The advantages of home brewing when you fancy a cheap tipple

FireWyrm

Yay, I picked up 4 Demi johns today, so away we go.

What is a cam pen tablet and what does it do exactly? We have a PYO near us, is there anything special we need to do to the picked fruit before we can use it?

mr2jay

Campden Tablets - These are a steriling tablet that is used to kill off anything that is likely to kill the yeast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campden_tablets

They are really easy to find - search on eBay or find your local brewing shop

Other than washing the fruit, there isn't anything else you need to do with it

mr2jay

Well, bottled up the black cherry wine last night - had a little taste and it is amazing

Thats the first of the christmas hamper goodies sorted as I want to age it 6 months before giving it away - that still leaves 4 bottles for us out of 10 though

The new rhubarb wine is now clearing as is the blackberry - smells wonderful in there

MrsMoo2U

was in my local recycling shop with OH today and they had some homebrew stuff in. I managed to convince him that we can clean up the demijohns (2x £2 each) but he refused to buy the fermentation bin for £5! We also got a hydrometer for £1 and a hydrometer glass for £1 (I know that you said that we dont need them but it seemed rude to leave them there for that price). We also got the airlock thing for 50p. So if I am right all I need now is a syphon and some fruit to get going. Can I do fruit in the demijohn or do I need a kit for the demijohns?

The black cherry wine sounds lovely. Cant wait to get going.

FireWyrm

You sir are responsible for spawning a brewing demon. I have elderflower, peach, Rose and apricot wines in Demi johns and also 40 bottles of beer. No more saving for the Christmas booze, we're making our own.

primaryteacher

I made my first home made wine a few years ago - a Date wine which turned out to be excellent - more like a nice port or sherry - and very strong! Even my father-in-law who is a bit of a wine buff was reasonably impressed. However my next batch of elderflower went off, despite being meticulous in my sterilising etc - which with all the time spent on it was a little disheartening. I also made some up from grape concentrate and that wasn't great either, so rather got put off. I still have my equipment and would try again sometime but it was quite time consuming as I remember!

mr2jay

MrsMoo2U wrote: »

was in my local recycling shop with OH today and they had some homebrew stuff in. I managed to convince him that we can clean up the demijohns (2x £2 each) but he refused to buy the fermentation bin for £5! We also got a hydrometer for £1 and a hydrometer glass for £1 (I know that you said that we dont need them but it seemed rude to leave them there for that price). We also got the airlock thing for 50p. So if I am right all I need now is a syphon and some fruit to get going. Can I do fruit in the demijohn or do I need a kit for the demijohns?

The black cherry wine sounds lovely. Cant wait to get going.

If you want to use real fruit, then you really do need a fermenting bucket (BTW, your OH was right to leave that one there - you can buy a new one on eBay for only a tenner) - you DO need a bucket like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fermenting-Bin-Vessel-Brewing-Wine-Making-Brew-Bucket-and-Lid-Homebrew-10ltr-NEW-/320766982140?pt=Home_Brew&hash=item4aaf33b7fc

That is the exact one I have bought :beer:

You need this to mulch the fruit down to a liquor befor making it into a wine.

REALLY good start though Just make sure those Demijohns are really clean though and make sure you get some good steriliser (Like VWP) to make sure it does taint the wine :T

If you want to get going straight away with what you have, you can use fruit juices. Various fruit concentrates can be bought from brewing shops although, if you want to get on straight away, get yourself some so 100% pure apple juice from Aldi/Lidl (Just make sure is it just juice), chuck in some sultanas (Just a handful), fill a demijohn to about 3/4 of the way up with the apple juice and bung in the yeast.

Leave it a couple of days to calm down then fill it right up with more apple juice.

Leave it until the bubbling stops then get some plastic bottle (MUST be plastic for this unless you want booze bombs), make sure they are really clean again, then put 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in the bottom of each bottle. Rack the cider into the bottles then leave for a couple of days to harder up then put them in the fridge to chill.

Add a little blackcurrant to a glass, a couple of ice cubes and fill up with your turbo cider and you have a great summer drink. It is a bit harsh to drink neat but with a splash of blackcurrant, it is fantastic :beer:

mr2jay

Here are a few shots of the latest brews..

Firstly, here is the Black Cherry Wine



This is the second batch of Rhubarb Wine - One thing I have learnt from the last batch is DO NOT STORE ANYWHERE IT WILL BE IN SUNLIGHT, I am afraid that the last couple of bottle have spoilt due to this. Looking online, it is a common problem - I am still learning after all



And lastly, here is the Blackberry wine with the Rhubarb almost ready to bottle up

mr2jay

Well, that's the new Rhubarb now bottles up and I have found somewhere cool and dark to mature it

Also started a raspberry wine as well.

Got a cupboard gradually filling up with fancy coloured liquids in bottles all maturing for christmas. Also got an extra bottle in there to drink before we put the hampers together just to make sure they are good



Happy brewing guys

AnnieDaPea

Can't you put the wine in a freezer to freeze out the water and make spirits that way?