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

haggisAThome

i have 40 pints of bitter on the go and will be starting my 40 pints of larger on sat ..

after the outlay for the equipment (it has payed for its self) its very cheap @ 9 quid a kit . i would recommend home brewing to any one any day

galacticgreen

we are making some elderflower wine at the moment. The instructions said it needed to be in the demijohn for about 6 weeks. When we first put it in there, it was glooping every 4-5 seconds. 2 weeks on its only every minute(ish). Is this OK or is it not warm enough where it is? Worried that we are going to have a disaster on our hands. Any advice would be great...

Frugaldom

I've bottled my raisin experiment and now have a basin of strawberries (party leftovers) soaking. Not sure what it will turn out as, but it could hopefully taste like fruit punch with a kick! Will leave it for another day or so then decant to a demijohn with a balloon top

2cats1kid

I have my answer to how yeast knows whether to make wine or cider - it doesn't! So I now have 5 bottles of very very dry cider, and I don't even like cider. However, being one to make the best of things, we had a really nice chicken in cider sauce tonight which was one of the yummiest made up as I went along meals we have had in a long time. Even DD liked it and came back for seconds, so I think we'll be having that quite a lot over the next few weeks.

So, bloodied but unbowed, I await the ripening of our nearby bramble patch to have a crack at blackberry wine.

madscientist_3

Do Wilkos still have homebrew gear in the shops? They have stopped doing it online...

They have back online but does anybody know of anywhere else to buy the kits online? I guess postage would be a big issue...

Andy_Hamilton

My local wilko's is only 3-4 weeks old. I checked online and expected it to be a brilliant source but when I got there there was only a couple of different kits, demijohns, air locks and a syphon.
Everything I needed to be honest so I'm happy.

There are loads of stuff online but postage is normally around £10 before you start.

doraexplorer

what a brilliant thread, best one i have found in ages, well i have 2 dj and those air things that i bought at a car boot sale. one dj is glass and one is plastic.

i tryed reading up on making wine but found it all too confusing , so a big thank you to MTDT for the fool proof instructions. i think even i can do it.

so tomor i am going to buy apple juice and make apple cider.

i really like the pear cider, so i am going to see if i can get pear juice ??? and make one of each.

if i cant get pear juice i will just have a look and see whats different and cheap.

thanks again MRDT hic hic ! lol

Andy_Hamilton

Lidl do pear juice with pulp. I added 3 litres of pear juice and 1 litre of apple juice. I'm 5 days into brewing it and it looks like i'm going to be enjoying pear cider soon. If it's ok I might try using 3 litres and 1 litre of water as it is really thick stuff. I've added enough sugar to make it 8-10% so it should have a good kick.

Gangstabird

After watching Hugh FW make elderflower champagne, we were going to buy the gear to make it. Then a friend bless popped round some DJ's and air lock thingys, tubing.

But the very loveliest thing is an electric blanket for a DJ. I am most impressed. It's fab.

Will let you know as I am off to collect elderflowers tomorrow.

nopot2pin

2cats1kid wrote: »

I have my answer to how yeast knows whether to make wine or cider - it doesn't! So I now have 5 bottles of very very dry cider, and I don't even like cider. However, being one to make the best of things, we had a really nice chicken in cider sauce tonight which was one of the yummiest made up as I went along meals we have had in a long time. Even DD liked it and came back for seconds, so I think we'll be having that quite a lot over the next few weeks.

So, bloodied but unbowed, I await the ripening of our nearby bramble patch to have a crack at blackberry wine.

I have never tried to make cider... Only apple wine
But... here is what I do if it is toooo dry...

After I have bottled it, and then open it.... and I find it too dry / sharp to drink, I add one sweetex, or hermasetas...

Give it a minute or two to distribute...and a small shake of the bottle ... then taste again..
If its still too dry, repeat the process until you have wine/cider you can drink.

It saves all of the faff of trying to bottle, then sweeten then cork and risk refermentation... Loads less calories too