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

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  • Help! I made orange wine and apple wine for the first time and added finnings to them yesterday without examining the packet well enough. I added a whole packet to each but on closer inspection that each pack is sufficent for 5 gallons. Have I ruined them or will they be ok? The apple wine cleared within 12 hours.:eek:
    Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Soreen Kierkegaard 1854.
  • i have been making loads, tinned strawberries, tinned pears, richards red, wow's, blackberry, blackberry and apple, mead, cider. It's a great hobby to have and works out very inexpensive compared to buying in a shop. Experiementation, Cleanliness and patience are the three keys to success. Any questions or tips you have let me know.
    Mortgage Start jun 2007 £88500 Outstanding Balance £51000
    Overpayments 2007 Nil 2008 £1040 2009 £7853 2010 £10000 2011 aiming for £18000 (6k so far)
    The Early Bird Gets the Worm, but the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese!!
  • kondormid
    kondormid Posts: 323 Forumite
    edited 21 February 2012 at 6:48AM
    Thought I would start this thread as a few of us have met up on this forum with regard to a certain homebrew outlet.

    Beamer525 asked...
    Out of interest has anybody got any brews on the go, I have just bottled St Peters IPA, Muntons gold IPA (upped the ABV a bit) and St Peters Ruby Red.
    Ready to start a Norfolk Nog, just need some more bottles.
    Yes beamer, at the moment we are drinking some coopers old dark ale (made with a kilo of glucose) and have a john bull IPA (also a kilo of glucose).

    Giviing the glucose a try as you can see, it isn't that bad. The head lasts about 2mins due to the thiness and higher alc combined but it tastes ok.

    What I usually do is use a £2.05 jar of Holland and Barrets malt extract (not the one with cod liver oil lol) and a jar of asda own brand golden syrup 77p . It is a lot better head retention thats for sure. I might try a jar of H&B malt and 333g of glucose as I am sure that wouldnt be too bad for the price.

    I use pressure barrels all the way, the economy ones. Mine have pin valves but to be honest you only need one pin valve cap as its only purpose is to fire some co2 in if a barrel goes flat. The standard caps would probably do us fine as that rarely happens. I barrel around 1.010 (upto 1.014 max) and add 60g of sugar to it. works a treat.

    edit added...
    oh and the barrels stay around 16 degrees all the time. None of this warm and then cold condition stuff over here. I like my beer to be alive. I know the trend is to take a perfectly good barrel of beer that has been carbonated and throw it in the cold for 6 weeks but that is not for me at all. As soon as it has been in the barrel a week or two its ready for drinking. If I was doing bottles then it would take a lot longer, also keg beer needs to condition. But this is pressure barrel beer and it is like a cask with some natural carbonation. The only time I have needed extra gas is when I messed up a seal. Barrel lasts 10 days. No need for high carb dead and freezing beer.
  • squeaky
    squeaky Posts: 14,129 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi :)

    Adventures in home brew land (image heavy!)

    That's our main thread on the subject and I hope readers will find it useful. I'll add your thread to it shortly.
    Hi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
    Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
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  • Have never looked in Holland & Barretts will give it a go though.

    I prefer bottles(don't have a barrel) as I managed to get in touch with the chairman at CPFC were they sell 500ml plastic bottles of beer(by the thousands during home games), just trying to organise a supply of them that should then keep me going for ever.
  • Aido
    Aido Posts: 4 Newbie
    Part of the Furniture Photogenic Combo Breaker
    I happened to stumble across two Demijohns at our local car boot this morning and at 50p each I couldn't leave them there.
    So the thing is I've never made wine before. My granddad used to make beer and I have fond memories of his special shandy's but I wouldn't know where to start on my own wine as he passed away many years ago.
    If there's already a post on this topic I apologise and if someone would be kind enough to link it that would be great x
    Thanks in advance
    Aido
  • babyshoes
    babyshoes Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    To start, it may be easier to get a kit than to try and make it from scratch. Wilkinsons do a fairly large range of both beer and wine kits.

    Haven't tried the wine myself, but the beer is pretty good. Friends who have tried the wine kits find it acceptable as 'plonk' - not great, but as good as the cheapy supermarket wine.
    Trust me - I'm NOT a doctor!
  • Ceirdwyn
    Ceirdwyn Posts: 97 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    There's a huge thread about home made wine here.

    Some of the easiest beginners wine to make are the fruit juice wines.
    There's a really good step by step guide here. (link to a guide on a wine making forum)
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  • squeaky
    squeaky Posts: 14,129 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Here ya go... Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

    I'll add your query to that thread later.
    Hi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
    Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
    DTFAC: Y.T.D = £5.20 Apr £0.50
  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 14,635 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Just in time, dandelion wine, pick dandelion flowers on St George's day [today, but any time in next week] , drink it on Christmas day

    Dead easy, Google will no doubt provide the method
    Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens
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