The advantages of home brewing when you fancy a cheap tipple

January20

geordie_ben wrote: »

What was the recipe for the Strawberry Wine?

There you are:

Strawberry wine
2kg firm strawberries
1.3kg sugar
About 4 litres cold water
1 tsp citric acid
Half tsp grape tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
General purpose wine yeast (follow the instructions on the packet)

Trim the greenery from the strawberries and remove any bruised bits. Wash thoroughly. Mash them in a clean, food quality bucket with a potato masher. Mix in the sugar and a litre of water, cover and leave for a day or two.
Add one and a half litres of water and stir thoroughly. Strain the juice through a clean muslin cloth into a clean bucket, saving the pulp. Add another litre (approximately) of water to the pulp, stir and strain into the bucket (you can squeeze a little but not too much!). Stir in the grape tannin, citric acid, yeast nutrient and the yeast if you are using it. Siphon into a demijohn, making up any deficit with water. Add your bubble trap. Rack-off into a fresh demijohn after six weeks. Bottle when all fermentation has ceased and the wine has cleared.

I got the recipe from an article in the guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/22/how-to-make-strawberry-wine (my airlocks never get that dirty!)

Not the cheapest with the cost of strawberries but so far worth it.

geordie_ben

Can you just wash muslins in the washer once you've used them?

And, how on earth do you use the airlock?

January20

geordie_ben wrote: »

Can you just wash muslins in the washer once you've used them?

And, how on earth do you use the airlock?

I clean them with washing up liquid and rinse them thoroughly.

I'm not sure I use an airlock in the correct way but here goes: I wash and sterilise it, as well as the bong and the little red cap, then I put a little bit of water in it, put the little red cap on, place it in the bung and on top of my demi-john. As the wine ferments, it allows you to see how much air (gas?) is passing through it.


I just got my 5 litre fermenting bucket a few minutes ago. It's so cute - so much better than those large monsters I saw in Wilkinsons and would have taken up most of my kitchen space.

geordie_ben

Well, fingers crossed that Wilko's has some yeast in tomorrow and then I can start brewing.

I've managed to get my hands on some fresh strawberries and blackberries so gonna give a fruity wine a whirl (try saying that after a few bottles of home brew lol)

I've only for 1.2kg tho.. not 1.8 (4lb)... reckon I'll be ok?

mr2jay wrote: »

Ferment it right through, then rack into a clean demijohn, and again as necessary before bottling. Keep it at least another 6 months, preferably 12 months in the bottle

I'm not 100% sure on this bit.. How do I know when the fermentation is 'right through'?

What would make me need to rack it into another demijohn?

Roughly how long does this one take from start to racking into bottles?

mr2jay

Fermenting it right through means watch it until you have no more bubbles coming through the air lock. To be safe, leave it a few days after it stops to make sure it is fully fermented

You need to rack it off into another demijohn to take it off the lees. This is the gunk that falls to the bottom of the demijohn during fermentation. If you leave it on this, there is a chance that this can taint the wine leaving a slightly bitter taste to your hooch.

You bottle the wine once you can clearly see your hand throug the demijohn

geordie_ben

mr2jay wrote: »

Fermenting it right through means watch it until you have no more bubbles coming through the air lock. To be safe, leave it a few days after it stops to make sure it is fully fermented

You need to rack it off into another demijohn to take it off the lees. This is the gunk that falls to the bottom of the demijohn during fermentation. If you leave it on this, there is a chance that this can taint the wine leaving a slightly bitter taste to your hooch.

You bottle the wine once you can clearly see your hand throug the demijohn

Sweet The missus is buying some yeast tonight, so I'll be cleaning my kit and then away we go

chris50337

Worth posting it here too - my Wilkinsons are having a clearout of some older homebrew lines. Kits from £2 etc:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/54878677#Comment_54878677

determined_new_ms

mr2jay wrote: »

If the yeast is more than a few years old, chances are if is dead and therefore won't brew. Get some nice fresh stuff from the brewing shop and watch it go mental

Here is a really easy recipe for you

1 Box (20) Fruit 'Tea Bags'
2 litres Grape Juice
2lbs sugar (or thereabouts)
1tsp Citric Acid
1/2tsp Grape Tannin
GP Yeast & Nutrient

I've used 1 box Twinings Apple & Blueberry bags and Morrison's 100% Pure Pressed Red Grape Juice (not from concentrate, no preservatives, 2 for £2) but you could use any fruit infusions bags and red or white grape juice as appropriate.

Infuse the bags for 30 minutes in 2 pints boiling water.
Boil 2lbs sugar (or thereabouts) in 1 pint water.
I measured the SG of the grape juice at 1.068 and calculated that 1lb 12ozs sugar would give an OG of 1.110

Wring the bags out as best you can without splitting them and pour infusion liquor and sugar syrup into a bucket, add grape juice, allow to cool, add Citric, Tannin, Nutrient and Yeast and let it rip. After the initial whoosh has subsided, pour into a DJ and make up to 1 gallon.

Dead easy, and I cost that at around £3.50 per gallon or 60p a bottle at around 13% ABV.

can I ask what yeast nutriant is??

Thanks

geordie_ben

determined_new_ms wrote: »

can I ask what yeast nutriant is??

Thanks

Yeast Nutrient assists the wine yeast in producing a complete and rapid fermentation. It is recommended for use in all fermentations. Yeast Nutrient provides a singular source of nitrogen for the yeast to utilize during the fermentation process. Nitrogen is typically found to be naturally lacking in most wine musts. Insuffecient levels of nitrogen usually results in a sluggish fermentation and can also lead to the production of unwanted fusel oils which can be detected as off-flavors in a finished wine.
Add Yeast Nutrient prior to fermentation by stirring directly into the juice or must until completely dissolved.

For heavier bodied wines add 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. For lighter-bodied wines add 1 teaspoon per gallon. More Yeast Nutrient can be added later to a wine for stuck fermentation as needed.

geordie_ben

chris50337 wrote: »

Worth posting it here too - my Wilkinsons are having a clearout of some older homebrew lines. Kits from £2 etc:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/54878677#Comment_54878677

I got 24 plastic wine corks for 40p!

I was hoping for some super cheap airlocks, but they were still full price