Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

[Deleted User] · 14 July 2015 at 8:50PM

So made the must for a batch of orange mead, waiting for it to cool sufficiently before I add the yeast. It will take 2 months to clear before bottling apparently.
Elderflower champagne has been passed through muslin and is back in the demijohns to settle for few days before bottling in pressurised bottles.
Cherry wine kit has had the stabiliser and finings added, a few more days and it will be ready to bottle. Thinking of giving my Dad a bottle of wine and a bottle of the champagne for his birthday.

S0litaire · 14 July 2015 at 11:56PM

Got my 6 bottles filled on Monday.

By Wednesday I only had 5.

It's a bit dry but drinkable. Going to try and leave a few bottles for Xmas.

Well start on another batch at the weekend.

UncannyScot · 1 October 2017 at 9:03PM

FOUND IT!!!!

I knew there would be a homebrewers thread on here somewhere...
Right, what say we breathe a bit o life back into this then eh?

Okay, I am fairly new to the craft o brew. However, I am keen

I have a very simple n basic brewery set up and so far it works really well.

I currently have a batch fermenting at the mo for a 40 pinter of Suffolk style Bitter, which I have been assured is a good un...

So, any other brewers want to come back on board or new brewers want to join in here???
:beer::beer::beer:

ciderboy2009 · 2 October 2017 at 7:01PM

Blimey - I'd completely forgotten that I'd subscribed to this thread about a million or so years ago :-)

I've been homebrewing for about 10 years now and have progressed from Turbo-Cider (cartons of apple juice plus yeast) to having my own cider press & making about 5-10 gallons of 'real' cider each year.

I also make various fruit wines with spare fruit from our allotment and have recently re-visited beer kits - I've currently got a wheat beer & a "Woodforde's Wherry" on the go which should both see me over Christmas.

I've always said that my aim is to be self sufficient for alcohol. However, until the law regarding home distilation changes in this country, it looks like I'll still have to buy in my whisky & gin :-(

UncannyScot · 2 October 2017 at 8:37PM

Hi and thanks for coming back

I'm on day two of my batch of "Father Hooks Best Bitter", the fermentation bucket is bubbling away nicely via the airlock

I'll be adding the Hops on Day 5 for the next stage...

Like yourself, I brew my own to be self sufficient on Beer and save money. I enjoy it too...
I also hope to get another couple of batches done before crimbo.

Hopefully, other brewers will come back on board here and maybe even some more newbies

dandy-candy · 2 October 2017 at 9:15PM

Good lord I can't believe this thread is here. I came on earlier to make a post about this then didn't get around to it!

We pressed some apples to make cider 3 weeks ago but because it was spur of the moment (DH wouldn't wait) we had to use baking yeast. The demi john is still bubbling and is very cloudy. Is it going to clear, and is it going to be drinkable? Or even cookable?

UncannyScot · 11 October 2017 at 7:22PM

I have found a brilliant home brew supplier locally

They quite literally have EVERYTHING that you would ever need for brewing.

The lovely lady who served me actually saved me money by advising me on what I actually needed rather than what I thought I needed and gave good advice on particular brew mixes to try.
Will definitely be back again soon...
A very happy customer :j :beer:

This weekend I shall be moving my current brew into its secondary fermentation stage and syphon off from the fermentation bucket into two FV Barrels.

missychrissy · 6 June 2020 at 1:49PM

Ive set off 25 galls of wine whilst in lockdown: apple pear and grape; apple; blueberry; apple and blackcurrant. I’ve got 13 5gall fermenters, all but one with taps so I don’t need to bottle anymore unless I’m going to give some away. I’ve loaned one to my youngest son as well as 5 one gall demijohns as he too brews his own. I got out of the habit of making my own as normally I’m babysitting grandchildren weekdays and often at weekends too, but lockdown has given me the opportunity and time to start up again. I think it’s been an opportunity for lots to become more self sufficient.

The elder flowers are nearly fully opened here so next week I will be starting 5 galls of that. I think that will then leave me with 5 fermenters to fill, always have to keep one empty for racking off. I want to make some cherry wine but the only place I know sells cherry juice is M and S and I don’t live near one. I normally go to M and S when I’m babysitting in Harrogate (40 miles away) so can get there when lockdown is ended. If any of you know where else I can get cherry juice please tell.
I’d love to see this thread resurrected. If any of you want to try I’ve got a bit of experience and hopefully could help you out or point you in the right direction. I would like suggestions for varieties of wine you have made successfully.

ciderboy2009 · 6 June 2020 at 2:23PM

missychrissy said:

I want to make some cherry wine but the only place I know sells cherry juice is M and S and I don’t live near one. I normally go to M and S when I’m babysitting in Harrogate (40 miles away) so can get there when lockdown is ended. If any of you know where else I can get cherry juice please tell.

You've got to be careful with cherry juice to make sure that it isn't "Cherry Juice Drink" (ie: only about 25% juice with the rest being water). I think you'll find that this is what the M&S one is.

The problem with this is that there won't be enough sugar to make it worth fermenting unless you add it.

I've concentrated on making turbo cider this year. I normally do 25 litres at a time (using Lidl apple juice) and am aiming to go through the Summer having at least one batch ready to drink at all times :-)

[Deleted User] · 6 June 2020 at 2:24PM

I used to make wine a few years ago but haven’t done so for a while! I've still got about 9 demijohns of wine racked a couple of years ago under the stairs 🙈😂
At the moment, I'm spending most of my time sorting the garden but I'd like to start making wine again in a month or so - especially as I may well have gluts of produce in the months to come (I made parsnip wine decades ago and it was outstanding! 😍) I do flavoured spirits still - mainly vodkas and gin - but I do miss making wine....I'll have to get those racked wines out next weekend and see how they are!

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free