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

Pooky

Plastic bottles are fine for the fizzy stuff as long as they held fizzy stuff before....fizzy stuff has a thicker plastic bottle to with-hold the pressure.

We did elderflower champagne last year and used 1lt bottles and they held fine and my goodness that was fizzy. Won't be making it again this year tho as we weren't keen on the flavour.....the elderberry however - wow!

Looking forward to autumn to go picking again.

redfraggle_2

Pooky wrote: »

Plastic bottles are fine for the fizzy stuff as long as they held fizzy stuff before....fizzy stuff has a thicker plastic bottle to with-hold the pressure.

We did elderflower champagne last year and used 1lt bottles and they held fine and my goodness that was fizzy. Won't be making it again this year tho as we weren't keen on the flavour.....the elderberry however - wow!

Looking forward to autumn to go picking again.

That's great news, thought we'd have to buy glass bottles!!!!

I'd love the recipes for elderflower adn elderberry as well if you wouldn't mind...

Gigervamp

I posted a recipe for elderflower chamagne here. You MUST store it in plastic bottles. Don't use glass because it has a tendency to explode!

stevenhp1987

Just a question...

Does this produce Methonol? You know the deadily/blinding chemical that is a byproducted of homebrewing... if so, how does one get rid of it? I'm really interested in brewing some cider using the Aldi apple juice, but want to know the safety of everything first!

Does it smell the house out? I'm going to be living in a small flat soon, so would rather it not smelled the house out (the gf would probs kill me...)

and oh... how do you sterilise the stuff, I can assume boiling water from the pan will work for a demijohn (swirl it around) but plastic bottles... plastic doesn't like heat, how would one go about that!

Cheers !

shandypants5

stevenhp1987 wrote: »

Just a question...

Does this produce Methonol? You know the deadily/blinding chemical that is a byproducted of homebrewing... if so, how does one get rid of it? I'm really interested in brewing some cider using the Aldi apple juice, but want to know the safety of everything first!

Does it smell the house out? I'm going to be living in a small flat soon, so would rather it not smelled the house out (the gf would probs kill me...)

and oh... how do you sterilise the stuff, I can assume boiling water from the pan will work for a demijohn (swirl it around) but plastic bottles... plastic doesn't like heat, how would one go about that!

Cheers !

I am sure whenever Ethanol (drinking alchohol) is produced by fermentation, then there will be some Methanol produced too.

BUT, I doubt it will be in any amount large enough to worry about unless you start seperating it by distilation. (I believe most commercial beers must have a little methanol in them, Vodka probably has quite a bit.):eek:

I have been making homemede beers ciders and wines for years and I havent gone blind yet.:p
(although a REAL side affect is I cant see my feet anymore:D)

As for cleaning your gear, I use WVP from the homebrew shop to sanitize everything, but you could use baby bottle sanitizer just as easily. (or even thin bleach as long as you rinse properly.)

Some fermentations smell stronger than others, it depends what your making.
most of the time its a light pleasnt odour, sometimes its , er.. not,:rolleyes:

nopot2pin

stevenhp1987 wrote: »

Just a question...

Does this produce Methonol? You know the deadily/blinding chemical that is a byproducted of homebrewing... if so, how does one get rid of it? I'm really interested in brewing some cider using the Aldi apple juice, but want to know the safety of everything first!

Does it smell the house out? I'm going to be living in a small flat soon, so would rather it not smelled the house out (the gf would probs kill me...)

and oh... how do you sterilise the stuff, I can assume boiling water from the pan will work for a demijohn (swirl it around) but plastic bottles... plastic doesn't like heat, how would one go about that!

Cheers !

Sometimes, when the yeast is in the early vigourous part of its ferment, you can have a slight smell...but its not overpowering, unless you have a lot of brews at this stage, at the same time

I use baby steriliser to santise my stuff.
Teso/Morrisons/Asda own brands is a fraction of the cost of Milton.

Bongedone

Methanol is produced by fermention of wood. You will not get any methanol from home brewing.

You will not find methanol in commercial products either. It is highly toxic.

stevenhp1987

One question... both peaches and plums are cheap in Aldi's at the moment (49p for 500g of each).

I've looked for wines for each, is there anything else I can make with them, cider with peach perhaps (I guess apple juice and some peach)? Sounds nice, any way that it could work?

What do those expierienced homebrewers think?

Austin_Allegro

Hi folks I am drinking a glass of my latest home made wine and though I say so myself it's quite nice! Here's the recipe:

Nettle and Lemon Balm wine

Pick a mixture of young nettle tops and lemon balm leaves, enough to fill one of those round washing up bowls. (make sure you wear gloves!)

Rinse the leaves and put in a big saucepan. Add water and simmer. Keep adding the leaves as they melt down until you have a big pot of about 2l of green sludge. Pour this into your demijohn via a funnel and filter (I use a bit of old nylon cloth). Dissolve the sugar in boiling water. Use 1kg for a sweet wine, .75kg for a dryer wine. Top up the demijohn to 4.5l and allow to cool. Add yeast and nutrient. Leave to ferment for about 3-4 weeks, it will be cloudy so you may need to add finings. It has a slightly unusual, rather astringent/medicinal taste but very refreshing.

nopot2pin

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

It has a slightly unusual, rather astringent/medicinal taste but very refreshing.

If you can, let it age, then this taste should smooth out.
If you cant, drink it, and make double next time. Some, by default will age