Home Brewing

[muppetdave]

I think I am going to have a go at home brewing. I've fancied it for quite some time, but given we have some additional space at home now, I need something to fill it!

I've read back through the search function, but thought I'd ask for a bit of an update on supplier recommendations etc, as with everything there are a million and one options out there. The plan is (as recommended) to have a few goes with a starter kit like Wherry, but with a view to moving towards a full grain set-up.

So any new thoughts please - and I do know cleanliness is next to Godliness in brewing terms...

[C0ffin D0dger]

muppetdave said:

I think I am going to have a go at home brewing. I've fancied it for quite some time, but given we have some additional space at home now, I need something to fill it!

I've read back through the search function, but thought I'd ask for a bit of an update on supplier recommendations etc, as with everything there are a million and one options out there. The plan is (as recommended) to have a few goes with a starter kit like Wherry, but with a view to moving towards a full grain set-up.

So any new thoughts please - and I do know cleanliness is next to Godliness in brewing terms...

Wherry is a good start, pretty much all of the all malt kits (i.e. those where you don't add sugar) produce a decent pint.

Dead easy to make, sit the cans in a bowl of hot water or on the radiator for a while before starting to soften. Open and pour contents into fermenting bin rinsing the residue out of the cans with boiling water. Add about two kettles of water to the fermenter including whatever you used to rinse out the cans and give it all a good stir to dissolve. Top up the fermenter with cold water to 40 pints, when I do this I tend to pour the water in from a height to help oxygenate it a bit. Finally add the yeast (see below), put the lid on but don't seal it up completely so as to allow the fermentation gases to escape, and leave somewhere warm for 5-7 days. Keep an eye on it and when the fermentation activity has ceased syphon into a pressure barrel, add a little sugar to prime it, leave in the warm place then move to where you want to serve it from (i.e. somewhere cooler), leave for another week or two, drink!

Now I went through a spell where the yeast supplied with the kits didn't work so started using Safale yeast instead. Irrespective of this I find it's always worth hydrating the yeast. In a clean container add a small amount of boiled water, wait for it to become tepid (35-40 degreesC) and add the yeast. Leave it for ten minutes of so and it should become frothy / sponge like. Give it a stir before adding to the fermentor.

As for suppliers, not made any myself for a while but there are a fair few websites, just Google it and use whoever is cheapest / best value. There are some suppliers on eBay too.

[BoRED S2upid]

I'm going to be having a crack at brewing my own wine this Christmas ordered all the stuff fingers crossed.

[illmonkey]

I hate the kits, they all see to have a funny taste that doesn't leave the back of my throat. When we make it from scratch it is fantastic. Shame we only make 40 pints at a time, as between 2 of us that isn't much for the effort.

It really isn't hard to boil up some hops and sugar. Takes us 2 hours start to finish. We then rack (filter) the beer after a week, bottle 2 weeks later and leave for a month before drinking.

If you want a recipe and a guide let me know, save me typing it all out now and not be used. You'll need a fair bit of kit too.

BoRED S2upid said:

I'm going to be having a crack at brewing my own wine this Christmas ordered all the stuff fingers crossed.

We make a beaverdale wine (it's a kit) and it's fantastic. But start now if you want it for Chritmas! It takes a fair time to settle down and 'age'. Takes 10 minutes to get going, pour grape juice in to vessle, add yeast, seal. We've done a Merlot and a Pinot, both very good and knocked out at about £1.20 a bottle.

[BoRED S2upid]

illmonkey said:

We make a beaverdale wine (it's a kit) and it's fantastic. But start now if you want it for Chritmas! It takes a fair time to settle down and 'age'. Takes 10 minutes to get going, pour grape juice in to vessle, add yeast, seal. We've done a Merlot and a Pinot, both very good and knocked out at about £1.20 a bottle.

That's good to know I've been looking into something similar. What vessel do you use? I have Demi jons and bungs?

[illmonkey]

BoRED S2upid said:

That's good to know I've been looking into something similar. What vessel do you use? I have Demi jons and bungs?

We just use one of our fermentation vessels, plastic 30 litre jobby. But you can use demijons with bungs, you'll need a air lock on top of the valve, as the demi jon will have positive pressure and crack the glass.

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Demij...

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Bubbl...

Thats who I use and can't fault them.

[OldBuoy]

Another vote for Wherry, also been trying some Festival beers. Very nice too but Festival is good value, around £18 from Wilko.

I started not just to save money but I prefer keg beers, these are just as good a s lot of "pub stuff"

[muppetdave]

Thanks peoples. Keen to get something going and build some experience and get
In to 'proper' brewing in time. Will have a look at the wine kit too as that wouldn't be a bad thing.

If I look to get some kind of heater for fermentation etc
Should it be ok out in my office? (Ie ambient?)

On a slightly different note - it's sickening me (particularly at sloe gin time) that we smashed and threw away tens of demijohns when my grandad died and Nan moved in to a flat - plus all the other kit!!

[C0ffin D0dger]

muppetdave said:

Thanks peoples. Keen to get something going and build some experience and get
In to 'proper' brewing in time. Will have a look at the wine kit too as that wouldn't be a bad thing.

If I look to get some kind of heater for fermentation etc
Should it be ok out in my office? (Ie ambient?)

On a slightly different note - it's sickening me (particularly at sloe gin time) that we smashed and threw away tens of demijohns when my grandad died and Nan moved in to a flat - plus all the other kit!!

Should ferment fine at a normal ambient temperature just may take more or less time accordingly. So long at it's not freezing cold and once the yeast gets going there's really no stopping it.

Don't need demijohns for sloe gin unless you're making gallons of the stuff. We just use big Kilner jars, fairly cheap from Dunelm/Ikea/etc. Pick your sloes, the old way used to be to prick each one with a fork before adding gin but we just freeze them as the skin is supposed to split when they thaw, wack frozen sloes + sugar in Kilner, fill with gin, and job done. Shake every once in a while and leave for 6-12 months, once mature remove the sloes and put it in bottles, mature for a bit longer and enjoy

[illmonkey]

muppetdave said:

Thanks peoples. Keen to get something going and build some experience and get
In to 'proper' brewing in time. Will have a look at the wine kit too as that wouldn't be a bad thing.

If I look to get some kind of heater for fermentation etc
Should it be ok out in my office? (Ie ambient?)

On a slightly different note - it's sickening me (particularly at sloe gin time) that we smashed and threw away tens of demijohns when my grandad died and Nan moved in to a flat - plus all the other kit!!

Missed this.

I purchased a heater and never used it. The room it's in, is always about 20degrees, so it's fine. You can use them to top up the temp over night, but we'be never bothered.

I do like the look of demi jons, I imagine my dads kitchen would look nicer without these horrible plastic vessles, but they're not cheap!

[muppetdave]

Will have to get a max/min thermometer out here to see where the temperature goes.

Sloe Gin is already in demi-johns - I produce a lot ;o) Was just saying with respect to that and wine it's sickening now thinking of what we threw away.

[SwanJack]

If your going to do kit beer brewing, the yeast will be the cheapest aroung that will only be required to convert sugar to alcohol, nothing else, at a wide temperature range. Liquid yeasts at £6 a pop have a narrow temperature range dependant on strain, that you need to follow and maintain rigidly to make the expenditure worthwhile. One of the most important things that you should do for a sucessful fermentation, is to aerate your wort (unfermented beer).

[Malx]

Home brew is the way forward. Once you've made your own beer, all shop bought stuff tastes like water.

I started out with the tins of malt extract and while a fine beer I tend to go for these kits http://www.brewuk.co.uk/beerkits/brewextract.html (Other brew shops are available).

It's a very slippery slope though. I started with one fermentation bucket but now usually have 3 beers/ales and up to 8 wines on brewing at the same time