07-30-2006, 07:32 AM
WoW!, Lots of questions, and that's great!You will get getter beer flavor using ale yeasts. Ale yeaststypicaly have about 6-8% alcohol tolerance. They will usually brewto completion in about a week or so. The EZ cap yeast yeast moreresembles a champaign type yeast, in that the yeast has an alcoholtolerance of about 15-18% when you let it brew out completely.Getting more alcohol means more time, to the tune of about 1% ABV(Alcohol By Volume) per day.Refridgeration:Refridgeration does NOT stop fermentation, it just slows it down.Cold kind of hibernates the yeast, but it doesn't kill it. There area couple of ways to kill the yeast 1. Alcohol poisoning - differentstrains of yeast have different alcohol tolernaces. When the yeastmakes enough alcohol that its environment gets to its tolerance, theyeast dies. 2. Starvation - when the yeast runs out of sugar to eat,it dies. 3. Heat - If the yeast gets up to a certain temperature,like 150 degrees Farenheit, it'll die. Unfortunately, this severelyaffects the flavor of whatever has been brewed.There is a way to stop fermentation if the brewing processhasnt "naturally" killed the yeast. You can add preservatives likepotasium sorbate or sulfites to your brew. This is the way mostcommercially produced wine is stabilized, but it presents 2 problems.By adding chemicals to the wine, it changes the flavor. Maybe notmuch, but some. The other concern is a lot more important. Somepeople are allergic to the sulfites that are used to kill the yeast.If you do use sulfites to kill the yeast, make sure you tell everyonewho tries your beverage that it contains sulfites. Be sure to labelthe bottles as well.Refridgeration does slow down fermentation enough that you canstore "unfinished" brews in the 'fridge. Do not store ezcaps ontheir side, they WILL leak. That's what they are designed to do, letstuff out when there is sufficient pressure. If you are going tostore stuff on it's side, remove the ezcap and put the regular capback on it. As long as it's in the 'fridge, you should be OK.The "best" malt extracts are a matter of personal preference, likesaying the best cola is Coke or Pepsi. Do both and decide!If you make the sasparilla without an ezcap, only let it brew for acouple days, then hit the fridge. Too long will make too muchalcohol (yes, there is such a thing!), and without the pressurerelease valve of the ezcap, you might blow up the bottle. Big messand no fun. If you want to make an alcoholic soda, use the ezcap andlet it brew out for a week or two.Keep experimenting, and let us know what you find out.Willum--- "eezzcap" wrote:>> I just received my ez caps today. I am going to start some cider> right away.>> I was wondering about making beer. Would I get a better flavorusing> ale yeasts or other yeasts? I would probably have to allow these to> ferment longer, correct? Also if I use the ezcap yeast, would Ihave> to refrigerate to stop fermentation? I don't have a huge> refrigerator and I don't think that I could store many 2 liter> bottles unless I could store them horizontal which would not allow> the sediment to settle to thORGINAL POSTER: willum