os beer making does it work out cheaper ?

pol

Hi COOLTRIKERCHICK
My OH has been brewing beer for years and usually has one fermenting in the airing cupboard, and another barrelled in the larder being drunk. Usually it works out at 30-40 per pint and only takes a couple of weeks to be ready for drinking.

JW1096

There are some excellent recipes here for fruity wines, I've tried a lot of them, and my family love them. Fruity teabags, ribena, fruit juices, cartons, tinned fruit, something for everyone! Most of them are under 50p a bottle.

pol

dazza001

janeawej wrote:

that sounds great dazza i will try some with cranberry juice i think, just a quick question how alcoholic is it?!!!

Hi, My cider was at 7% when measured with a hydrometer.

Although a better test was when I drank my first 2ltr bottle, My head told me how strong it was, woooaahh!!.

Very nice though.

Just a note though, if your using cranberry juice drink, (ie not from concentrate or pure juice) then you may have to add some sugar to it, otherwise you may not get a strong alcoholic drink, and also check the ingredients, no preservatives or anything.

Anyway, just experiment with different things, it should end up nice whatever you do, providing everything is clean.

Cheers

dazza001

pollyanna24 wrote:

Heard a few peeps on here saying you can buy the kits in Wilkos. Don't know many Wilkos, but have never noticed the kits in there. Is it something you have to ask for?

I live in Watford, but have lived in Luton and have not noticed in their two stores. Do not know of any others. Can anyone help? May go during the week!

Its just their medium and bigger stores that sell it, You can check which type yours is on their website.

Both stores near to me (Bolton) sell quite a good range of equipment including hydrometers, barrels,bottles, all the tubing & sanitising equipment you could need, But they are both quite big stores.

Hope this helps

Vintage67

For those who don't have a local homebrew shop or Wilkos, http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk is a pretty good web supplier. Delivery is £4.70 which means its uneconomic for a single kit, but if you're buying several at a time its not too bad (they also do a huge range of equipment as well as hops, grains, wine-making kits etc).

I've been homebrewing for about 10 years now and would recommend beer kits made by Muntons (this includes the Woodfordes ones in Wilko) as they don't require the addition of sugar (which is the main reason why cheap beer kits never taste as good as pub beer!). Unfortunately they're the most expensive at about £16 for a 40-pint kit but still much cheaper than beer at the pub. For the dedicated (like me) it's possible to make beer from malted grain and hops for about 25p/pint which is as good if not better than most commercial real ales, though its somewhat more time consuming (and messy!) than using a kit.

The most important things regardless of what kit you choose are:
1) Sterilise everything that may come into contact with the beer (fermenting bucket, barrel, thermometer, spoons etc). Diluted cheap (unperfumed) thin bleach is fine for this - soak equipment in it for half an hour or so and rinse before using. If your beer ends up tasting like vinegar, your sterilising is probably at fault!
2) Check the temperature of the beer before putting the yeast in - should be around 20 degrees C, and it needs to be kept around this until fermentation stops after 4-5 days.
3) Try to avoid mixing air with the beer when transferring it to a barrel or bottles, as this encourages bacteria to grow in it. Use a plastic syphon tube to transfer it.
4) Leave the beer to condition in barrel/bottles for at least a couple of weeks before drinking (preferably nearer a month) to allow the yeast to clear.

I'd also recommend getting hold of a copy of the book 'Home Brewing - the CAMRA guide' (sadly out of print but often on eBay) as this explains the basics in layman's terms but also has enough information to keep the adventurous homebrewer busy for years!)

Zed42

My DH is making his first batch of home brew.

A question for ye all ..... how long does home brew last (in theory), that is if it isn't drunk first!

pol

Beer will keep about 6 months, wine at least two years.

pol

diddydiddydondon

OH and myself usually have a drink on Fri, Sat and Sun evenings at home. Now we are on a very tight budget, the cost of alcohol seems very high compared to the food shopping. Oh is convinced making our own would save us alot. I am worried about spending out on equipment, lack of space and undrinkable results. I would be hugely grateful for advice and wisdom of others.

LandyAndy

Many years ago i used to make beer from the kits that come in cans. I bought the equipment (Fermenting bin, Beer sphere etc) secondhand. The results were pretty good and definitely cheaper than buying after about the third batch (ie when you had written off the equipment cost). If you have two Beerspheres you can have beer permanently on tap as you can use them alternately. Recommended but you may just end up drinking more.:D