Easy Wine Labels

If you happen to stop by my house, you would find that I generally store my wine in gallon jugs. I'm just too darn lazy or getting too old to mess around with filling wine bottles.

Christmas time is a different story. I love to give my better wines away as gifts to friends and family. My problem is that I generally spend hours making the perfect wine label to make my bottles look professional.

This year my problem is solved. At Wine Label Builder you can make a professional looking label in less than a minute.

Not only did I find this as a real time saver but if your making several cases for that special occasion you can have professionally looking labels. Even though Wine Label Builder paid for this review, I found their collection of labels to chose from quite extensive.

Price wise, Wine Label Builder is very reasonable. You can also upload your own custom label and have them print them for you.

So, if your looking for some professional looking labels, give Wine Label Builder a try.







Having too much fun making labels since it was so easy.

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Stu Brew

This recipe is taken from Victory Beer Recipes and makes 10 gallons.

17 pounds two-row pale malt
2 pounds Munich malt
1 Carapils malt
6 ounces crystal malt
1 ounce Perle hops - 60 minutes
3 ounces Saaz hops - 30 minutes
1 ounce Tettnanger hops - 12 minutes
1/2 teaspoon gypsum
Wyeast no 2206 liquid yeast

Boiling time 60 minutes
Primary fermentation 14 days at 49 degrees
Secondary fermentation 28 days at 49 degrees

Mash grains at 120 degrees, raise to 153 degrees, then to 165 degrees. sparge with 175 degree water. Force co2 to carbonate.

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De-Gassing Your Wine

Searching through Youtube and I found this unique way to de-gas your wine. Really worth watching.

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Redesigning Site

I'll be spending the next few days doing an overhaul of the site. Those of you that subscribe to the site's feed my get several feeds during this process. I hope to be back on schedule next Tuesday.

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India Pale Ale

India Pale Ale, otherwise known as an IPA, is a distinct style of beer and is characterized as a sparkling pale ale with a slightly higher level of alcohol and hops than a typical Pale Ale; the hops lend it a distinct bitterness.

The IPA came about in the mid 1700's as a way for British brewers to ship unspoiled beer to India. The increase in hops and alcohol prevented the beer from spoiling and made for a rather strong tasty brew.

Characteristics of this beer can, as with other styles, vary somewhat, but an IPA will always exhibit the alcohol and hopping that distinguished the original. English brewers designed their IPAs with original gravities of 1070 and above, which translates to alcohol levels of a whopping 7.5 to 8%. Modern recipes usually attain a more modest level of 1050 to 1060 OG, for a subdued, yet still noticeable strength of 5.5 to 7%. Specialty malt additions of carapils and crystal contributes to the deep copper\amber color and provides an undertone of faint but perceptible caramel. Conditioning favors the mild end of the spectrum but at times might be considered quite lively when compared with other English ales.

In general, a traditional IPA will possess a nose of perfumey alcohol, fruitiness, and malt, although newer versions frequently overshadow the malt with strong hops. English brewers typically use hop varieties of Goldings and Fuggles, while American renditions of IPA employ Northern Brewer, Cascade, and Chinook, which project notes of citric or grapefruit-like flavors.

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Blogging About Wine

Who blogs about wine? Why, me of course. I did find this article somewhat amusing in that it seems that the casual internet user has no clue about blogs. Also amazing that newspapers are just getting around to the idea of blogging as a source of info. Hope you enjoy the article.

*** Note *** Feed readers may have to visit the blog to read the article.

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Diabetic Strawberry Liqueur

I have decided to experiment with an all natural sweetener called Stevia that basically has zero carbs and is a good substitute for those who are diabetic.

1 bottle of vodka (750 ml)
1 lb strawberries
12 packets Stevia

Cut the strawberries into small pieces and place into a crock or tupperware container

Add the Stevia and stir the berries

Cover and let stand for 6 to 7 hours

Add the vodka

Cover tightly and leave for 3-4 months, shaking (shake every day for first 2 weeks then once a month)

Strain into another bottle or strain as you pour the latter will add the interest of having the fruit in the bottle as you pour

For a Stevia conversion chart, check out Cooking With Stevia.

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