Brewing

[JayJay]

I've been meaning to start brewing for a while now and I've finally gone and ordered the bits

I've bought:
- Two 25 litre fermenting buckets, both with airlocks, one with a tap
- A syphon with a u-bend
- A Stevenson-Reeves hydrometer
- White wine yeast (Youngs all purpose)

I'm starting with apple cider, so I've also bought a juicer to turn all my apples into apple juice (or cider as the Americans call it, hard cider is the alcoholic version). After juicing it'll all be simmered (to kill the wild yeasts), then stuck in the first bucket with the yeast for about 3 weeks, then syphoned over to the second bucket for one - two months to clarify. I'll then mix in a water/brown sugar mix in to the bucket then tap it off for bottling (mixing in the water/sugar before bottling results in sparkling cider as the remaining yeasts interact with the sugar). Once it's bottled I need to let it sit for a while, although I'm not sure how long!? A month or two?

Does anyone have any tips? Anyone else do any homebrewing?

Jay

[David.slough]

My Dad used to make homebrew in the 70's. Just remember not to use screw on caps on the end product bottles. We had many an explosion in the airing cupboard when the leathal juice decided that it wanted out!!

[Ted]

it needs to sit until the first show you attend this year, after sitting it needs sampling by a board of experts in the cider field of which i am the chairman of.
if after sampling it appears okay it needs drinking before dusk as it will go off within 24 hours.

hope this helps as im always willing to help if i can.

[JayJay]

it needs to sit until the first show you attend this year, after sitting it needs sampling by a board of experts in the cider field of which i am the chairman of.
if after sampling it appears okay it needs drinking before dusk as it will go off within 24 hours.

hope this helps as im always willing to help if i can.

I'll do my best to ensure it is tested thoroughly by this board of experts

[indigolemon]

Or at the very least, get arrested smuggling it onto the ferry

[rob quilter]

Could you make some moonshine? Always wanted to try that stuff

[Vtecmec]

I've brewed quite a bit of wine, that usually takes about 6-8 weeks, beer can be done in about 2-3 weeks. Not sure about cider though, I think typically you wait until the liquid goes clear and little gasses can be seen being created. A warmer (and dark) environment will speed up the process significantly.

[JayJay]

We're just going to do a basic batch for now, then maybe next try adding red grape juice As it's probably going to take a month or two before we even get a batch ready to taste we might get some more fermenting buckets and get on brewing some beer as well.

Vtecmec - yeah, once you've got the juice you stick it in the fermenting bucket with the yeast (and any sugar you want to add) and wait until there's no more bubbles in the airlock (usually about 2-3 weeks it seems). After that, if you want clear cider you can syphon it to another fermenting bucket for another month or so. Either way, when bottling you can add some water/sugar mix to make it sparkling. But too much sugar when bottling and POP, it'll explode because the CO2 hasn't got anywhere to escape to! It's the same process as when fermenting in the bucket, but you're not letting the CO2 out. Big breweries just use a CO2 injector instead, muuuch more expensive but you don't need to let the bottles sit for a while and it's a bit safer

So all in about 3-10 weeks start to finish, depending on how you want it.

[Vtecmec]

Should make for a good summer brew.

Make sure you are meticulous when sterilising the equipment before hand, I've had batches go sour because of this. Very disappointing to wait so long for something that's undrinkable.