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From the Vine Fall 2011 articles include our new Selection International with Grape Skins product, the two seasonal World Vineyard varieties, this year's Limited Edition information, the return of Gamay Nouveau - a great reason to party and the Art of Blending wines to create superb results. POSTED September 1st, 2011 | 0 COMMENTS 
The results from the The Amateur Winemakers of Canada Competition (AWC) held in Nova Scotia are in. We have won 20 awards out of 27 awarded to Alberta, taking 1 Gold, 12 Silver, 5 Bronze and 2 Certificates of Merit. The competition in the whole province of Alberta won the other 7. WOW! POSTED August 28th, 2011 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Cherry Porter - Just a few weeks left to buy fresh cherries 
During the next 2 weeks I am going to make a daily post on the progress of my Cherry Porter. If interested I would suggest that you purchase 15 pounds of fresh cherries and freeze them now before the season is over. Then in the next month start your own Cherry Porter. Here is the recipe and pictures of each step. The grains are available at The Home Vintner for $6.00. The liquid yeast is $9.95. POSTED August 11th, 2011 | 0 COMMENTS Health Benefits of Beer, who knew? 
Health benefits of beer include anticancer property, reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, increased bone density, prevention of dementia and coronary disease, aiding digestive system, anti-aging properties, countering diabetes, gallstones, kidney stones and osteoporosis, hypertension, apart from acting as a stress buster and diuretic. POSTED August 11th, 2011 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT New ProductsDOMAINE des BRUMES - NOW AVAILABLE 
Step by step (click here) Ron makes our new Selection Original - Brouilly, the largest Cru in Beaujolais, is a wine noted for its aromas of blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries currants and floral notes. Our brouilly is called Domaine des Brumes, a refreshing, easy drinking red revealing a slender texture, smooth tannins and a medium finish. The Gamay grape is light and fruity in the same palette as a Beaujolais wine. POSTED November 2nd, 2011 | 0 COMMENTS Ask The VintnerThe Australian Petit Verdot was first offered as a Limited Edition in 2006. In our 20th year celebration 5 wines were brought back, and yes the Petit Verdot was one of the favorites and reintroduced in 2009. If it is possible to drink pure velvet this is it! I was so excited when Winexpert introduced this wine kit in its new grapeskin lineup. I will walk you daily through the entire process of making this wine. Yes, this is one of my favorites!! To add to the excitement I am going to use a liquid yeast - I have chosen the Bordeaux 4267. 
Corks! Corks! Corks! If I've said it once, I've said it a million times - don't skimp on your corks!!! We recently had a customer bring in a bottle of our Estate Stag's Leap Merlot. He had purchased one of our best kits but when he corked it he bought poor quality corks at another store.The entire 28 bottles had gone bad. We guarantee all beer and wine kits 100% if Here's a tip on getting the top of your carboy clean 
After bottling, it is important to clean your carboy before things left behind start to harden. I rinse with hot water and use carboy brushes to keep everything clean. If there are stubborn stains and scale in the top of my carboy I add about 1 inch of cleaner / sanitizer to the carboy. The Home Vintner sells holeless bungs which I put in the top of the carboy and turn it upside down in 
Bad, bad advice!! The Home Vintner prides itself on having the most knowledgeable staff in the industry. Our wine guild has won over 500 provincial, national and international awards, we have 15 staff certified through the winemaking excellence program (that's more than any other store in North America). Over 9,000 people have completed our wine and beer making How to correctly bottle beer and then how to pour a homecrafted beer 
Once you have reached the correct SG and there is no further surface bubbles, to further clear the beer, then I carefully rack the beer off the sediment into aother sanitized carboy. At 3 days I then rack back into my sanitized primary to add the dextrose provided with the beer kit. Often during the fermentation process a surface scum appears, this is a floating yeast bed. Gently rock the carboy back and forth and the bed breaks into little pieces. If it appears the next day continue disturbing it by rocking the carboy each day. This weekend on the 3rd day there was a significant surface scum. I carefully inserted my syphon rod leaving just a small hole in the surface. Using a syphon clamp I secured the rod to the rim of the carboy. As the beer was syphoned out the scum stuck to the sides of the carboy and to the outside of the sypon rod. 
I've made our India Pale Ale with our add on packs, both with dry yeast and with liquid yeast. I want to try a Pale Ale with no extra hops, just liquid yeast. My choice is the American Ale liquid yeast which will produce a very clean, crisp flavour characteristic. I will call it my Canadian Pale Ale and will walk through the process each day. The Making of a White Wine with Liquid Yeast 
This will be a daily step by step presentation of making one of my favourite whites, an Estate German Mosel Valley Gewurztraminer with Chablis liquid yeast. Rather than using the dry yeast I added the Chablis liquid yeast, after 24 hours the temperature is 70F / 20C. You can see that with the liquid yeast there is a lot more surface activity than usual. 
In this new adventure I am going to make this new Redwood Chocolate Ale. It is a really simple recipe so the steps are easy but the results are awesome! Step one is to simmer the chocolate malt for 30 minutes, crushed malt and recipe are available in our store. I activated the 1728 Scottish Ale liquid yeast now, I will add it to the primary 3 hours from now. Using a hop sock I poured the liquid into a primary filled with ice, this shock cooling releases enzymes which will improve the flavour. If you are doing this alone use a couple of binder clips to hold the hop sock to the handle on the primary. I tied a knot in the hop sock and will allow it to float in the primary until I add the liquid yeast. 
3 years ago I tried my first Richards White, initially I didn't like it but over time I have developed a taste for it. This wheat beer with orange and corriander has now become a staple in my bar fridge. Step by step I will walk you through the brewing process, the end result is amazing. |
