Hooch0ff 2008

Yesterday our friend Robert "Hoochman" Hamilton came out to the Funny Farm to teach a group of us how to make hooch. Robert has been sharing his outrageously delicious and potent hooch with us at gatherings throughout the past year or so. His work is comparable to the finest wines or port in the world (at least according to our uneducated, inexperienced palates). We have sampled hooch made from pineapple guave, jasmine tea, buttermilk and many things in between. Some are sweet and full-bodied, some are dry and fruity, some are simple in flavor some are quite complex.
We felt it was time to learn a new skill. Seven of us chopped, mashed, and/or juiced 6 different ingredients or combinations of ingredients from which to make our first batch of hooch. We did Carrot/orange/star anise, Cantaloupe, Mango/Lime, Strawberry/lime/chocolate mint, Red Tea, Black/blue/raspberry, Pineapple, Banana/strawberry. Robert's method is very simple. Mash the fruit. Add enough water to be able to pour it into a bottle (boil the water to get rid of the chlorine so it won't kill the yeast). Add 2 pounds of sugar per gallon of fruit and water. If you are not using any acidic ingredients like citrus you add some Acid Blend (available at your favorite wine making supply store) 1 tablespoon per gallon. Pour the mixture into the bottles leaving a little space at the top for some yeast. If needed add a tablespoon of When the temperature of the mix is between 90º and 75º add in distillers yeast , 1 teaspoon/gal. mixed in a little water. Turn the bottle over a couple of times to mix in the yeast. Cover the top of the bottle with a folded over paper towel and secure with a rubber band.
Robert says that in about 2-3 weeks the major activity of the yeast will be complete. Here is the point to taste the young wine to see if it needs more sugar to bring out the fruit flavors or (if you like it dry) to allow it to finish fermenting as is. At that time we will plug the bottles with an air lock and allow to finish fermenting for about 2-3 months. When to bubbles stop flowing through the airlock we will remove it and cork or otherwise seal the bottles for further aging (or guzzle them down immediately which is what many of us will probably do).
At our annual Winter Solstice Party we will be breaking out our hooch for sharing and comparing. Someone will be crowned Hooch-maker Numero Uno and will win a prize (to be determined at a later date)
If the shit hits the fan and we have to hunker down here at the Funny Farm we figure we'll be able to use our hooch as trading stock to get things we need. Everybody needs hooch!

Wild Fermentation Update

This is for Robbyn who is homesteading in Florida and has expressed an interest in wild fermentation.

Well we have had some successes and a major failure. 

First the successes. Kefir is very easy to make once you have the grains to start it with. We got ours at the silent auction at the Georgia Organics conference a couple of months ago. We have made kefir from coconut milk and raw cow's milk. Both are really tasty. The cow's milk kefir gets really thick and tastes like feta cheese. We could definitely drain off the whey(?) and have some simple cheese. We keep about 3 cups going all the time.

The collard kraut turned out to be very tasty. We put it in beans, soups, on cheese sandwiches. If you add it to something hot, do it at the last minute so you don't kill the microorganisms in it. They are really good for your digestion and nutritious too. As you can see we've almost eaten it all. Cabbage is on the way.

The brined carrots on the other hand didn't fare very well. It's my fault. I was lazy and didn't tend to them as i should have. The process is an anaerobic (without oxygen) one. Thats why you put something over the top of the vegetables to keep them submerged under the brine. Sometimes molds do form at the surface which you are supposed to skim off regularly. I didn't keep up with the skimming. Also the water evaporated some exposing more of the carrots to air allowing the molds to grow. I became fascinated by what was growing on the surface so let it continue to grow until my Robin made me throw it out. Hence this update.

We'll be having radishes coming out of our ears soon so i think i'll brine some of them. 

And do my skimming too.