General Homebrew Thread

[hypnoticmonkey]

It has been suggested that some users may enjoy a thread specifically for homebrewing. 

 

Its a hobby I used to do a lot of around 2009-2013 but haven't don't for best part of a decade. 

 

@Moley pretty much taught me everything I know about winemaking.

 

I'm currently brewing a few things, if anyone wants the recipes let me know. 

 

Here's what I've got on the go:

 

- Wurzel's Orange Wine (WOW) with red grape juice instead of white

- Apple Juice and Black Grape Juice 

- Rose hip and lavender (experimental sparkling)

- blackberry and cherry

- rhubarb and plum

 

Each one is one gallon, so 6 bottles per batch. 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Can you give us idea of basic starter kit?

As in very very basic, 

Utensils and the like before we even mess with ingredients. 
 

 

[Tonka]

7 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Can you give us idea of basic starter kit?

As in very very basic, 

Utensils and the like before we even mess with ingredients. 
 

 

You should taste it first before spending money

[Hudds Lad]

Now we're talking!

 

Pretty much echo what @Goliath said, save getting superfluous gear.

 

I do have an ancient hydrometer my dad used to use, so that's gotta be early 70's as he died in '76, will it still work??

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

7 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Now we're talking!

 

Pretty much echo what @Goliath said, save getting superfluous gear.

 

I do have an ancient hydrometer my dad used to use, so that's gotta be early 70's as he died in '76, will it still work??

I think I got one somewhere too from me beer brew days. 
 

But to start, I think all we need is a bucket and lid/cloth to do the first part and then some demi johns, then bottles. 
??

can’t remember. 
 

11 minutes ago, Tonka said:

You should taste it first before spending money

Gotta make it before tasting it 😃

And hopefully forbno money (other then a few quid) 

[TheBiscuits]

23 minutes ago, hypnoticmonkey said:

It has been suggested that some users may enjoy a thread specifically for homebrewing. 

 

Its a hobby I used to do a lot of around 2009-2013 but haven't don't for best part of a decade. 

 

@Moley pretty much taught me everything I know about winemaking.

 

I'm currently brewing a few things, if anyone wants the recipes let me know. 

 

Here's what I've got on the go:

 

- Wurzel's Orange Wine (WOW) with red grape juice instead of white

- Apple Juice and Black Grape Juice 

- Rose hip and lavender (experimental sparkling)

- blackberry and cherry

- rhubarb and plum

 

Each one is one gallon, so 6 bottles per batch. 

 

I used to make WoW by the 5 gallon bucketload until Aldi stopped doing their excellent and cheap pure white grape juice.

 

5 gallons is not much more effort, and lasts nearly twice as long as one gallon

 

Where are you getting your grape juice from?  It should look a bit like a rosé when it's done.

 

Also, I didn't realise @Moley was a boater, but it's a familiar name from the other topic-specific forum! 

 

Having just seen the rumours he's stopped doing wine and is making beer, maybe I should invite him to join SIBA as a homebrewing member ...

[Sea Dog]

21 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

I do have an ancient hydrometer my dad used to use, so that's gotta be early 70's as he died in '76, will it still work??

Should work fine although, depending on the actual date of manufacture, you may only be able to make traditional imperial beers and wines and not more modern metric euro-fizz ones.

[Hudds Lad]

3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Should work fine although, depending on the actual date of manufacture, you may only be able to make traditional imperial beers and wines and not more modern metric euro-fizz ones.

It's an ancient Peter Stevenson Wine Hydrometer, no mention of beer on it  

Perhaps i'll just put it back in the drawer for safe keeping  

[tree monkey]

I currently have about 20 demijohns various air locks and a fruit press plus access to a shit load of apples, unfortunately due to life getting in the way this years homebrew plans are likely aspirational, next year though...

 

[TheBiscuits]

26 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I currently have about 20 demijohns

 

Amateur

 

[gatekrash]

We've just bottled the first batch of home brew cider made from the windfalls off the allotment, about 20 pints so far. Going down again tomorrow to strip the rest of the trees before the wind his next week.

 

Last year's brew we reckon was about 9% based on the hydrometer readings. We have to warn visitors not to drink more than a pint if they want to try it!

 

Generally we end up with a really dry scrumpy, but being from the West country we're well used to drinking proper cider 😋

[tree monkey]

42 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Amateur

 

Something I completely accept, when compared to Dad who produced brew on an industrial scale, I swear he is responsible for global climate change, I swear the co2 levels were so high in that house it was borderline dangerous 

 

[Chris Lowe]

I really should get next years batch ofraspberry vodka on the go

[Moley]

Slow down a bit!

 

I joined this forum many years ago because we had bought a 44ft Calcutt / Colecraft in need of much attention. There's a build blog somewhere about NB 'Talpidae'. If I was able to share knowledge or experience about other stuff,  so much the better.  That's how it worked elsewhere. 

 

On the homeBREW forum, I knew far more than most about country wine making, which I've been doing since 1975. As I learned more about brewing, I could share that on another home WINEmaking forum. I have never been an expert on either, even if I have won prizes for both.

 

Lately, I have been doing very little wine making, and have reverted to a simpler 'brew-in-a-bag' method of brewing.

 

As we have now sold the boat and left the waterways community, I'm probably not the person to be drawn into this thread, and have only been lured back here out of curiosity. 

[hypnoticmonkey]

2 hours ago, Goliath said:

Can you give us idea of basic starter kit?

As in very very basic, 

Utensils and the like before we even mess with ingredients. 
 

 

 

You need:

 

- something to brew in

- something to keep nasties out

- some way of making it all sterile

- something to store your brew in

- something to transfer it all around 

 

The something to brew in: go to the supermarket and get a 5l bottle of water. The plastic bottle will work. 

 

Something to keep the nasties out: an airlock. Really unless you want to faff about with homemade contraptions, you'll probably want to buy one. 

 

Something to make it all sterile: there are ways you can do that with watered down bleach and lots of rinsing but, seeing as you're buying an airlock anyway why not buy some specialist brewing steriliser

 

Something to store the brew in: really best done in bulk, but your plastic bottle is not advisable for long term storage imo. So we're talking wine bottles. You'll need 6 for a 5 litre brew. You could buy them empty, but why not buy 6 bottles of wine and "empty" then over a few nights?

 

Something to transfer it: you'll need some tubing to siphon it off. If you're placing an order with a homebrew supplies store, you can get some piping there. There's also a contraption you can get for trying to keep the sediment out, usually for about £3 or £4. 

 

Also worth saying we should respect Moley's wishes not to get dragged back into this forum... I'm also not sure how long I'll be here either. Boating is a vague distant interest of mine, but not one I've pursued before beyond a couple of holidays. I mostly came here to find Moley, which I've done but it's nice to see people interested in my hobby, so I started this thread on others requests. I might stick around, I might not, but I'm happy to answer any questions while I'm here

[Machpoint005]

Judging by the OP's list of products, he isn't brewing.

 

He's fermenting.

 

 

[Chris Lowe]

May be an idea to go to Wilco while they are still open and get some of there brewing kit cheap

[hypnoticmonkey]

6 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Judging by the OP's list of products, he isn't brewing.

 

He's fermenting.

 

 

Technically, I suppose so. IME most people don't get caught up on the distinction. Home winemaking supplies are sold in homebrew stores, its discussed on homebrew forums etc. 

 

You're right, but colloquially homebrewing is often used as a catch-all. 

8 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

May be an idea to go to Wilco while they are still open and get some of there brewing kit cheap

I've tried a few, there's not much there any more. Good luck though!

[Moley]

16 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

May be an idea to go to Wilco while they are still open and get some of there brewing kit cheap

Nothing left in our local branch, I did call in to see if I could pick up a spare fermenting vessel but there were only a few packs of yeast and finings left.

19 hours ago, tree monkey said:

I currently have about 20 demijohns

 

Sold a load of mine and gave a few more away, so I'm down to about 20 as well but haven't used them for years. Moved on to 15 and 19 litre water cooler bottles. 

[hypnoticmonkey]

7 hours ago, Moley said:

Nothing left in our local branch, I did call in to see if I could pick up a spare fermenting vessel but there were only a few packs of yeast and finings left.

Sold a load of mine and gave a few more away, so I'm down to about 20 as well but haven't used them for years. Moved on to 15 and 19 litre water cooler bottles. 

If you want someone to take them off your hands...

[Riverdee]

On 15/09/2023 at 17:55, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Can you give us idea of basic starter kit?

As in very very basic, 

Utensils and the like before we even mess with ingredients. 

 

I bought this kit for dry wine https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0047Q44RI?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details.

Was so simple to use and the wine came out great

For sweet wine I used this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072J9N2BJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Riverdee
wrong quote