I like catching up with y'all! So I guess someone has to post these!
Here's some bootleg limonchello for y'all from the illegal distilling reddit page to celebrate Texas possibly working towards allowing hobby distilling!
So yeah Texas did something about moving towards not criminalizing hobby distilling. Doubt it'll make any federal moves, but it always seemed fun so if something does come from it who knows! Beyond that, I found an article the other day about making homemade fermented hot sauce so I'll be setting up a ferment this weekend and letting that sit for a bit and making hot sauce with it. Maybe it'll be spicier than Tim Walz's couch fucker quote. That's the benchmark. Hope y'all are well!
We have a plum tree leaning over our yard with maybe a few hundred pounds of plums, I've never seen this thing so burdened. I made a five gallon batch of plum wine, and damn if it doesn't taste like wine you'd buy at at the store. This reminded me that I don't really care for wine (what did I expect? Boons Farm?). I just distilled a gallon of it and I'm sure I'll like it better than the wine. I don't want to set up a full still cause it's a pain and my still is garbage so I'm using a gallon sized water distiller with an adjustable thermostat. Honestly, for the home distiller, it's almost legal. If someone got drunk on your hooch and ran over a baby it'd be your ass. but if you aren't selling it odds are that no one is going to bother you.
The burdened tree reminded me.. In NZ we have this wood-pigeon, the kererū. They're hefty lil guys. And they love to roost in the kōwhai tree. We had a kōwhai in our backyard, prior to buying our current house. One spring, I watched as one bird sat on a thin branch, extending from the otherwise sturdy trunk. Then another bird sat on it. The branch began to dip. Then a third bird joined in, and it dipped further. I didn't move away from my spot as it was in clear view of the tree and I was worried I'd chase them away, so I stayed very still and didn't try to find my phone. A fourth bird hopped on the branch, and at this point it was inching towards a 45 degree adjustement downwards, then, I moved to scratch my nose. Two of the birds took flight, and the change in weight flung the branch up, dislodging the other two in a flurry of feathers. Laughed so damn hard. They're delightful birds who sometimes eat fermented berries, get drunk and topple out of trees, but these guys didn't need any booze for this.
I need to just suck it up, buy a pair of carboys and start brewing my own kombucha like i've talked about for almost a decade now. I have basement space, I have time, I lack willpower, weak bitch I am. Hopefully I can post in a few weeks of kombucha progress. Tired of paying for something that does so much good for me esp since I can do it myself.
I'm excited to get the update! I've got a friend who makes his own and he really enjoys it, especially playing with flavors.