottles to age slightly before a filtration through a rough filter, then some further balance and ageing before a fine filtration.  The sugar content was 1kg to 1.5kg total fruit weight, hopefully it won't be as sharp as there is plenty of sugar to digest without the yeast producing acids, but not so much to make it super sweet, like with the kiwi.

Only time will tell how it goes.