Wine or Beer brewing??

moblee said:

Beer sounds good though.

Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

I used to brew my own beer all the time, in the days when Rita and I were skint, (looks like those days are returning), but using kits rather than the raw ingredients. I started off using the plastic 2 and 3 litre plastic coke bottles, which were great for the bottling and final fermentation, ie, pressure resistant.
The only problem was that once opened, I had to decant the whole bottle into a large jug in order to stop the sediment affecting the beer...................which meant drinking the blooming lot. I had a wee Scot's neighbour at the time who worked in Strike Command's Intelligence Centre. She used to come round and help me quaff all this decanted beer. She left our house feeling "not so intelligent". :lol: :lol: :lol:

I then progressed onto Grolsch bottles, and then onto pressure barrels for my draught brews. I have had some folks say that my beer was better than some stuff they had drank in pubs. 8O I can only assume that hey must have been drinking Boddingtons, (Strangeways inmates urine). :lol:

I once did a 24 pint Barley Wine, and made it up to a 30 pint kit. It was lovely. I found that the Boots kits were very good.
Whatever route you go down Phil, everything must be meticulously clean and sterilised, otherwise you'll lose the blooming lot.
The initial layout is soon covered by the lower costs of a decent pint.

Don't buy bottles and crown corks etc. Try the smaller pop bottles first.

If you need any more info, just shout.

All the best if you go ahead with the "project". Can I be an executive taster please? :lol:

Jock.

home brewing

To all you wine and beer drinkers out here, self included, it really is a piece of p*** to brew your own. I have been making beer for about twenty years and only slowed down because Boots stopped selling their beer kits and I have not found a decent replacement. Now wine making is something else, it is not rocket science to brew from a wine kit and there are good 'Home Brew sites' here on the net. I buy my kits from a supplier in Stockport and it is delivered straight to my front door. I have made lovely Merlot and currently Patty and I enjoy an Italian Barolo and it works out at £1-00 a bottle to brew, ready in about three weeks,,,,,, ready to drink, but would improve with ageing, ( so I'm informed ) but it goes down a treat after a couple of days ,,,, Cheers, Jack & Patty, Cornwall

Mobalee

There are a few members of this forum who have tasted my concoctions over the last couple of years and needless to say some were liked and some others were also liked. I have only made wine for about 40 years (don't do beer) and have fermented wine from about 10% Vol up approx 20% vol which is fairly strong similar to alco pops or a good liqueur.
I started by fermenting veg, fruit from the hedgerows etc. then moved onto kits, my last kit was a grape concentrate that made 5 gallons of a Californian Shiraz with a slight oak flavour, which worked out at £1.30 a bottle of gorgeous wine.
It is true you need a little patience. but once you ferment in 5gal (23l) batches it doesn't take long to build up a cellar and most kits these days can be drunk within weeks but will improve also with ageing.

Good luck if you take the hobby up as I and others have enjoyed my offerrings over the years.

Bill

In my younger days I had just Two Hobbies: Making Home Brew & Drinking Same!!

Seriously, one of the best wines I ever made was from Rose petals.
I collected a bucketful from a garden where no insecticides had been applied and I picked only those petals which were just about to drop anyway.

I was delighted to eventually discover that a little secondary fermentation had naturally ocurred. Result = Pink champagne!

Rice & Raisin was one of the quickest to ferment and this can be enjoyed, clear, within a month!

Lots of recipes about, although I regret I kept none....

Try it, its well worth a go.

Bob L