Great 'How to start home brewing' Hunt

GrillMonkey

I make this white wine regulary.

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1562

Very easy to do and very cheap... about 6 bottles for about £2.

Also made Blackberry and Elderberry wine, very cheap if you've the time to go foraging

Edit: I put out a request on freecycle and got 6 demijohns for free

peacemaker77

I have a vine in the greenhouse (Black Hamburg) and have been making wine for 15 years. It is a very reliable producer of quality grapes which can be used as dessert grapes in September/ October or used to make Rose wine as follows. Remove grapes from stalks and liquidise in a large bowl/basin with water added, roughly 3lbs per 3 gallon plastic bucket and add 1Kg sugar per gallon. Some bought grape juice can be added to improve the wine if the grapes are sourish (some years). No special yeast is needed as the grapes have their own. Normal room temperatures are sufficient to ferment out in about 2-3 weeks maximum. Rack out into either large plastic buckets or demijohns. Better if kept or can be drunk almost immediately. Decant into clean used wine boxes or litre carafes. I am having a little as I write, lovely stuff!

vdubba87

MSE_Jenny wrote: »

If you’re finding the cost of pub beer hard to swallow, home brewing can save you cash. So we want to tap MoneySavers for their top tips on brew it yourself booze.

How do you get started? Which beer kits are the best? Does it taste as good as a pub pint? How long can you keep it after opening?

Please click reply to share your top tips.

[threadbanner]BOX[/threadbanner]

there are some interesting ideas on this forum. iv been brewing again for about three years now and i use the kits from wilko and sometimes mozza's. i find the geordie export bitter to be one of the best for taste and strengh,as long as your equipment is clean and you ferment at the right tempreture the beer is always good.good head body and colour,its a good idea to experiment with different sugars for different results,i made the stout kit using dark brown mascovado sugar and it was superb!! a friend on a visit from ireland recently tried it and says thats he prefers it to guinness!!!. a good easy home recipe is TREACLE ALE.to make 14 pints you need 1 kilo syrup,500g treacle,4 lemons and two tspoons of dried ginger and a sachet of yeast, dissolve the treacle and syrup in a pint warm water add the juice and fine grated peel of the lemons and add the ginger,add 13 pints cold water in a brew bin and cover stirring every day for five days then move to a cold place for 24 hrs then syphon into bottles,prime these with level tspoon of caster sugar seal tightly and store for ten more days, lovely. note use good strong bottles or they will explode!!! i use a keg after my first batch did,very messy and dangerous. :beer:

vdubba87

MSE_Jenny wrote: »

If you’re finding the cost of pub beer hard to swallow, home brewing can save you cash. So we want to tap MoneySavers for their top tips on brew it yourself booze.

How do you get started? Which beer kits are the best? Does it taste as good as a pub pint? How long can you keep it after opening?

Please click reply to share your top tips.

[threadbanner]BOX[/threadbanner]

there are some interesting ideas on this forum. iv been brewing again for about three years now and i use the kits from wilko and sometimes mozza's. i find the geordie export bitter to be one of the best for taste and strengh,as long as your equipment is clean and you ferment at the right tempreture the beer is always good.good head body and colour,its a good idea to experiment with different sugars for different results,i made the stout kit using dark brown mascovado sugar and it was superb!! a friend on a visit from ireland recently tried it and says thats he prefers it to guinness!!!. a good easy home recipe is TREACLE ALE.to make 14 pints you need 1 kilo syrup,500g treacle,4 lemons and two tspoons of dried ginger and a sachet of yeast, dissolve the treacle and syrup in a pint warm water add the juice and fine grated peel of the lemons and add the ginger,add 13 pints cold water in a brew bin and sprinkle on the yeast and stir in,cover, then stir every day for five days then move to a cold place for 24 hrs then syphon into bottles,prime these with 1 level tspoon of caster sugar each,seal tightly and store for ten more days, lovely. note use good strong bottles or they will explode!!! i use a keg after my first batch did,very messy and dangerous. :beer:

4thfrog

I make my own wine and mead, but stopped using potassium sorbate, I just let it ferment out naturally in glass demijohns, avalilbe from next to nothing from car boot sales, I then tranfer it of the sediment to age in another demijhon for 6 months to a year, Result: Perfection :j (apart from the carrot and wheat experiment thats still lurking around somewhere!)

mjhmjh2

After a few years making wines this year we did cider. Build myself a press from recycled wood, and all other bits happened to be laying around. 50 gallons in from windfalls and others that would only end up on the compost and it's proved to be rather good. It takes about 2 hours to make 6 gallons (30 litres ish) of juice and 3-4 weeks until it is drinkable.

Obviously too late now this year to make cider, however anyone wanting plans or pictures to build your own press, let me know.

Matthew

audiobore

...like Hambleton Bard (can you still get it?) worked best for me. It tasted better and saved all thet boiling. They did an Old English Ale which knocked the socks off most tinned and bottled ales.
:beer:

Despondent

I once bought a Martini kit (mail order). This was very good. Does anyone know if you can still buy these.

Androcles

Ingredients:
Orange peel
Granulated white sugar
1 bottle French brandy (Own label works a treat!)
Directions:
Each time you eat an orange, scrub the skin first. Peel the orange, and instead of throwing the peel away, carefully remove the pith with a sharp knife, and chop the peel into julienne strips, about 2cm long. Drop the strips into a 2 pint Kilner preserving jar, and sprinkle with granulated sugar, enough to lightly cover. Shake the jar, reseal and place in a cool dark place. Continue doing this until the jar is half full or a little more. Make sure the sugar is looking damp as it extracts the essential oils from the peel, before you proceed to the next stage. Unseal the Kilner jar, empty in the brandy, reseal and shake well. Shake twice a day until the sugar has all dissolved. Leave then for 1 to 3 months. Filter the Orange liqueur back into the re-labelled brandy bottle, and drink at leisure.
:beer: DO NOT THROW AWAY THE PEEL - this recipe wastes nothing!!
For the bonus, melt 1/2 to 3/4lb of good quality chocolate in a pan over boiling water or in the microwave. Stir in the filtered orange peel. Allow to cool slightly, before spooning out onto greaseproof or waxed or rice paper. Allow to set. Serve after dinner with the coffee and a glass of your excellent Orange brandy. (If they think it is Grand Marnier, don't tell them!)
Variations:
This recipe can be varied by citrus fruit (Seville oranges, tangerines or Satsumas - grapefruit and lemons don't work too well), or by varying the spirit, surprisingly any old own-label scotch works well, or vodka
Serves:
One to many, depending on how selfish you feel!
Preparation time:
3 - 4 minutes an orange!
Cooking time:
None

mjhmjh2

We do simmilar to Androcles with Sloe Gin and Cranberry Vodka. The Sloes are picked locally, and the cranberries bought (we had I think 2 on our mini bush this year so not really enough!).

!!!!! the berries, chuck them into a half full bottle of spirit, a touch of sugar, shake every day or so for a couple of months just in time for xmas.

Leave the berries in makes it look like something you could obtain from a shop that is "good but honestly priced". Great for xmas presents.

If you add the cost in time, it's really not worth it, however time is free and making this stuff is quite fun :-)