Brewing

[gunslinger]

Well the time has come to have go at brewing some beer and making some wine,so does anyone have any links for equipment at reasonable prices.
And simple brewing and/or winemaking instructions.

The one important thing for me is not to use a kit,I really want to start from scratch.
Or is this unreasonable ??

Thanks in advance all

GS

 

[Jaysurfer]

I'd start with a kit and then move up!
As with walking and running you have to start with small steps.
I have brewed home made wine and beer my mum always made home made wine and i spent much of my teenage years ****** on the stuff!
Nothing better than homemade crab apple and blackberry wine!

If only i had a leather canten to drink it from!

 

[British Red]

Theres a tutorial of mine kicking about somehwere for Blackcurrant wine - its fairly comprehensive and has photos of all the basic techniques

Red

 

[British Red]

Here you go - theres a fair number of posts but it might help

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=975874&DoReWrite4

Start from "Wild Wines Part 1"

Red

 

[Lordyosch]

Wilkinson's hold a bit of brewing stock, otherwise there'll be a local brewshop somewhere.

ALl you'll need is a couple of brew buckets (about £7 each) a brew kit (about £15 for a nice one) and either some bottles or a barrel.


Jay

 

[Grooveski]

There's a nice simplicity to the recipe my mum taught me:

One gallon of water.
One pound of sugar.
One pound of malt extract.
One ounce of hops.
If your doing 5 gallons you need one one teaspoon of salt and one yeast sachet.

Recently it's got harder to find hops loose. There's something about the vacuum packed ones(more oily or more pollen or something)that's not quite right. Doesn't clear as well and when it gets really cold it clouds up.
It's all drinkable though.

The work is in the cleaning of the bottles. Always rinse them well straight after you pour to make cleaning easier the next time around.

 

[Mooseman1]

this is something i would love to get into again, tried a few brew kits at Uni, as i recall a complete screw up but we drunk it......students.hmm Want to get into wine making now.

 

[Toadflax]

If you want to go really cheap, try something like Nettle Beer (plenty of recipes on the Internet). I did this with a brewing bucket, a siphon, a packet of brewers' yeast, and some screw top lemonade bottles, and of course foraged dandelions and nettles.

Glass bottles scrounged from colleagues /neigbours are free, but for these you'd need a crown corking machine.


Geoff

 

[gregorach]

Recently it's got harder to find hops loose. There's something about the vacuum packed ones(more oily or more pollen or something)that's not quite right. Doesn't clear as well and when it gets really cold it clouds up.
It's all drinkable though.

Oooh, I have to disagree there. Loose hops are rubbish - the alpha acids degrade quickly when exposed to light or air. Vacuum packed hops are fresh, as they should be. It's possible that you've become used to stale hops.

Chill haze is usually nothing to do with the hops - it's caused by soluble proteins in the wort, left as a result of not getting a good enough hot or cold break. I'm brewing exclusively from grain and vacuum packed hops these days, and I get good clear beer. A good hard boil, the correct amount of protafloc or Irish Moss in the last 10 minutes, and rapid cooling are what you need.

Gunslinger - if you want to start brewing beer, I'd recommend starting with kits. It lets you get the basics sorted out first, and requires much less equipment. To brew beer from scratch, you need a mash tun, a hot liquor tun, a boiler and a chiller in addition to a fermenter and a barrel.

 

[Grooveski]

Oooh, I have to disagree there.

I don't know, you can't post anything these days without someone........


Certainly the vacuum packed hops are much fresher, my first couple of brews using them were on the bitter side until I cut down the boiling time a touch.
So you use finings as standard in all your batches? I'd never even thought of putting finings in beer but I guess it's not going to affect anything bar the clearing.

rapid cooling

Now that's interesting. I always put it somewhere relatively warm. Think it came about from forgetting to add the yeast once(with it cooling slower there's a wider timeframe to remember in). Will definately give that a go.

 

[Ozhaggishead]

I just got a home brew kit for christmas now siting here enjoying the fruits of my labour.It's easy and cheap to make your own beer but I think buying a kit and building from there is the way to go mate.

 

[gregorach]

I don't know, you can't post anything these days without someone........

Yeah, yeah...

Certainly the vacuum packed hops are much fresher, my first couple of brews using them were on the bitter side until I cut down the boiling time a touch.
So you use finings as standard in all your batches? I'd never even thought of putting finings in beer but I guess it's not going to affect anything bar the clearing.

Well, I use copper finings (protafloc or Irish Moss) in all my beer. I don't always use secondary finings in the barrel, although I frequently do - mainly just to get it clear quicker. If you're finding your beer over-bitter and reducing boiling time to compensate, it may be that you're not getting a good hot break, which would explain your haze problems. Try going back to a longer boil, but with less hops - an ounce per gallon is really quite a lot for decent fresh hops. Personally, I calculate my hop additions based on IBUs these days, but it's a spreadsheet job rather than the back of an envelope.

Now that's interesting. I always put it somewhere relatively warm. Think it came about from forgetting to add the yeast once(with it cooling slower there's a wider timeframe to remember in). Will definately give that a go.

.

Rapid cooling from the end of the boil to pitching temperature is definitely worthwhile. I use an immersion chiller which gets a 5 gallon batch down from near-boiling to 20 degrees in about 30 minutes. This is very important for getting clarity and especially for avoiding chill haze - you should see the amount of break material that precipitates out. My hop sparge generally takes the temp back up to about 21-22, then the yeast gets pitched. I then allow the whole lot to cool gradually to fermentation temperature, which I usually set at about 19 degrees (lower for Scottish ales). I'm going to need another fridge to control my fermentation temps come summer...

 

[Spaniel man]

If you are anywhere near Exeter, this place is quite good, I've bought a few bits from them, and they are very helpful. Moi zyder turned out luverly!
http://www.quaysidehomebrew.co.uk/index.asp

 

[Grooveski]

Cheers for that Dunc, some mighty fine tips there.

One of my dads pals has a pipe bender and I'm pretty sure he has 15mm guides. Another project for the to-do list.

 

[gregorach]

I made my immersion chiller out of about 10m of 10mm soft copper - the stuff you get for central heating loops. You can wrap that around a demijohn by hand without having to worry about pipe benders.

Gunslinger - don't be put off by all these technicalities, but they're why we all recommend starting with kits. It's not that hard, but it's a lot easier if you take it one step at a time.

 

[locum76]

I'm brewing exclusively from grain and vacuum packed hops these days, and I get good clear beer.

i'll testify to that,

 

[Grooveski]

Another good tip, ta.

10m? Sounds like a job for doing in the carpark of the plumbing store.
Will be making one for the folks as well, they store their beer in the pigsty - it gets even colder than mine does and they've been seeing the same problems.

 

[gregorach]

It comes in a spiral already, all you need to do it tighten it up around a former such as a demijohn.

 

[Grooveski]

Funky

 

[Matt.S]

If you are anywhere near Exeter, this place is quite good, I've bought a few bits from them, and they are very helpful. Moi zyder turned out luverly!
http://www.quaysidehomebrew.co.uk/index.asp

+1, my first batch (40 pints Cooper's pale ale) is coming along well!