Starting brewing - exciting!

[Doive]

A friend of mine recently was having a clearout, and sent me a photo of 'big glass jars' and if I wanted them? Turned out to be half a dozen gallon demijohns - yes please! Perfect condition. Been reading with interest all the threads here, and so invested in all the extra bits you all have used for making wine.

Spent a few hours last weekend picking hundreds of dandelions, and bought about a stone of very cheap parsnips, so looks like the first brews on will be parsnip and dandelion. Looking forward to experimenting! Also bought a stout brew kit, so that should be an easy start and see how it goes. Roll on the weekend

[Hazel at the Hill]

Well done, Doive - result!

Although my first go at home brew was parsnip wine (which is quite precise to make, and needs about 12-18 months to mature), I would suggest the easiest and quickest for a tasty result (and to get the knack of it) is fruit tea-bag wine.

[Vince G]

Welcome to the wonderful world of homebrew!

Elderflower is a nice easy one....if ever the weather encourages them to flower. Comes out nice and fizzy and mine last year came out at about 7.5%. A very refreshing late summer brew - half pint glass, a bit of ice and a dash of lemonade to take the edge off. Very nice. Don't put yeast in it though, it'll ferment all by itself, and adding yeast will make a horrendously dry brew, which is nice in some brews, but you want a little sweetness left in elderflower.

[alldigging]

I made mint wine and will be making some more shortly!

[BigJim]

I made my first wine with rosehips last autumn, and have been pleasantly surprised so it's now disappearing fast. Vegetable wines might be a bit tricky for me though.

As for beer, the kits with the two tins that don't need sugar/spray malt added are worth the extra money in my humble opinion (Woodfordes Wherry is one of my favourites).

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

I'd second Hazel's suggestion, you can get your technique sorted and learn your tools in a more controlled and reliable way. I would also recommend basic supermarket juice recipes - not a lot can go wrong and you can get a feel for using a hydrometer etc...

Introducing real fruit and veg does bring in more variables, but it helps if you have a bit of confidence in what you are doing.

Another suggestion would be a supermarket Apple juice and white grape juice wine with a few elderflowers in the top for the flavour (you really do not need many).

That said, whatever you do - enjoy it.

[ohbeary]

Doive, have a look at this link, lots of helpful advice and some good tutorial links.
Home Wine and Beer Making Forum - General Category

[Hazel at the Hill]

Doive, have a look at this link, lots of helpful advice and some good tutorial links.
Home Wine and Beer Making Forum - General Category

A good link, OB, thank you.

Of particular value is the shopping link - yeast tubs, I see, are v good value, even mail order. Especially as Wilko now only sell yeast sachets, not tubs for some bizarre reason.

[Linzy]

Good luck, we crush and press apples every year to start a rather large batch of cider and im planning an elderflower concoction this year

[alldigging]

A good link, OB, thank you.

Of particular value is the shopping link - yeast tubs, I see, are v good value, even mail order. Especially as Wilko now only sell yeast sachets, not tubs for some bizarre reason.

Did you ask them why?

[Two_Sheds]

Spent a few hours last weekend picking hundreds of dandelions

Well, we all do that, ONCE !

My dandy wine wasn't that nice, but you may do better than me. It's all learning experience anyway. I'd highly recommend you start with the Fruit Teabag Wine, it's a good 'un.

and a top tip: add a handful of (sterilised) fruit (rasps are in abundance around here late summer) towards the END of fermentation, to give the wine a bit more bouquet & flavour.

[Doive]

Right, home from work this evening and unpacked all the brewing stuff like a kid at Christmas first brew is now sitting in the fermenter, hopefully starting off. Opted for a cheat, a stout beer brew kit with handy instructions. Meticulously cleaned and sterilised everything, so hopefully it will succeed. Let's see

[Doive]

Off to a flying start. Parsnip wine tackled first, followed the recipe and made the error of adding too much sugar, ended up with a SG off the scale of the hydrometer, around 1.030. Will likely end up with a strong, sweet wine. Took a fair while to get going as well once the yeast was added. Tasted quite foul too, like really sweet strong cold tea. I hope the alcohol improves it...

Second on the list was the dandelion, but this time calculated the sugar required to make a brew strength of 12.5%, starting SG was more like 1.090. Must tasted good, and started almost straight away when the yeast and nutrient were added. Both airlocked now and sitting in a warm room, bubbling 1-2 times a second. Dandelion is settling out nicely but still very cloudy. Looking forward to next weekend to see progress!

[Closet Brewer]

I'm loving this thread!

The first time I made parsnip wine I followed the recipe... the SG turned out to be off the scale too. Depending on what yeast you used (I use young's "super yeast") you'll probably be OK. Mine fermented down to SG 0.995 and an ABV of around 18%! It was foul at first, but after sitting for a year it had mellowed, almost like a dry sherry.

Have fun, keep us updated!

[Doive]

Well both brews are still bubbling away merrily, and smelling quite good through the airlock. Lots of bubbles rising up the sides of the demijohns, so still some way to go I feel. Decided to try a couple of 'quick' brews using fruit juices, I've read of good results using this method in five or six days - set them off only an hour ago, and already they are starting to bubble nicely. Also managed to land another 12 demijohns from ebay for £16 - not a bad haul. Picked them up tonight, so in future I can leave things to mature while making fresh stuff without bottling it.