el Ducko wrote:...got some good German wurst recipes?
Not yet. "I am only an egg." I'm very new to this hobby. I haven't got "primary bind" down yet. In fact I only learned that term a week ago, or so.
The orange bitter is essentially a soft drink, not a beer. It is an original recipe. Only one other person has made it from my instructions. (And he's in the UK.) I call it "Kin". (The inspiration was Italian bitters, and chinotto. Maybe "Kin-not" would be a better name, because it's not anything like chinotto.
)
You get some Seville oranges, shred 'em in the food processor, get a bunch of spices and boil that for a few minutes, water to about 1 gallon (+ one 2-liter bottle of tonic water). Cool to room temp. Ferment that mess with an ale yeast. There's not much sugar in the oranges to make alcohol, which is ok. (The boil is to kill bacteria. Acidity takes care of the rest.)
Then strain it through a clean cheesecloth, and wring out the cheesecloth to get as much liquid as you can. (You can boil the cheesecloth, and wash your hands first!
)
You collect the liquid, leaving solid matter behind. (My wife took that stuff and added cranberries, then made marmalade: incredibly good too!)
Now the post-fermentation liquid goes into a small 3-gallon carboy, and top up to the neck with good (de-chlorinated) water. Let it sit for a couple of weeks to settle, then bottle with lots of sugar, to not only carbonate, but sweeten, and it's
very bitter so it will need it. You bottle in plastic bottles, because you can tell they're carbonated when the bottles get hard. Refrigerate immediately or they'll leak or blow up or something. It makes 11 liters of a very bitter citrus drink.
NB... some people are advised not to eat grapefruit because it may interfere with heart medication. Seville oranges may have the same effect. If you take medication, check on the internet and with your doctor.
Details and quantities:
4 liters of water
1 2-liter bottle of regular tonic water with quinine
5 gm coriander seed, whole (about 1 tbsp)
2 gm whole cloves (about 1 tsp)
8 gm ground cinnamon (cassia)
4 gm mint (dried is ok)
11 gm ground nutmeg
20 gm caraway
8 gm Fennel seeds, whole (about 1 tbsp)
1 gm star anise
8 gm aniseed
2 gm cardamom seeds, whole (black or green or white... it's all ok)
8 sour oranges or Seville oranges, chopped fine, or shredded in a food processor.
* Boil spices for 20 minutes, add oranges and boil very lightly for a further 10 minutes.
* Cool to room temperature (so you don't kill the yeast). The pot in a sink full of water works well. Change the water a few times, then add ice to the water the last time.
* Ferment with ale yeast or wine yeast (not bread yeast!). Lallemande or Nottingham are good bets. Fement until your airlock bubbles less than once per minute. (About 5 to 7 days.)
* When done, strain through cheesecloth and transfer to secondary. Top up to 11 liters. Wait two weeks to let it settle.
* Siphon it off the yeast into a bottling bucket.
* Batch prime with 400 grams of sugar.
* Bottle in PET bottles (Five 2-liter and one 1-liter.).
* When bottles get hard, refrigerate immediately! (This will be anywhere from 1 to 3 days.)
As soon as it's cold, it's ready to drink. If it's too bitter, mix with water. Or water and vodka.
EDIT to add:
Eat some sausage with it !! Since it's an Italian aperitif, how about spicy Italian sausage with lots of caraway. A side dish of creamed leek. French baguette.
"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen." - Heinrich Heine
How embarrassing!