Scott Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm a little bit late this year but I finally got my homebrew kit out of the loft and set about going at it. Last year I went with a Mexican Cerveza. Surprisingly it came out drinkable, but a little bit tasteless, so it looks like I'm improving year by year. I had 3 bottles one night, when drinking with friends, and it blew my socks off. I passed some of it around and, from what we can piece together, it was a good night. This year I have decided to go with a cider. The pack I bought makes 40 pints at 5abv or 32 pints at 7abv. Rather than being greedy I decided to go with around 36 pints to split the difference. I've also decided to try spring water rather than tap water, just to see what the outcome is more than anything, and I've gone with brewing sugar rather than castor. It's now up the loft, hopefully it'll be bubbling away by tomorrow Anyone else doing it this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 i have done it before, you can also make some punch thing with rasons and left over tea! yes you heard me right left over tea, now i think this was a australian thing so there is no milk in the tea i cant remember how to do it as well but i did make some that was drinkable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm not this year but I need to start again. You'll find a massive difference with the brewing sugar. Top tip is not to fill the bottles up with too much sugar for the secondary fermentation. Or else you'll end up with exploding cider rather than just fizzy cider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 for the love of......... please dont work on your car after testing your home brew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 It sounds like he cud run his car on the stuff. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I used to be in to this too. Had a book called something like "brewing beers like those you buy", and when I followed the recipies exactly using the exact ingredients ie. exact variety of hops, particular types of malt etc it turned out pretty good. But, it was a lot of effort, mess and decided in the end it wasnt worth it. But it was fun at the time, how I enjoyed sparging my wort. oh look: http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/colchesterhomebrewshop/prod_575176-Brewing-Beers-Like-Those-You-Buy-Dave-Line.html Still available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 God I remember making homebrew when i was at college - it was like rocket fuel! We'd have a pint bottle each before going to the pub and by the time we'd walked there (about half a mile) we were so bladdered from the single bottle that we used to turn round and stagger home! Get some piccies of your brew up mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I've still got some I made earlier in the year, it's more akin to a fizzy light beer than a Lager, but is surprisingly nice for my first effort I'd really like to make my own Whisky at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 what other booze can you make your self? vodka,brandy? dont whisky take 10 years dont think i could wait that long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 what other booze can you make your self? vodka,brandy? dont whisky take 10 years dont think i could wait that long You can make anything you like. You can literally fill it full of umbongo, add some yeast and give it a week to ferment. Anything with sugar in it can be made alcoholic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 sweet im gonna look into this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManwithSupra Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 I have a pear tree at the end of my garden, A couple of years ago my wife made some pear wine, turned out to be pretty strong and tasted like cherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L18msy Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Oh yeah! Party at Scotts! Need to try some of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Bubbling away nicely there. Do you have a hydrometer to check the strength? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Bubbling away nicely there. Do you have a hydrometer to check the strength? I do but I didn't bother with it. It being a kit means that it's pretty much an exact science. Anywhere between 4 and 8 I'll be happy with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Ah Dammit I have not managed to get my brew on in time for chrimbo I've bought the brewing sugar this time around too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Ah Dammit I have not managed to get my brew on in time for chrimbo I've bought the brewing sugar this time around too. Me neither. I will probably open a bottle at Christmas to see what I have but it won't be properly ready for a couple of weeks after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
add heywood Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Would like to try this myself sometime. My mate got a brew bag from a shop in Leigh, you just added water to it and left it for about 4 weeks and beer came out of it... It was dreadfull, we ended up throwing half of it away after playing dares with it and using the rest for beer pong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I forgot to update this.... I'm not really sure what happened this time but everything clicked into place and I made an amazing alcoholic beverage. Now, it says on the tin of stuff that I threw into the barrel that it is cider.... and I guess it does taste a bit like it, but to me it's just appley booze. Regardless it's pretty damn good and I've been rattling through it over the last few weeks. My Wife loves it, my friends love it and most importantly I can get smashed off of it. I've just ordered my next batch as I'm halfway through my current stock. If I get more of the same I'll be a happy bunny. Pear cider is the poison this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 OOO which can is it? Linky please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 The stuff I went with for the current batch is..... http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Brew_Buddy_Cider_Kit.html The one I've went for for the next batch is...... http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_625&products_id=3485&osCsid=263ab18f8960936663194ea2e23fd37b The reviews on it are excellent and it makes for a slightly stronger brew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 New stuff arrived today. I also got a bottle tree and a bottle cleaner, to save hassle with preparing to bottle. This new stuff looks the part (on the rocks), comes with fruit concentrate sepeartely for once the fermentation is done. It's a nice touch, I guess to put the flavour back into the batch. Ingredients for this lot are... On the Rocks Pear Cider kit 1kg Brewing Sugar 0.3kg Regular Sugar 1 pack of coopers carbonation drops (exact measure for each bottle) 22 litres of fresh bottled water I only have 8 pints of the initial brew left so I'll need to make it last me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm all set and going for it tomorrow (Today now really). I'm just wondering if anyone is interested in doing this and wants a little "how I do it" guide kinda thing? I have absolutely no clue how to do this all properly so it literally would be the blind leading the blind, but the fact that I got a decent brew the last time might mean that I'm maybe onto something. I could do without the hassle so only ask if you genuinely are interested in giving this stuff a go Sorry for the short notice but I don't hang about once I have all the stuff waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I've got 3 days off work now so I think I will hose out the barrel and get a brew on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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