Basic equipment guide for making cheap homemade wine

There are many many different types of wine-making kits available on the market, but how much of this stuff do you actually need?

Obviously if you are going to start mashing your own fruit there will be extra (and more complicated!) chemicals and ingredients you will need, but for THE MOST BASIC WINE, this is what i would recommend.

A demijohn (To ferment the wine)
An airlock with rubber bung (To stop contamination whilst brewing)
Campden tablets (To kill the yeast at the end)
Yeast (To turn the sugar into alcohol)
Yeast nutrient (To feed the yeast and help it ferment quickly)
Steriliser (To make sure all your equipment is totally bacteria-free)
2 metres thin syphon tube – with plastic tap (To bottle the finished product)
A plastic funnel (To put the juice into the demijohn)
A measuring jug (to dissolve the sugar before adding to demijohn)
A solid rubber bung (for the end)

This list is kept to the bare minimum, and is all you would need if making wine from basic fruit juice ingredients.

The only other piece i would add to this (for a beginner) is a hydrometer, which is what you use to measure the amount of sugar in the mix before it starts fermenting.

The amount of sugar measured by the hydrometer is what will determine the final percentage of alcohol in your finished product.

With that lot (which would probably only set you back around £20) you could follow my recipe to make my Cheap Homemade Strawberry Wine.

For all my future recipes i will assume that you have at least this basic equipment.

There are many other ingredients you could buy if you decided to go into wine-making as a serious hobby, but the main thing i would add after this is some more demijohns!

A gallon of my cheap wine is likely to be drinkable after a month, but it always tastes better if you can leave it for two months or longer. If you leave it in the demijohn to clear naturally before bottling (recommended) then you will want to start your next gallon before that one is ready.

Personally i have six demijohns. I suppose i would make two gallons of winea month, and always leave a spare empty demijohn or two to syphon the wine away from the lees before leaving it to settle and mature.

And don’t forget you will also need an extra airlock and bung for each demijohn, and also a few solid rubber bungs for when they are maturing.

So take a trek down to your local home brew supplier and get this basic selection of equipment back to your house, and then try one of my recipes.

You won’t regret it!

Hi, I am an experienced writer and contribute to many websites.
http://justwebsitereviews.com - Site Reviews
http://justhomebrewtips.com How to make your own beer and wine at home
http://justdiettips.com A collection of articles about weight loss and dieting

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/basic-equipment-guide-for-making-cheap-homemade-wine-1470402.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

How to make a gallon of cheap strawberry wine

I like to make many different types of homemade wine, but this is one of my particular favourites. I have made this with real strawberries, but they are very very expensive when out of season, so take note of my very cheap ingredients, but the taste is exactly the same as with real strawberries.

So here is you shopping list:

2 litres of red (or purple) grape juice. Make sure it is pure. We hate additives!

1 small (500ml) bottle of strawberry sauce (You know, the type you squirt over your ice-cream)

1 kilo of sugar

That’s it!  At my local Asda or Tesco that would normally set me back about £3.70. If you pay more you have been ripped off.

Now i am going to assume that you have all the necessary tools for the job. i.e. Demijohn, steriliser, airlock, funnel, yeast and yeast nutrient, etc. If not then see my recipe for apple wine that i published earlier.

You would have sterilised the demijohn in preparation of course, so first of all you place the funnel into the demijohn and pour the two litres of pure red grape juice into it.

Then you take the sugar and fill up a measuring  jug and pour on boiling water. You must stir it vigorously. This is called changing it into inverted sugar, which is what the yeast feeds on. When it is totally dissolved you pour it into the demijohn. Repeat until the whole kilo of sugar is added to the juice.

Next comes the strawberry syrup. This also needs to have boiling water added to it, and stir as if your life depended on it. Add the resulting solution to the demijohn as well, and you should have about 3.5 litres of liquid in there by now. Don’t worry if it is more  or less.

Now you need to cover the top of the demijohn and give it a good swirl around to mix it up well, and to take the heavy sugar off the bottom.

You are nearly there now. Add enough water to take it to about 4 litres, give it another shake, and then add your teaspoon of Super Wine Yeast. Stick the airlock on top and leave it in a warm place.

In a few days, when the initial ferment has calmed down, you go back and add a couple of teaspoons of yeast nutrient to the solution. It’s probably best to do this in the sink or bath as occasionally it can bubble like hell for a few minutes. When it has settled down again, top up the demijohn with cold water up to the gallon mark, give it a shake, and then put it away again for at least a month, or until it has at least stopped bubbling. (Don’t be so impatient!)

When you can’t handle the suspense any more (and it has stopped bubbling) the sensible thing to do would be to siphon it off into another demijohn, leaving all the lees in the bottom. If you don’t have another one spare, don’t worry. Add a crushed Campden tablet to the mix to kill off any active yeast that is left, and then leave it in a cupboard somewhere out of the light and heat.

You COULD bottle it just a couple of days later if you wanted, but i recommend you leave it as long as possible. After a week it will be nice. After a month it will be excellent. But leave it for three months and you will be amazed at your work of art.

Generally i want to use the demijohn again quite quickly, so after a week i would transfer it to plastic bottles (and have a sneaky glass!) then let it mature in the bottle(s) while i am brewing my next gallon in the demijohn.

There you are. You have made a gallon of strawberry wine for around 60p a bottle. You can’t get better than that!

Hi, I am an experienced brewer and writer, and I contribute to many websites.
http://justwebsitereviews.com - Site Reviews
http://justhomebrewtips.com How to make your own beer and wine at home
http://justdiettips.com A collection of articles about weight loss and dieting

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/how-to-make-a-gallon-of-cheap-strawberry-wine-1465326.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing

How to make cheap Apple Wine at home

November 16, 2009 | By admin In Home Brewing | Comments(0)

Hi everyone, i have to tell you that i am the absolute expert in making cheap wine. I live in England and the price of a bottle of cheap wine is extortionate over here, so if you live in a country like this you need to take careful note of what i am going to tell you.

You can read many articles that tell you that you need ‘this and that’ and all the general paraphanalia that wine-making stores tell you are essential for the job, but from years of experience, i know otherwise. Follow my simple guide and you will have success. Yes, if you are looking for perfection then you can buy all the recommended stuff, but for a simple successful home brewed wine, this is the way to do it.

The basic tools you will need are:

A Demijohn (or two! I have five myself!)

Campden tablets

Yeast (Preferably Super Wine Yeast)

Yeast nutrient

A bottle of bab-bottle steralising fluid

A cheap plastic funnel

An airlock and rubber bung

This lot should cost you less than £10 if you just get the one demijohn. This will be the best investment you have ever made!

Now for the ingredients, which are extremely basic and can be bought from any big supermarket.

For one gallon of Apple Wine you will need:

2 litres of white grape juice

2 litres of cheap apple juice

1 kilo of sugar

Total cost around £3.50 (usually less, shop around)

Now for the hard part (Only joking!)

First off all you sterilise the demijohn with the beby steriliser. Put a cap full in, fill it up, and wait an hour. Rinse it out with cold water and its ready.

You use the funnel to put the two litres of white grape juice into the demijohn

Fill the kettle up, boil it, and (using a container like a measuring jug) pour it on top of the sugar and stir with a fork until it is fully disolved.

Pour sugar into demijohn….. and add another half a litre of boiling water afterwards to raise the temperature a little

This is the time to give it a very good shake and let the sugar mix in with the grape juice

Then you get the Super wine yeast and put one teaspoon into the demijohn. put a little of the sterilised water into the airlocs, and leave it in a warm place for it to ferment. (If you have a starter yeast then follow the instructions on the packet.)

The next day it will have started bubbling. When it is very rigorously bubbling away, add the two litres of apple juice

Give it another good shake to make sure it is well mixed. Replace the airlock.

That is all the preparation finished. Leave it somwhere warm (but not too warm! The rules say around 25 degrees but it’s not that important. The colder it is, the longer it takes. The best rule is if you are comfortable, then the wine is too.

Wait about 6 weeks, or until the wine has stopped bubbling, and it is ready to drink, but the longer you leave it the better it will be. Crush one Campden tablet and add it to the finished wine. In 24 hours it will be ready to bottle.

Use the plastic tube to siphon the liquid into some bottles. Being a cheapskate i use old lemonade bottles, but that is up to you. Just make sure that you are very careful with the siphoning and don’t get too much of the lees from the bottom into the bottle. It is always better to forget about the last half-inch rather than get in into your drinking supply.

Taste it to assure yourself you have made a masterpiece, but no matter how good it tastes, always remember it will be much better after setting in the bottle for a few weeks, so try to be patient.

And that’s it. You have a gallon of excellent wine for just £3.50. And you are an expert at making cheap homemade wine!

Now make another one after you have cleaned out the demijohn.

I am a very experienced home brewer and make many different types of beer and wine, so have made my own homebrew website called http://justhomebrewtips.com.
And i also have a Website Reviewing site called http://justwebsitereviews.com
I hope you like my writing (and my wine!)
Pat

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/how-to-make-cheap-apple-wine-at-home-1461357.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing

Why It’s So Easy To Make Beer At Home

July 22, 2009 | By admin In Home Brewing | Comments(0)

Ever thought about discovering how to make beer at home? As any person who visits the types of eateries who flaunt the brass brewing apparatus they generate their individual “house beer” in will inform you, discovering how to produce beer the way these eateries do is both straightforward and a lot of fun when you get used to the home brew recipes and brewing materials available which will allow you to make beer at home.

Clearly it’s not feasible to install the variety of gear the eateries use into an apartment house or most residences, let alone pay for the variety of vast expenditure that comes with creating hefty amounts of beer, but panic not - to make beer at home needs merely a tiny proportion of the gear. Indeed, you’ll be shocked at how easy it truly is to make beer at home with the minimum of gear.

To produce a start with your strategy to make beer at home, all that’s truly required is a little ready-made malt with hops plus a fermenter pot with an airlock (6 gallons in size). Malting grains was a previously difficult and messy method but with the dawn of malt extract in cans it’s now extremely simple.

It is sincerely as easy as this:

Mix up, brew, bottle, enjoy!

The actual combination is done in the fermenter we mentioned previously - warm water, malt supplies, add cold water followed by the yeast. It is comparable to a bread machine but even simpler. The brewing itself is done by the yeast so no extra labor for you followed by simply packaging the product and savoring the outcome!

The additional advantage to deciding to make beer at home instead of buying commercial ales as well of the sense of accomplishment and the enjoyment of it, is the huge money savings you can produce. 6 gallons of your preferred formula will cost you between 20 and thirty bucks. Contrast that to the commercial brands and let me know which is most price effective!

Last but most certainly not least is the flavor! Home brewed beer just tastes better - why else do the eateries who make their own do so much more business than the places who simply churn out the bulk fashioned stuff you can get at the store? It is because their beer is freshly made, fresh tasting and revitalizing.

You can produce that beer manually and taste the distinction by discovering how to make beer at home.

Want to learn how to brew beer the easy way? Catch your free guidebook to homebrewing thirteen easy and tasty recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers at http://www.easyhomebrewinfo.com

Ready to get started brewing your own delicious beers the effortless way? Grab your free manual to homebrewing thirteen effortless and delicious recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers at http://www.easyhomebrewinfo.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/why-its-so-easy-to-make-beer-at-home-1056913.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing

How To Make Homebrew Beer And Ale The Fun Way!

June 23, 2009 | By admin In Home Brewing | Comments(0)

Have you ever visited one of those restaurants that display their own beer brewing equipment? You know, those big brass machines that make the restaurant a favorite place to hang out with your friends?

Have you ever wished you could brew your own beer like the ‘big boys’ do? Well, you can, and it’s really easy to do.

Yes - I can guess what you’re thinking: There is no way your going to fit a brewing machine that big inside your home or apartment - let alone afford the cost! Don’t worry - home brewing does not require such big equipment - in fact, you would suprised how little the homebrewer needs in order to make a fantastic brew.

All you need is one six-gallon fermenter jar with an airlock plus some ready-made malt with hops, and you’re all set to start to make hombrew. You can get the malt extract in a can, so there’s no more messy and difficult malting of your own grains.

Just mix, brew, bottle, and drink! The mixing is done in the fermenter – you just need hot waterand a malt kit, add in cold water, and then some yeast. It’s even easier than adding making bread in a bread machine. The brewing is done by the yeast, while you sit back and take it easy. The last step is bottle your beer, and soon you can enjoy that first golden sip.

Making your favorite types of beer at home just became a lot of fun - and as an added benefit, you save a lot of money over drinking the commercial brands. You can brew up six gallons of your favorite nectar for about $20-30.

And did I mention how much better a homebrew tastes when compared to the beers you can buy? I mean, why do you think these restaurants that offer their beers fresh on tap do better than those larger chains that serve the regular stuff you could buy at the store?

Because the beer is fresh, crisp, and more refreshing than anything else.

Ready to get started making your own delicious beers the easy way? Get your free Homebrew Guide to homebrewing 13 easy and tasty recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers. Go to http://www.besthomebrewguide.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/how-to-make-homebrew-beer-and-ale-the-fun-way-987217.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing

Home Beer Brewing Can Be Fun!

June 20, 2009 | By admin In Home Brewing | Comments(0)

I know that I love to go inside an old-fashioned pub with lots of dark wood and even more great atmosphere to have a great beer. Have you ever noticed that many of these places have those big beer machines that add to the atmosphere and make it a favorite place to hang out with your friends?

Do you ever wish you could make your own beer? Do you think it is difficult or time consuming? Well, you can do it, and it’s really quite simple to do.

I bet I know what you’re thinking: There is no way you can fit a big, beautiful brass brewing machine inside your home or apartment - let alone afford such an expense! You probably are right on that one, but don’t worry - home brewing does not require such a large apparatus. In fact, you’d probably be amazed at how little the homebrewer needs in order to make a crowd-pleasing beer or ale.

To start with you need just one six-gallon fermenter jar with an airlock, and some ready-made malt with hops, and you’re basically set to go. Now that you can get the malt extract in a can, there’s no more messy and difficult malting of your own grains. Nowadays, it’s just that easy.

Simply put - mix, brew, bottle, and enjoy. Mixing is done in the aforementioned fermenter – just hot water, malt kit, add some cold water, and then yeast. It’s easier than making bread in a bread machine (and that is pretty darn easy). Next, the brewing is done by the yeast (that hard working yeast – thank you!). Then, you bottle your delicious brew, and soon you can enjoy that first tasty sip.

As an added benefit, once you have bought the basic equipment, you save a lot of money by home brewing instead of buying commercial brands. You can brew up six gallons of your favorite ale for about $25 AND have a lot of fun doing it!

By the way, did I mention how much better a homebrew tastes when compared to the beers you can buy? Once you try the home brew, you will be spoiled and not want to go back to the canned, commercial variety again. But hey, there is nothing wrong with being spoiled.

Tracey is a feisty Irish redhead, loving the homebrewing world. Ready to get started brewing your own delicious beers the easy way? Get your free guide to homebrewing with 13 easy and tasty recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers. Go to:
http://www.QuickHomeBrew.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/home-beer-brewing-can-be-fun-980596.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing

5 Reasons You Start Home Brewing Beer with a Homebrew Kit

April 27, 2009 | By admin In Home Brewing | Comments(0)

Although it is true that people have been making beer and wine in their homes since at least 10,000 BC (that we can prove — maybe much earlier) the modern notion of home brewing is very new. 

Chances are that your father did not make beer at home. 

Modern home brewing grew out of the dissatisfaction people started to feel in the early 1980’s with the small selection of mostly bland beers.  Craft beers, micro brews and brew pubs came on the scene to give people a choice of good taste.

Home brewing also made it’s modern appearance.

And with the good also came the bad.  No doubt a lot of bad.

Because, like any craft or art, brewing beer is difficult.  Not once you learn, but to get started.

If you did not learn home brewing at your fathers knee then chances are you have no idea where to start to make beer at home. 

Enter the Home Brewing Kit.

Home Brew Kits are all-in-one solutions to making your first batch of beer.  The best ones come complete with the proper equipment, all the ingredients and detailed instructions to remove all the guesswork. 

If you don’t want to wait through several months of trial and error for your first decent batch of beer, then a beer making kit may be right for you.

Besides giving you a drinkable batch of home brew the first time, home brewing kits also have these things going for them:

1. They are a cheap way to test the hobby.  Hey, even if you love the taste of beer, making it at home may not be right for you.  Why sink $1,000’s into expensive equipment and learn you hate it.  Very good home brew kits can be found on the internet for under $100 and many lesser ones run 1/2 that.

2. Home brewing kits come with EVERYTHING you need — a big plus for the beginner.  The right ingredients and the right equipment are all included.  Not last minute runs to the store when you find you have forgotten an essential component.  Not ruined batch because you used the wrong pail or your airlock did not work.

3. Kits can teach you the process of brewing that you can expand upon if and when you want to buy more serious equipment.

4. Home Brew Kits are designed to do exactly what they say they will and exactly what they need to do and come with detailed step by step instructions to help you along.  No guessing if you have the right piece or if these hops or grains will work for this beer or that.  Plenty of time to experiment later.

Which brings up one of the best reasons to use a home brew kit to make beer at home:

5. The best home brew kits can grow with you.  They are great for starting out — all the ingredients to make your first batch or two of beer — but then you can easily reuse the equipment for you future batches.  Find new recipes and try different styles.  Your kit is ready to perform.

Make sure that if think you may want continue using the kit to make more beer you get a quality kit from the beginning.

These are just a few of the reasons a home brewing kit is best for the beginner. 

It is easier than ever to get started in the fun and delicious hobby of Home Brewing. Best Home Courses offers a Free 43 Page Ebook called, naturally, Home Brewing to help you. Learn the history of beer, whether home brewing is legal in your state, the best ways to get started and best places to get all the equipment and recipes you’ll ever need — including the best place on the web to get the best Home Brew Kits.

It’s totally free to download. No purchase required. Just click and get.

Download your Free Home Brewing Starter’s Guide at Best Home Courses.

Mark Hester

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-brewing-articles/5-reasons-you-start-home-brewing-beer-with-a-homebrew-kit-885134.html

Thanks for stopping by! Please share with us your home brewing experiences, ideas and tips.

Filed under: Home Brewing