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

Steel_2

Gigervamp wrote: »

Hehe. I made that turbo cider once. Spent an awful lot of time on the loo after drinking it. :eek:

LOL!

My fantasy :beer:

The probable reality _pale_

Steel_2

boultdj wrote: »

Have you got normal yeast in?, it's all I'v ever use, same as my Gran did, and she use to win prize's for her wine back in the 70's.

I have, but kept seeing dire warnings here and there about ruining the flavour so I didn't and just prevaricated a bit more about the whole yeast thing. What I might do is try different batches with different yeasts to see what they do for the flavour.

Anyway, my husband has solved the whole yeast problem. Not liking having to put up with me shuffling between conservatory, kitchen and living room talking about yeast in low tones and typing furiously on here, he told me he was going out to his hobby shop (cue dark mutterings from me about wasting money on hobbies and petrol when the fencing needed finishing) and reappeared an hour and 15 minutes later with yeast, yeast nutrient and whatever else the enterprising shopkeeper in a far flung homebrew shop around 30 miles away could sell him to make cider.

Then he brought in two glass demijohns he found at the local charity shop.

Yep, he's a keeper.

I've managed to get 5 litres of pear juice already from about 120 pears.

I still have five times that amount to juice sitting in a washing basket....

Not to mention the apples...

[Deleted User]

I have 5 demijohns of various wines on the go and all at various stages. I have tried one 6 bottle kit, which made a lovely chardonay and cannot get a 6 bottle refill, only 30 bottle. I have a 5 gal fermenter which I haven`t used yet and am apprehensive about making the 30 bottle kit. The winekit is kenridge classic. What will I need besides the fermenter? Can I finish it in wine boxes or must I use bottles and do I need another fermenter for racking?

Edit: I have answered my own question. The 5 l kit came with a wine box and is kept in the fridge and is gorgeous so yes wine boxes are ok

I found my good and sturdy 5 gal fermenter and am ordering another one. I just needed to get my hand in again and I did that this morning. I used to make wine all from scratch 35 years ago but I temporarily lost the knowledge. Plus there is a pile of new `must have `kit about

Steel_2

How can I tell if I have to add sugar to the pear juice if I don't have a hydrometer?

Is it ok to add sugar anyway just to be on the safe side?

boultdj

My Boot's brew book say's add 8oz of sugar at a time,at 8 day intervel's, up to 1 1/2lb, depending on weather you want a dry [8 oz] or sweet [1 1/2 lb] wine. hth.

babyblooz

Can't believe I've just found this thread!

We've just stripped 19 pounds of black grapes from our grape vine. They are quite sweet and we've just crushed them because we are having a go at making some wine from them.

We've only ever used kits before so this will be a voyage of discovery. After this lot gets on its way we have a huge bagful of elder berries in the freezer awaiting our attention. My grandad made elderberry wine and would give us a teaspoon before we went to school to keep the cold out on the very coldest mornings. I can still remember the 'ready brek glow' as it travelled down my throat.

And it didnt turn me into an alcoholic. I probably manage one or two glasses a week at best, although hubs does like a glass or two each evening.

I also want to make some rosehip syrup (very good for keeping the colds at bay apparently) and some sloe gin. Does sloe gin taste of almonds a little? Someone at work was talking about it the other day and I really don't like almonds so if it does I don't want to waste money making it, although other people would probably like it.

[Deleted User]

I got the oomph overnight to do the next stages in my wines

wow, which is wurzels orange wine from another site, has cleared beautifully in a pet after final racking but I thought I would try out my `new` filter. The wine is now shiny and I have packed into a 5 litre box, as I cannot be a**ed bottling for real. It was oh so easy so I`ll be ordering more boxes

I also packed a finished beaverdale rioja into a box and by gum it tastes nice, no filtering on that one

I took the sg on 2 5 litre pets of hm eldebery and both were 996 so I have added a campden plus 1/2 a tsp of pot sorbate and shaken and shaken to de-gas. More de-gassing over the next few days and then a racking

I started a beaverdale barolo in a pet

I have a scary tale of a glass demi-john, which are no longer made as they used to be. I never had one crack in the long distant past. This new one was carefully handled always and just standing in a cool milton solution, when I heard a bit of a crack and blow me it has a very fine crack across what appears to be a fault. I have 2 more unused demi johns but I am going to be apprehensive now. I only used this one once, to stand the rioja. No children, only me touching it with kid gloves

I am being very careful re de-gassing and storage as I once had a bottle of elderberry, on its side, pop its cork and the wine went all over a carpet. All finished wines are now going into the shed

lol, every time I think I haven`t done this or that or have I sterilised enough etc, I think of how the romans would have done it. Much cruder for sure

I have ethiopian honey wine on the go, only honey and water, beaten to get air borne yeasts in and now popping and still in a bucket. I`ll rack to a pet in another 3 weeks

Does anyone know the best size of drill to be used for a grommet for a bubbler? I have the grommets and the water containers

Seraph123

Just discoverd this thread and absolutley love it. Brings back happy memories of my dad who used to make a lethal brew not unlike Carlsberg Special which used to regularly explode in the garden shed. It was like being on a firing range some times. Tasted amazing but gave you the most horrendous hangover.

You have inspired me to dip my toe so I'm looking for some fast easy recipes for a beginner. Any advice would be fantastic.:beer:

Steel_2

babyblooz wrote: »

Does sloe gin taste of almonds a little? Someone at work was talking about it the other day and I really don't like almonds so if it does I don't want to waste money making it, although other people would probably like it.

I drink it and I don't think it tastes of almonds. Hang on...I'll just go and check.

[slurp...nomnomnomnomnom]

Nope it tastes of bliss and loveliness. However, you do have to remove the sloes after a number of months as the stones inside can impart a slightly bitter flavour.

boultdj - in the end I decided to add 20g/litre based on what I'd read at the beginning of this thread and on other forums talking about cider. When i eventually bottle it, I'll add some more.

I've just hand squeezed 14 litres of pear juice into 4x4 litre bottles and one 2 litre bottle. In the end I resorted to squeezing the filled stockings with a pair of butter paddles as my hands were knackered and I kept putting my fingers through :rotfl: I know I could have got more but I was just too tired.

Going to try champagne yeast for one, baking yeast for another, then a 50/50 of both for the third. Not sure what to do with the remaining 2 litres. Hubby scootled across the kitchen and grabbed it thinking I had made the cider ready for drinking in one afternoon and was majorly disappointed when I told him probably Christmas at the earliest.

Picked the rest of the pears off the tree and now have another set of equivalent weight to do next weekend so I'm going to buy a whole fruit juicier if I can find a shop with a reasonably priced one in stock (ie. not £100!).

Steel_2

Well that was an unattractive stink coming out of the kitchen this morning, and for once it wasn't the cats!

I had NO idea that yeast could give off sulphur fumes.

The whole house smells of rotten eggs.