Converting Recipes

[mikepellerin]

Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm new to E-Z Caps, and I couldn't find the information on the Forum.

I have an old copy of "First Steps in Winemaking" by C.J.J. Berry that was passed down to me by my Uncle. It's an old 1950s Canadian version. It does have American conversions, but I'd like to know guidelines on how to convert regular brewing recipes to E-Z Caps versions for two liter brews.

Thank you, Mike.

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

If you can post an example recipe from the book I'd like to take a stab at the conversion.

[mikepellerin]

Here is a recipe I'd like to convert:

Raspberry Wine

Raspberries 3 lb.
Sugar 2 & 1/2 lb.
Water 1 gallon
Yeast & nutrient

Bring water to a boil and pour it over fruit, then leave it to cool. Mash fruit well, then cover it closely and leave it for four days, stirring daily. Strain through two thick-nesses of muslin on to the sugar, and stir thoroughly to dissolve. Add a good wine yeast and stir well in. Leave for 24 hours, closely covered, in a warm place, the put the liquor into your fermentation vessel, and fit air-lock. Ferment it right out, and when it clears, siphon the wine off the lees into clean bottles.

Thanks, I figured I'd like try this recipe because I love all things raspberry.

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Sorry for the delay in the response. I have made raspberry wine from fresh raspberries before and I was hoping to find my notes. Unfortunately, I did not find them.

What I did was after picking and rinsing the fresh raspberries, I poured some water on them and slowly brought it to a boil, then once boiling, reduced heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes. After it had cooled to room temperature I squeezed the juice out by squishing it through new pantyhose. Then I heated again and added and dissolved sugar. Once it was cooled I poured into 2 liter bottles, added yeast, and added the EZ Cap. After a few days, begin tasting and when it is the right sweetness, begin clarifying in the fridge following the general EZ Caps recipe.

[mikepellerin]

Ah, so I guess a "rule of thumb" would be to prepare a recipe (say 1 gallon), then divide it into two, two-liter bottles. For a five gallon recipe I would divide it by 1/4ths, and buy more EZCaps.

On older recipes it will say to "add ingredients to primary" then after a time "add ingredients to fermenter". Am I adding the ingredient to a crock to soak, then adding them to the 2 liter bottle with yeast to then ferment out?

It would be great if you guys had a step-by-step conversion video just to give us some kind of idea.

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Ah, so I guess a "rule of thumb" would be to prepare a recipe (say 1 gallon), then divide it into two, two-liter bottles. For a five gallon recipe I would divide it by 1/4ths, and buy more EZCaps.

On older recipes it will say to "add ingredients to primary" then after a time "add ingredients to fermenter". Am I adding the ingredient to a crock to soak, then adding them to the 2 liter bottle with yeast to then ferment out?

It would be great if you guys had a step-by-step conversion video just to give us some kind of idea.

Yes, your rule of thumb is spot on.

EZ Caps are always a 1-step fermentation process. After the berry juice is cooked, sweetened, cooled, it should go directly into the 2 liter bottles, pitch the yeast, and then put on the EZ Cap and shake. I've always had great results using the 1-step EZ Cap process. I've had a lot of failed experiments using the buckets and pails.

[Boisson]

How about a video that Mike mentioned? Did you guys make something like that since then? It would be great to visually see what you're talking about, especially to a beginner like me.

[rastoma]

I am going to be doing a video soon using just frozen juice concentrate. When blackberries are ripe here in about 3-4 weeks I'm going to attempt to do my first batch using fresh fruit and will document that on Youtube as well. At least I plan on it assuming I will be able to find blackberries to pick before they are all gone around here.

[WarnerHak]

Yes, I do want recipes.

Ive sent you a PM.

If anyone else has either a Blendetec or Vitamix blender since they are somewhat similar in power please let me know of any recipes that you use that are not in the included in the recipe book.

Thanks.

[VillaTempest]

Here is a recipe I'd like to convert:

Raspberry Wine

Raspberries 3 lb.
Sugar 2 & 1/2 lb.
Water 1 gallon
Yeast & nutrient

Bring water to a boil and pour it over fruit, then leave it to cool. Mash fruit well, then cover it closely and leave it for four days, stirring daily. Strain through two thick-nesses of muslin on to the sugar, and stir thoroughly to dissolve. Add a good wine yeast and stir well in. Leave for 24 hours, closely covered, in a warm place, the put the liquor into your fermentation vessel, and fit air-lock. Ferment it right out, and when it clears, siphon the wine off the lees into clean bottles.

Thanks, I figured I'd like try this recipe because I love all things raspberry.

Great Recipe! Nice and simple.

AFIR EZ Caps Recipes call for 1/8th tsp of dry "proprietary" yeast per 2L batch of brew. From previous discussions, I believe the yeast to be a robust, top fermenting, yeast with very good attenuation.

That being said let's look at your recipe:
Raspberry Wine

Raspberries 3 lb (1.36kg)
Sugar 2 & 1/2 lb (1.13kg)
Water 1 gallon(US) (3.79L) ---> divide by 3.79 to get to 1 L then multiply by volume of soda bottle to get your desired volume
Yeast & nutrient

To convert to 2L, divide by 3.79 and multiply by 2

Raspberries 0.72kg (1.59 lb)
Sugar 0.6kg (1.32 lb)
Water 2L (0.53 gal US)
Yeast&Nutrient 1/8 tsp dry EZ Caps yeast.

Now, this all depends of course on the size of your soda bottle. Of course you can also do the math in, "lb" as long as you know the US gallon volume of your brewing bottle (assuming that the recipes are in US gallons and not Imperial gallons, but the logic still applies)

Now to be clear, EZ Caps is primarily a one step fermentation process, as mentioned by a previous poster, however this does not stop you from adding additional items to the bottle AFTER primary fermentation is over. So, Monitor your fermentation each day, what it get crusty and then stop activity, at this point add your extra ingredients. This may result in secondary fermentation, souring, flavouring, etc depending on the additional items. Cap the bottle and let it complete the fermentation. If you desire additional carbonation, add 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar and shake well. Then just give it some additional time.