Home Brew

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Discussion

dtmpower

Original Poster:

3,972 posts

244 months

Sunday 15th April 2012
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I've been to the last couple of local beer festivals, and despite not being a heavy drinker have enjoyed several halves of the local ale.

I'd like to start a home brew. Either ale or ginger beer, but need some pointers or recipes.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 15th April 2012
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Start off with a couple of ale kits and find some you like! There is bound to be a home brew shop near by and they will be able to point you in the right direction! all you need to start with is a bucket, a preasure barrel and a few bits and bobs, you can usually buy a starter kit but the can of concentrate is usually cheap so best to buy an ale kit more like the style you like to drink! You can even add thinks to basic kits to alter the flavour like elder flower, black treacle etc.

hyperblue

2,800 posts

179 months

Sunday 15th April 2012
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I bought a starter kit at the end of last year, brewed some Woodforde Wherry Bitter and (much to my surprise) it tasted pretty good. I've never brewed before, couldn't believe that it came out alright! Just as well, as I had 40 pints of the stuff to get through hehe

The kit was about £70 from a local home brew shop and comes with everything you need. Just found it online - http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Home_...

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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That is a very similar kit to what I started with! Gona get my forst brew of the year on this week! Australian IPA with a touch of honey added I think!

mike325112

1,070 posts

183 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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My wife bought me a Coopers kit for christmas. I have made the Coopers lager kit that came with it and a John Bull real ale one so far. Both have been very drinkable and a marked improvement on my fathers home brew in the 80's.

I'm going to try a stout next!

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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So these kits... 40 pints sounds like quite a lot for one night.
Does it keep well?
Once you've started do you have to consume quickly or will it last a few weeks?

Bill Carr

2,234 posts

233 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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Start saving bottles now, then buy a capper and caps. I've kept homebrew in bottles for several months and it was fine - indeed, it improved as it was supposed to be bottle-conditioned.

Homebrewing is great fun. I've also had good results with woodfords wherry.

princeperch

7,911 posts

246 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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just make sure you dont over do it with the sugar.

I had a batch literally explode at 3am a couple of weeks ago. I thought that the boiler had blown up at first but went downstairs and the poor old cat was sat there covered in beer which had, a few seconds previously been sitting in 4 plastic coke bottles.

Such was the force when one of them went that it seemed to blow up another bottle and nearly take the cupboard door off its hinges!

I must have got the sugar levels wrong or the bottles just wernt strong enough. That batch had been resting for about 3 weeks.

BarnatosGhost

31,608 posts

252 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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I've just bottled my first brew - a Woodforde's Wherry. I'd say it's good enough, but not great. A pal of mine makes a fantastic pint from the same equipment and ingredients, so I'm confident it can be done.

But that'll have to wait. Wine is next up, starting this week. 30 bottles of Californian Sauvignon Blanc for £42. Takes 4 weeks apparently. I've got an aquarium heater on the way to keep it at the right temperature.

I've yet to find an undrinkable wine, but if it's rubbish, it'll go in cooking and on chips for the next 5 years.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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Ooh! Wine sounds like a better bet to me for homebrewing.
Similar beginners' kits available?

BarnatosGhost

31,608 posts

252 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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LordGrover said:
Ooh! Wine sounds like a better bet to me for homebrewing.
Similar beginners' kits available?
Yes, the basic equipment is shared with brewing beer.

This site: www.brewuk.co.uk is a good place to buy the stuff, and runs a small but very helpful and friendly forum for the inevitable colly-wobbles when something's not doing what you expected it to!


anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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LordGrover said:
So these kits... 40 pints sounds like quite a lot for one night.
Does it keep well?
Once you've started do you have to consume quickly or will it last a few weeks?
In a preasure barrel it will keep a few weeks!

BarnatosGhost

31,608 posts

252 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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MonkeyMatt said:
LordGrover said:
So these kits... 40 pints sounds like quite a lot for one night.
Does it keep well?
Once you've started do you have to consume quickly or will it last a few weeks?
In a preasure barrel it will keep a few weeks!
As long as you keep it clean and don't open the top or let air glug in through the tap it'll keep for months. You'll need a C02 canister and pressure-valve cap for the vessel to fill the air gap at the top as you drink down the beer to prevent it glugging.

Or bottle it and it'll improve for 6 months and then keep for ages. (Or so I read)...

motco

15,918 posts

245 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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BarnatosGhost said:
MonkeyMatt said:
LordGrover said:
So these kits... 40 pints sounds like quite a lot for one night.
Does it keep well?
Once you've started do you have to consume quickly or will it last a few weeks?
In a preasure barrel it will keep a few weeks!
As long as you keep it clean and don't open the top or let air glug in through the tap it'll keep for months. You'll need a C02 canister and pressure-valve cap for the vessel to fill the air gap at the top as you drink down the beer to prevent it glugging.

Or bottle it and it'll improve for 6 months and then keep for ages. (Or so I read)...
I wish I could keep 40 pints for months! It gets filtered through my kidneys long before that.

This place Art of Brewing has a good range and their service is very good. I have been brewing ale since the mid-seventies and can assure you that kits are capable of making really quaffable beer comparable withe pub beer. Cleanliness is paramount.

One I made earlier:



Edited by motco on Monday 16th April 15:46

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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motco said:
Cleanliness is paramount.
yes
I've read this before. Proper, rigorous sterilization is vital.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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Anybody make beer from scrath on here?

kiteless

11,682 posts

203 months

Monday 16th April 2012
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LordGrover said:
Ooh! Wine sounds like a better bet to me for homebrewing.
Similar beginners' kits available?
Well, you don't need kits as such.

We've been making "hedgerow" wines for three years now (by hedgerow, I mean dandelion, clover flower, gorse flower, elderberry, wild cherry, wild plum etc), and the basics are:

Demijohns
Airlocks
Bucket
Muslin
Yeast
Yeast Nutrient
Citric acid
Campden tablets
Finings

The last five ingredients can usually be found in most Tesco stores.

The recipes we use are from this book by Dorothy Wise:



Although we wind back the sugar content as most of the recipes in the book are rather sweet.

Bob the Planner

4,695 posts

268 months

Tuesday 17th April 2012
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MonkeyMatt said:
Anybody make beer from scrath on here?
Yep - been making beer and hedgerow wines for almost 30 years. I usually use recipes from David Line's "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" Its been updated since the 1978 version I have but there are some cracking beers in there.

The last stout I made came out a bit wrong and ended up at 1066 OG - renamed as "Hastings Stout". I made that in March last year and still have a couple of bottles left - tried one weekend before last and it was as good as last June.

I bottle my beers as I like a bit of variety in the cupboard and usually have lager, cider, dark beers and ginger beer in stock.

Ginger beer comes in 2 varieties - 3% for the summer and 5% for winter as 5% is too strong for an afternoon in the garden.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 17th April 2012
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Bob the Planner said:
Yep - been making beer and hedgerow wines for almost 30 years. I usually use recipes from David Line's "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" Its been updated since the 1978 version I have but there are some cracking beers in there.

The last stout I made came out a bit wrong and ended up at 1066 OG - renamed as "Hastings Stout". I made that in March last year and still have a couple of bottles left - tried one weekend before last and it was as good as last June.

I bottle my beers as I like a bit of variety in the cupboard and usually have lager, cider, dark beers and ginger beer in stock.

Ginger beer comes in 2 varieties - 3% for the summer and 5% for winter as 5% is too strong for an afternoon in the garden.
Im tempted to start making from scrach when Ive got some more room. I have experimented with concentrate quite succesfully so far.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Tuesday 17th April 2012
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Chatting to a few chaps in the boozer yesterday, they say wine making is rather more time consuming and takes more effort/skill/experience than beer. Maybe I should know my limits and start with an off-the-shelf beer kit and see how I progress.