First of all, I want to say great product! I'm hooked on Nano-brewing. I've already tried a ton of juices and beer mixes.

My question (and it might seem stupid): What if I want to drink a non-sparkling wine?

What I come up with everytime is kind of like a strong champagne or sparkling dry red wine.

What's the best way to get rid of the carbonation?

Question: I don't want a carbonated wine. How can I do this with EZ Caps?

Answer: Follow the EZ Caps recipe, but after two days, unscrew the EZ Caps most of the way. Generally, after 48 hours the yeast and EZ Caps have done their job in starting a contaminant-free beverage and the rising alcohol level would kill any wild yeast or bacteria. When the cap is unscrewed most of the way it will not maintain any pressure and you will get an uncarbonated drink.

Q: I recently used the caps t make some wine. I have left it for seven days and then refigerated it. After 2 days I opened the bottle and it fizzes distrubing the sediment in the bottom. Is his meant to happen or have I done something wrong.

You haven't done anything wrong. The longer it sits, the more muddy the sediment will get and less likely it will be to get disturbed. Most people don't mind a little sediment but if it bothers you, you can rack it by pouring the contents into another bottle, being careful not to transfer as much sediment as possible. When that clarifies, there will be very little sediment left. Done again, and there should be none at all.

having brewed beer for ages now i've always have added an extra can of malt instead of sugar to boost abv and add body. i'm going to try two cans of concentrate without adding sugar in a few days. that should be interesting.

I just made this awesome dark beer. To me, it tastes a lot like Guiness. And, it's really easy! This recipe is for 2 liters (half gallon) and is easily scaleable to any size.

Ingredients:

2 cups Muntons dried malt extract (dark)
1 ounce Hallertau hop pellets
Ale yeast*

Put 1.8 liters of water into a pot, bring to a boil, remove from heat, and then add 2 cups of dark DME (stir well) and the hop pellets (I put the hop pellets into a large tea ball). Return to heat, bring to a gentle boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Remove tea ball and add yeast. Stir vigorously, and then put into 2 liter bottle. Screw on EZ Cap and ferment 2 weeks. Place in refrigerator for 2 days, and then try not to drink it all at once.

* The yeast originated from an IPA recipe almost a year ago, I've been reusing the yeast from the sediment left over from subsequent batches. You should have similar results from any yeast that makes a good IPA.

What is the best way to get your yeast going so it can do it's magical thing?

hi all I have made some cider with the ez cap system out of motts apple juice the easiest juice I could find around here and I put it in the empty two liter bottles and added sugar and yeast not too much though because too much of any of those two can ruin your whole process.The first two gallon batches I made I used white table sugar while on the second 2 gallon batch I used brown table sugar.I don't recall doing anything really special after that and I let the stuff do it's thing for about 5-7 days for the first gallon batch then 3-4 days for the second 2 gallon batch .I guess my question is I have put both of my most recent 2 gallon batches in the fridge to clarify and for the most part they have I guess the part I'm not understanding is the smell is it still supposed to smell like something is rotting?

Thanks

I have tried making hard lemonade twice now to no avail. First, I used straight lemon juice which didnt work. I next tried a 70-30 mixture (70 lemon, 30 wine grape) which didn't work. Neither one ever even started to ferment. So after waiting 2 days on each of them, I refrigerated it and just drank it as regular lemonade (quite tart). After reading the label on the lemon juice, it may have to do with all the extra preservatives they have added (long list). I am going to try it one more time using freshly squeezed lemon juice to see if that will do the trick. I can think of no other reason, other than the extra preservatives, that would make it not work. I am on a mission. Anyone else ever make hard lemonade? Lamo

got my kit today and plan to make a pseudo red (or) white pyment in the next few days. i say pseudo because i'm probably not going to add enough honey for a pure pyment. i have one 10 oz of honey in the kitchen so that's have to do! even that small amount should alter the flavor a bit. My only concern is adding sugar, since the honey is a fermentable i don't want to go overboard with my sugar amount. i'm thinking 3/4 cup should do ok. i'm shooting for about 12-14%. i think 14 days should be enough for fermentation.

so here's my list:
1 can (11.5 oz) 100% juice concentrate - red or white? probably red!
10 oz. honey, just regular honey with no additives. (will boil for a minutes or so.)
3/4 cup sugar.
1/8th tsp yeast.
water.
Does anyone see a problem with this recipe?
Thanks.

Question: i can get cheap beer at 2%abv could i use this kit to increase the alcohol level to around 5%abv, could this also be used on alcohol free beers?

Answer: While I have never done this, based on my 10+ years experience, theoretically it is possible. However before proceeding you need to realize that the taste of the beer would change significantly and you will need extra ingredients. Commercial beers may have artificial preservatives added. If the beer you are trying to referment has them you will probably not be able to get it to ferment.

I would start out by opening the beer and letting it get flat. I say this because most commercial beer like you described has been artificially carbonated and that may be toxic to yeast. After it has gone flat I would stir it vigorously with a whisk to add normal atmosphere to the beer. Next, you need to add sugar and yeast. If you add regular table sugar the beer will get a dry "cidery" flavor. If you add dried malt extract (available from home brew supply stores and online, also known as DME) it will add more body and flavor (and alcohol) to the beer. In a 2 liter bottle every cup (235 ml) of DME that you add is going to increase the alcohol content by roughly 3%. Sugar would increase the alcohol more but like I said you are going to suffer on the taste.

All that being said, I think that you would be better off by just making your own beer. I've got a few test batches going right now and when they are done I will add those recipes to those already available on this site. Another option would be to make an extremely high alcohol beer and mix it with the low or non-alcoholic beer. I know a budget brewer who made a recipe where one of their bottles of home brewed beer turns 3 cans of nasty American lawnmowing beer into something fairly tasty after mixing.