Puritan Pub

Here in The Puritan Pub we believe, when it comes to alcohol, that abstinence should be practiced in moderation. Alcohol is a means of grace by which God expresses his love in a drinkable gift. I’m grateful for wine and beer. I’m not as eager to indulge in stronger drink because it shortens the time I may enjoy it. Strong drink is like a chain saw, it’s quick, exciting and if you lose respect for it, it could put you in great danger.

This brings up the topic of how much is too much. Drunkenness is a sin but what about that feeling that is something far less than drunk but certainly has put a thin shield of liquid protection around your perspective - we call this, the buzz.

Is a buzz ok? At first it doesn’t sound nice at all; it’s a colloquialism that implies a party spirit but if you stop and take apart ‘the buzz’ then it’s not as odious as it sounds. What happens in a ‘buzz’? There is an aura of cheer and elation that surrounds you, you become warm and relaxed and touched with joy and pleasure - in a word, you feel glad.

The oft quoted Psalm 104 praises the Creator in verses 14 and 15 saying:

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

There it is - a wine induced gladness, or we could say in the modern vernacular, ‘wine to help us get a buzz’. It is never ok to avoid our responsibilities but there are times when we just need a little gladness to offset the many matters of consequence.

What is ‘too much’? The measure that I use is an imagined scenario that is something like this: Should there be an emergency, would I be able to safely drive myself or my loved ones to the hospital without a hindrance to my perception. Obviously the effects of alcohol are conditioned by one’s weight and tolerance and how much one has eaten.

The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to feel glad when having a drink, the gladness is the whole point of the potation.

Quaff wisely.

Dr. Luther comments on this article:

“It is possible to tolerate a little elevation, when a man takes a drink or two too much after working hard and when he is feeling low. This must be called a frolic. But to sit day and night, pouring it in and pouring it out again, is piggish… all food is a matter of freedom, even a modest drink for one’s pleasure. If you do not wish to conduct yourself this way, if you are going to go beyond this and be a born pig and guzzle beer and wine, then, if this cannot be stopped by the rulers, you must know that you cannot be saved. For God will not admit such piggish drinkers into the kingdom of heaven [cf. Gal. 5:19-21]… If you are tired and downhearted, take a drink; but this does not mean being a pig and doing nothing but gorging and swilling… You should be moderate and sober; this means that we should not be drunken, though we may be exhilarated.”

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth. . .And wine that maketh glad the heart of man. . . . –Psalm 104:14-15.

I am hardly an expert on winemaking, but I have been making wine out of homegrown fruit for more than 25 years.

I am often asked, “is it legal?” Yes, it is. Federal regulations allow a household of one adult to produce 100 gallons and a household of two or more adults to produce 200 gallons without restriction or tax. (27 CFR 24.75). Just don’t try to sell it. I’ve never made more than about fifteen gallons, myself.

Although some purists may protest, wine is nothing more than fermented fruit juice. The primary concern is that the fruit juice should have enough sugar to bring the alcohol content to approximately 10% or more. This helps preserve the wine and allows for decent aging. Most fruit juices require additional sugar to be added. Fully ripened grapes, however, usually have enough natural sugar to reach this level. From my small vineyard I could produce perhaps 15 gallons of wine, but we eat half of the grapes as they become ripe. I also make wine from apples, blackberries, raspberries, and other fruits found in our backyard.

People can spend a lot of money purchasing fancy equipment, special flavorings or fruit extracts, or even “wine kits.” My approach is more humble. The basic equipment one may use for wine making costs less than $30, especially if you use old Carlo Rossi jugs for your secondary fermenting containers. A $5 hydrometer, for measuring sugar and alcohol content, is essential. Vinyl tubes, airlocks, corks, and plastic buckets are needed. Cleanliness is important too. I clean all equipment in a chlorine-bleach solution and then rinse several times with boiling water.

The steps, in very basic form, are these: First, place juice of appropriate sweetness (checked with the hydrometer) into the primary fermenter. (This is a fancy name for a food-grade plastic bucket). Add a properly mixed dose of wine yeast (sold for around 50 cents at wine supply stores), cover loosely so that carbon dioxide can escape. After a couple of days, the juice should be quite foamy. At this point it has some alcohol already formed and is fermenting well. If it isn’t, you probably should throw it away and start over.

Next, you strain out the pulp and transfer the liquid to the secondary fermenters (the Carlo Rossi jugs). A funnel with cheese cloth or a siphon with a clear vinyl plastic hose works well for this. The secondary fermenter needs to accept a cork with an air lock. (These cost a dollar or two at the local wine supply store). The airlock allows the carbon dioxide to escape while preventing oxygen from entering the jug. Without it you will get vinegar.

After this, you wait until it stops bubbling. It might take several weeks depending on the sugar content and temperature. From time to time, you may rack the wine. This means to siphon off the liquid into another jug while leaving the residue (lees) behind. You don’t want to do this too often because it can stop the fermentation. On the other hand, you don’t want to neglect this because the lees give a “yeasty” flavor to the wine. This is where art and lucky providence come in.

Once it has stopped fermenting, there are several things you can do. I often do the simple: put it in bottles (after testing with the hydrometer to determine alcohol content). The danger here is that it might still be slowly fermenting, resulting in a fizzy wine that could explode the bottle. I’ve never had this happen, but I have had some remarkable sparkling wines.

Otherwise, you can add sulfites to stop fermenting, preserve the status quo, and then bottle. Sometimes people add different enzymes or settling compounds to clear the wine. I always add pectase to apple-based wines because apples have a lot of pectin and pectin makes wine cloudy.

Of course, you could drink the wine immediately. Most people, after doing a few batches, opt to age it a bit. Aging really does improve wine. Even a month or two will make a harsh wine more mellow. After six months to a year, it is quite good. Beyond that you are getting into the rarified realm of wine masters. They know that some wines benefit from age and others degrade. There is much more to this than I could describe here.

What I’ve set out is very basic. More helpful details can be found on the internet. Here is one comprehensive and useful site. There are recipes, techniques, suggestions, and other help for winemakers of all levels of experience. The more complex winemakers spend a great deal of time concerned with nutrient balance, temperature, and a host of other variables. The input and care required to make a sublime wine as opposed to a pretty good wine can be very substantial. But even a simple, pretty good wine that you have labored over from your own fruit has its rewards.

As the old preacher and son of David said:

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Winemaking is a fun and inexpensive way to do something different with your backyard fruit. And, in due moderation, it makes the heart glad.

–R.V.Bottomly

Welcome to the new Puritan Pub! I enjoy both good hearty drink and fine cigars. If you’re reading this then I hope you share those refined tastes. This entry pertains to stogies… if you want to read about strong German beer, well, come back in a few days.

I’d like you to indulge me for a moment as I build up the confidence of those who wonder if the cigars publicly (that is: legally!) available in the United States are the best on the market. Nagging the conscience or tempting the imagination of many a cigar aficionado is the question, “Are ANY of these cigars even CLOSE to a Cuban cigar?”

In short, this post is primarily intended for those who’ve ever wondered if they’re “missing out” since Cubans are not readily available.

I’ll be honest… due to the mystique surrounding the legendary “Cuban cigar” I had visions of angelic choirs bursting forth in song, of enraptured delight overtaking my senses, and for the real world to sort of fade into the background of my sensory perception upon my first puff of a Cuban. However, sadly, this was not quite the case.

I’ve smoked about two dozen of them. While I was deployed to Afghanistan I was able to purchase them from stores servicing our European friends as well as from stores in Kabul.

So, what did/do I think of Cuban Cigars?

Let me say that what I’ve read in certain aficionado magazines is correct: Cuban cigars are living on the reputation they made for themselves during their glorious heyday. (Much like Westminster Theological Seminary in PA… but that’s a different matter.)

The two dozen or so that I’ve smoked have not been “bad” cigars by any stretch of the imagination. I’d say that on average they compare nicely with mid-priced cigars commonly available in any decent smoke shop. Specifically, the average quality has been virtually indistinguishable from any $5 or $6 cigar I can buy legally in America. So don’t get me wrong… the Cubans aren’t poor quality stogies. It’s just that they aren’t great, which is what I had been led to believe they would be.

While the Cubans I’ve enjoyed do compete with virtually every mid-range cigar I’ve smoked, none – and I mean NONE – of them come close to touching the premiums and super premiums that I regularly enjoy. To what do I refer? I refer to the likes of Rocky Patel, AVO, Graycliffe, Gurkha, 5 Vegas A series, Romeo y Julieta Viejo, etc…

You may be thinking, “Yikes! Those are some pricey smokes!” And you’d be accurate… but what if I told you that you can get these pricey ‘gars for more than 50% off? Stick around and I’ll share the good news with you…

Until then,

Ben