Homemade Lager/Beer/Wine

Mumofthreeboys_2 · 18 May 2006 at 12:41PM

Hi all, I'm having another OS moment!!

We (2 adults and 3 kids - hence username) are doing our level best to save, save, save, and save some more (I am addiced to this site, by the way).

We are doing loads of things directly as a result of OS. I make my own washing gloop. I use stardrops for cleaning and vinegar for just about everything. We are growing pots, carrots, runner beams and peppers. We do menu plans and are really trying to budget properly.

We don't smoke and haven't been out in ages (other than do's for the kids).
I have banned DH from drinking during the week as we just can't afford it. As a result, we do, come the weekend, like to have a bottle of wine or some beers.

So rather than buy the expensive stuff I thought I'd consult The Oracle (you lot)!! Do any of you excellent MSE's have any ideas/recipes for homemade lager/beer/wine and/or an idiots guide as to how you go about it?

shammyjack · 18 May 2006 at 12:48PM

This site should tell you all you need to know !

http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/cgi/yabb/YaBB.cgi

shammy

Mumofthreeboys_2 · 18 May 2006 at 12:50PM

Thanks, I'll definitely check it out.

Penny-Pincher!! · 18 May 2006 at 1:01PM

I posted about this last year and got some great replies. Can anyone do the link?

Ta

PP
xx

Mumofthreeboys_2 · 18 May 2006 at 1:03PM

Oops, sorry Penny-Pincher

Did you make any and if so, how did it turn out?

Mumofthreeboys_2 · 18 May 2006 at 2:20PM

I have tried searching for your post Penny-Pincher, but to no avail (my god you've been busy on here)!! Is there anyone who can help on this?

Pink. · 18 May 2006 at 3:00PM

Penny-Pincher I've tried, but I can't find a thread on beer or wine making started by you

Can you remember the thread title?

Mumofthreeboys, in the meantime these other threads might help:

Beer Making Kits-How Easy????

Home Made Wine

Homemade wine

Home made wine and stockists of equipment

Pink

mandyc · 18 May 2006 at 4:37PM

We used to make gallons and gallons of wine when the hobby was at its peak in the seventies. We used to travel all over the place exhibiting in different shows.

Nowadays, the kits you buy are quite expensive (its a case of you get what you pay for. The dearer ones have a higher grape content) We have three gallons on the go at the moment and I really doubt it is worth it if you are just doing it to save money.

IMHO, these days with all the offers on at supermarkets you can can get an excellent wine for £3.49 or £3.99 and most of the £2.99 are comparable to the home made wines from concentrates.

If you decide to make from the original fruit it may be cheaper but it is hard to get the "body" in the wine without adding some grape concentrate. Also wine made from fruit/veg takes longer to mature than that in kits - usually nine/twelve months.

Mumofthreeboys_2 · 18 May 2006 at 6:04PM

Pink, thank you very much for the links. These are very helpful.

Mandyc, I think you are probably correct about it not being cheaper to make wine, I hadn't thought of it like that. Maybe I'll make DH some homebrew!!!

lindadykes · 29 May 2006 at 11:41PM

How about a homemade simple cider? I got the idea from here http://forum.downsizer.net/about3420.html I used four 1 litre cartons of asda's cheapest apple juice. placed it in a demijohm (75p from a charity shop and which I sterilised with a solution of water and camden tablets from wilkinsons) Added two heaped teaspoons of wine yeast again from wilkinsons. Put a bung with an airlock attached in the neck of the demijohn (wilkinsons again!) and leave in a warm place, after about 24 hours it was bubbling away nicely, left it sitting there for three weeks after which time the bubbling was very slow, so topped up the demijohn with more apple juice. Left it till fermentation stopped (no more bubbling) which was after 4 weeks. Looked on the internet for some PET (Plastic) bottles to bottle it in, but it was cheaper to buy some bottles of soda water from home bargains, drink the water and sterilse the bottles with a camden tablet solution than to buy new from the internet. The cider tasted a bit thin from the demijohn so I added 1 tsp of sugar to each of the bottles then syphoned the cider from the demijohn into the bottles. Sealed the bottles and left for 5 days - the cider was excellent a still scrumpy type cider, free from chemicals and packed quite a punch. The ingredients minus the cost of the reusable equipment came to £1.50 for 4 litres of cider.

Austin_Allegro · 30 May 2006 at 10:39AM

The thing to remember about home made wines, beers etc is that unless you spend a lot of time and money, they won't taste much like 'proper' beer and wine. You can, however, make perfectly drinkable wine sometimes called 'buck' or 'prison wine' for only a few pence a bottle - check online for recipes - it's not the kind of thing you'd serve at a posh dinner but it's fine for spritzers etc.

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