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fermenting Thoughts for new ferment ingredients

parker49

parker49

So my first couple of ferments must have gone south, because when i opened them a while back to process them the smell was horrible.  Not one to shy away from disappointing results i decided to go for it again. I had some extra tobascos and wanted to go simple just to see if it would work, so i did a tobasco style with some ghost peppers in it as well.  So far so good, smells good through the airlock and it's been going for about a month.  While that is continuing to go for another week or two i think i will start 1 or 2 more.  For one i had a thought about doing apples, blueberries, agave, ghost peppers or 7 pots, smoked jamaican hot chocolates, and either some cayennes or red thais (I have smoked and dehydrated and some just dehydrated).  Few questions about this, first off does this sound like a weird combination? I wasn't completely sober when i thought of it  :P . Also, does anyone have any thoughts about something else that might compliment this flavor, i was thinking about either carrot and/or onion, and of course garlic?  Lastly, how much agave should i use, is there a ratio or just a spoonful? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
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Hey parker49.  I do not think apples/blueberries/peppers is a bad combo at all - esp if you're adding carrot/onion and garlic!  Me personally I don't add any sweeteners to the mash until fermentation is over, then I add honey/sugar/agave to taste when I'm processing the final batch.  That's just me though!  I would say that if you're adding the agave prior to fermentation you should let the batch go for a little longer so the LAB uses up all the sugars.  Rocektman or Chili Monsta could confirm this better than I can though.
 
Glad you didn't throw in the towel.  Soon as you get that current batch processed you'll be mighty happy you didn't!  :)
 
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Thanks Smoken, I'm too damn stubborn to quit that easily :party:.  I think i will enjoy the flavor of the one i have going now just based on the smell.   From what i gather from reading on here, adding sweeteners before fermenting means it won't give it a sweet taste, just the flavor correct? Is that why you only add afterwards? I also kind of assumed that it would give the lacto a better start.  I will use a starter as well, probably whey.
 
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parker49 said:
Thanks Smoken, I'm too damn stubborn to quit that easily :party:.  I think i will enjoy the flavor of the one i have going now just based on the smell.   From what i gather from reading on here, adding sweeteners before fermenting means it won't give it a sweet taste, just the flavor correct? Is that why you only add afterwards? I also kind of assumed that it would give the lacto a better start.  I will use a starter as well, probably whey.
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Yes indeed any sugars (fruit or agave or honey or whatever) present in the mash prior to fermentation will become food for the LAB parker.  You're correct that I add sweetener for taste and balance only afterward.   
 
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parker49 said:
  For one i had a thought about doing apples, blueberries, agave, ghost peppers or 7 pots, smoked jamaican hot chocolates, and either some cayennes or red thais (I have smoked and dehydrated and some just dehydrated).  Few questions about this, first off does this sound like a weird combination? I wasn't completely sober when i thought of it  :P . Also, does anyone have any thoughts about something else that might compliment this flavor, i was thinking about either carrot and/or onion, and of course garlic?  Lastly, how much agave should i use, is there a ratio or just a spoonful? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Sounds like a good combination instead of Carrot though, consider Jicama, onion and roasted garlic, so that it takes on that sweet nutty flavor. Run it all through the ferment, giving it a good 90 day run. When processing dice up a pear or 2 and add it along with some lime juice and a little dark Chili powder to the mix. Should be magical   :cool:
 
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RocketMan said:
 
Sounds like a good combination instead of Carrot though, consider Jicama, onion and roasted garlic, so that it takes on that sweet nutty flavor. Run it all through the ferment, giving it a good 90 day run. When processing dice up a pear or 2 and add it along with some lime juice and a little dark Chili powder to the mix. Should be magical   :cool:
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Thanks RocketMan. I admit it, i had to look up what jicama is  :P.  Is that something that would be hard to find?  Good idea on the roasted garlic.  I have never roasted garlic myself but have definitely had it and it is really good.
 
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So it took me forever to get to this going with the holidays and all, but i finally started this ferment last weekend. While i should have taken the prep pics, all i got was the final shot below.  I decided on 6 ghost peppers, 4 Seven pots, several smoked jamaican hot chocolates and red thais, and some dehydrated cayennes.  When i had gone to the grocery store before i had looked to see if they had the jicamas as RocketMan had suggested and they did.  Unfortunately when i went back to get the rest of my ingredients they were out.  I went with blueberries, a fuji apple, carrots, onion, roasted garlic, and some agave. Little hard to tell from the picture (taken with my phone) but it came out to be a real cool purple color and pre ferment the taste was very good with a delayed but very hot taste.  I will let this go at least a month and a half or so, maybe longer.
 
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