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fermenting MikeUSMC's Ferments (pic heavy)

MikeUSMC

MikeUSMC

What's up, gang! Hope you don't mind, but I was kinda hoping to set up shop here, with the fermenting crew! Just officially joined THP today, but I've been lurking for quite some time, and you guys gave me enough confidence to start making/bottling my own stuff. Huge thanks in advance to all of you guys! You guys rock.

Anyway, here's a few concoctions I've been working on for the last year or so. All hobby stuff; mostly gifts for friends and family. A lot of these have been bottled up and given away already, but I thought I'd share what I've been working on so far. Here goes.....

My signature sauce ("Original Recipe"):
Douglahs, Chocolate Scotch Bonnets, pineapple, raisins, sweet onion, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, agave nectar, molasses, sea salt, Moscato wine (brine), powdered LB packets (starter)


Another few-
Red: Smoked red bells, smoked Red MoAs, smoked 7 Pot Lavas, sweet potato, roasted onion, roasted garlic, honey, sea salt, Moscato brine
Green: Blackened tomatillos, blackened Poblanos, jalapeños, and Scotch Bonnets (all green), sweet onion, roasted garlic, pineapple, cilantro, agave nectar, sea salt



Hobby labels for those ^:






My latest one (just processed about a week ago, not bottled yet):
Scotch Bonnets, golden raisins, baby carrots, red onion, fresh garlic, yellow bell pepper, yellow mustard, ginger, turbinado sugar, sea salt, ground turmeric, Pinot Grigio brine

Looked crazy, hahaha


I've got a few more ideas up my sleeve, and a freezer full of pods from last season! Thanks for looking, everybody!
 
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Go for it, man! This stuff is awesome. I'm still bouncing ideas around for a name and a label idea for that one. Let me know if you want the exact measurements


Thanks for the welcome, everybody!
 
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Thanks, man! Yup, cabbage leaves. They act as a weight to keep the mash submerged under the brine in an anaerobic environment (oxygen-free; which is what you're aiming for in fermenting). It might be unnecessary since I'm using airlocks, but I've also read (probably somewhere here on THP) that they also have natural antibacterial properties that'll help deter yeast/mold from forming. I'm about 10 ferments in and no yeast yet, knock on wood!

If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. I learned everything I know about fermenting from following the THP fermenting "vets," haha
 
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:welcome: to thp!

You are on track with the cabbage leaves. Those ferments are very interesting. Edit...never mind! Did my own spellcheck...


Have Fun!!!
SL
 
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MikeUSMC said:
Thanks, man! Yup, cabbage leaves. They act as a weight to keep the mash submerged under the brine in an anaerobic environment (oxygen-free; which is what you're aiming for in fermenting). It might be unnecessary since I'm using airlocks, but I've also read (probably somewhere here on THP) that they also have natural antibacterial properties that'll help deter yeast/mold from forming. I'm about 10 ferments in and no yeast yet, knock on wood!

If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. I learned everything I know about fermenting from following the THP fermenting "vets," haha
Click to expand...
 

+1 on that... I learned to use cabbage leaves like that when making kimchi. As a side note Mike, Kimchi juice is a great way to innoculate ferments and add a bit more flavor.
 
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Yup. Never tried kimchi "juice," but I've tried whey from yogurt/sour cream, and kraut "juice." So far, my favorite starter are the powdered probiotics packets. They work like a charm, and haven't failed me yet :)
 
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Ok, going a little off the rails here now. We'll see what happens...

Blueberry/Pineapple Chipotle ferment:

-Blueberries
-pineapple
-dried chipotle, Ancho, and Pasilla Negro chiles (rehydrated in Moscato wine)
-Cappuccino Scotch Bonnets
-golden raisins
-sweet potato (binder/thickener)
-sweet onion
-fresh garlic
-brown sugar
-fresh ginger root
-ground cumin*
-splash of molasses
-black Hawaiian salt
-Moscato wine brine
-probiotic powder starter



Not exactly the color I was looking for (too brown). I was really aiming for something more purple. I'll probably end up adding more blueberries at final processing time. They're acidic enough that they shouldn't raise the pH, and hopefully they'll help with the color and flavor. Those dried chiles smelled strrroooooooooonnnnng after sitting in that wine :)

*The cumin really got away from me on this one, and I had a little "mishap." Hope I didn't ruin it. Another reason I'll add more blueberries at the end. A little bit of cumin goes a long way. And too much is...well, too much
 
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MikeUSMC said:
Scotch Bonnets, golden raisins, baby carrots, red onion, fresh garlic, yellow bell pepper, yellow mustard, ginger, turbinado sugar, sea salt, ground turmeric, Pinot Grigio brine

Click to expand...
Yeah, I just quoted myself; that doesn't count as "double posting a pic," does it? ;)

Anyway, I think I came up with a pretty decent HOBBY label for the Bajan ferment I bottled up a few weeks ago. Was hoping to get the gang's thoughts on it. Again, this is ONLY A HOBBY LABEL, so it's not that critical. Just curious to see what you guys/gals think. Thoughts? Suggestions? Anything you'd change? Thanks in advance!


Some of the Bajan lingo references might be pretty obscure, but I think they're pretty easy to decipher if you think about it for a minute. Just saying them out loud in a Caribbean accent sounds pretty funny to me. Especially being a white Irish dude with red hair, haha

Here's the link to where I got the phrases:
http://barbados.gssites.com/pages/links/bajan_words.html
 
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Or this one instead?


I switched around the style and color of the fonts (and shadows) of the text on the sides. I think the yellow was getting lost in the sand in the first one. I liked the first font, but changing it to blue still looked blurry. I really want to keep the colors the same as the colors of the flag of Barbados (like the fingerprint), but there's a dark blue line right where the ocean meets the sky that's right in my way, haha. It's really hard to work around that. I also changed the ingredients to one per line, vs. a running list.
 
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