Hoop’-la Department.
This is the small print where I deny everything and refuse to take any responsibility for anything. Any opinions given should not be taken as facts & any facts given should not be taken as opinions. As an extra precaution all the really small print is in white text, this is copyrighted & so any smug legal gits must pay me a big fat fee before adopting this practice!
E. & O. E.
Copyright www.petespintpot.co.uk 2008. First published 17 October 2008, last updated 26 June 2010.
Pete’s Pint Pot is dedicated to the home production & sensible drinking of beer, wine, cider & meads plus a little bit of china painting & a few bits of photograph tampering.
If you are affected by any of the articles on this site or any of the issues raised in them, I truly feel sorry for you.
Finally the sanity clause: As Chico Marx
famously said to brother Groucho,
“Everybody knows there ain't no Sanity Clause!”
WARNING:- Some pages may contain music!
Do not enter this site if you are allergic to nuts!
* General
* “Diabetic” Beer & Wine Recipes
* Glasses
* Pete’s Pint Pot Problem Page
* Saints
* Hops
* Alligator wine & Other Recipes
WORK IN
PROGRESS
So please be patient
f you are competent with a tin-opener, can boil a kettle & are au fait with the kitchen scales, then you can home brew. Another very desirable quality is patience, as generally it takes weeks, usually months, before the finished product is at its’ best.
The language of the home brewer will need to be learnt, it has just a few words & expressions in its’ lexicon, many of which sound very dubious, the majority of these words & their explanations can be found at www.yobrew.co.uk/glossary.php or in my Glossary section.
To save too much repetition I give lots of links to various bits on Pete's Pint Pot & possibly on other sites, hopefully you won’t find them too tedious.
Your local home brew shop should be a good source of advice but remember, it is their job to flog you as much expensive stuff as possible, it is your job to be a cheapskate. My “Home Brew Economics” section may help here.
It is easiest to start with making kits, many people have no desire to progress any further from here as they get good results & lots of satisfaction with the minimum of fuss, if I ever get a kit that doesn’t give better results than the expensive swill served in most pubs then I am disappointed. As expected, the more expensive beer & wine kits, the ones that need no additional sugar, tend to give the best results, they are also easier to make as there is no need to fiddle around with any sugar. BUT, for your first attempts at least, you may feel safer with products at the cheaper end of the market. Read a few relevant kit reviews before buying, there are several web sites that give this information & remember that the reviewer’s tastes will probably not be the same as yours.
Time is an important factor to consider before starting out in this hobby, although in the case of kits, the manufacturers have done a lot of the time-consuming & hard work for us & so all we have to do is make & consume the stuff.
Beer & wine kits that need no extra sugar can be easily made in less than 1½ hours, including the mopping & cleaning-up during & after production, for a recipe that calls for the addition of some sugar we can safely allow an extra ½ hour. We can virtually forget about our brew until fermentation ceases, typically this takes around 4 or 5 days for a beer & a couple of weeks for a wine. If an intermediate racking stage is added following fermentation then allow an hour for this. If this additional stage is omitted then the bottling takes place now, but if it is performed we cam leave the beer for a about a week for the some of the sediment to settle or for a wine we can keep it for a month or three to mature. Bottling, to me, is very tedious & seems to drag on for hours but in reality 1½ hours would normally be be more than enough. Adding this lot up gives three or five & a half hours in total to produce six bottles of wine or around 20 litres of beer.
The biggest time problem is the long wait between making & supping your stuff, this can be several months but drinking it too soon could put you off for life.
The man shown hanging around wasting time in the icon for this section is Harold Lloyd in a still from his film “Safety Last”, released in the USA in the 1st of April 1923.
(A cheap-skates guide)
A Few Sums The Next Step Running Costs What Next?
When I first seriously contemplated making my own beers, wines & ciders I had four main concerns:-
1) How much will it cost to produce the goods?
2) Will the taste be acceptable?
3) Would I need lots of expensive equipment?
4) What if I get disheartened & pack it all in?
For the moment we will just consider kits, my answers the above questions are:
1) Cheap beer kits are available for about £8, these need about 1Kg sugar, usually costing less than £1, they will initially produce 40 pts. This equates to less than 23p a pint. “All malt” kits (no sugar required) cost around 50p a pint.
Wine kits start at around £8 for a 4.5l (1gall); these normally require up to 500g sugar, total cost: less than £1.45 a bottle. The best wines come from the better kits available around £11, or about £1.85 a bottle.
2) It is very hard to find a bad kit to-day. If you read the YoBrew Reviews page you will see that the main reasons for buying one product rather than another is largely a question of personal taste and value for money. There are quite a few internet sites that review kits, read these as well for a more balanced overall opinion.
3) Six bottle wine “starter kits” are available from around £20 including a can of grape concentrate (wine kit). As far as I know, all you need to provide are bottles, corks, sugar and, most importantly, a tub of sterilizing powder.
Beer “starter kits” start around £26 including a malt extract kit.
If you buy both a beer & a wine kit you may find that you have some equipment duplication. You may wish to buy your equipment separately.
NOTE: I have never seen a “starter kit” & so my information is automatically very limited. Your friendly neighbourhood home brew shop is a good place to seek further information but be warned, it is their job to sell stuff to you & could take advantage of your vulnerability & flog you £100’s worth of clobber when all you needed could be obtained for £25.
4) Don’t rush into anything; seek advice from the internet, friends & homebrew shops. Buy the minimum of equipment and buy not only a good kit, but a suitable kit, I saw a complete beginner buying a Woodforde’s Admiral’s Reserve kit, nothing wrong with that, an admirable kit, but it is very bitter, I would personally have recommended the Wherry or Great Eastern. For a first time kit I think a lower priced kit may be advisable, just in case anything did go wrong, not that it should, just follow the instructions & you will enjoy the results. Should you not persist with the hobby there are plenty of charity shops willing to re-cycle your old gear, that’s where a few of my demijohns came from, a couple more were kindly donated by friendly ex-brewing/wine making neighbours.
If you wish to start from scratch, the table below shows what I consider to be the minimum equipment to start your own beer & wine making, it assumes that you have basic kitchen equipment such as weighing scales, a measuring jug and a few assorted spoon sizes. The prices given are approximately correct during May 2010 and are generally rounded up to the nearest 50p.
NOTE: Where alternatives are given, only one item is required.
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TYPICAL WINE & BEER KIT INSTRUCTIONS
Here are typical instructions provided with wine & beer kits. | |
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WINE KIT INSTRUCTIONS (4.5 Litres or 6 bottles)
Read thoroughly before making.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE A PLASTIC FERMENTING CONTAINER INSTEAD OF THE TRADITIONAL GLASS VERSION WHICH MAY CRACK IF SHAKEN UNDER PRESSURE. IF YOU WISH TO USE A GLASS FERMENTING CONTAINER, DO NOT SHAKE UNDER PRESSURE.
1. Clean & sterilised all your equipment before starting. Mark your fermenter at 4.5 litres as you will need this in instruction 2, do this using water.
2. Add the grape concentrate to your fermenter. Rinse the container with warm water & add this to your fermenter. Continue adding water (which needs to be between 18-25°C) until the level is just over the 4.5 litre mark. The liquid temperature in the fermenter should be approximately 20-25°C. Make sure the contents are completely mixed, by shaking the container vigorously. If you have a hydrometer take a reading, it should be between 1075-1080.
3. Add the sachet of Bentonite & any oak chippings supplied (optional) with your kit to the fermenter & gently swirl the contents.
4. Sprinkle the sachet of yeast into the fermenter, swirl gently then fit an airlock half-filled with sterilised water.
5. Leave to ferment in a warm place (20-25°C). The best quality wine will be produced at temperatures nearer to 20°C. The fermentation time is dependant on the temperature & should be approximately 8-10 days for whites, 12-15 days for reds, .
6. Fermentation will be complete when hardly any bubbles are going through the airlock (less than one per minute). Check the wine with a hydrometer; it should give the same reading for two consecutive days, if in doubt leave for a day or two longer to make sure. The final gravity should be:-
Red wines 992-994 White/Rose wines 992-996
7. When the fermentation is complete add the sachet of stabiliser (this gives off a gas when mixed with the wine, do not inhale), shake the fermenter for 3 or 4 minutes to remove the carbon dioxide gases. This should be repeated several times (at least 3 times a day for the next 3-4 days) to aid the wine clearing process.
8. Add the sachet of finings to the fermenter, shake for 10 seconds to mix, replace cap & leave for 24 hours. Leave in a cool place to clear, this normally takes 3-7 days.
9. When clear, the wine should be carefully siphoned off the yeast sediment using a siphon tube & plastic tubing, either directly into wine bottles or into another 4.5 litre container. The latter is preferable if you need to sweeten your wine. Wines can be sweetened by adding & dissolving in either sugar or a proprietary wine sweetener. Sugar should be added in 10gm stages, tasting between additions until the desired sweetness is achieved. The wine is ready for drinking immediately, but will improve if matured for several months in a cool place. |
BEER KIT INSTRUCTIONS (23 Litres)
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
1. A food grade plastic or polythene container with a lid & large enough to hold 23 litres. A 25 litre fermenting bin is ideal.
2. About 2m of plastic siphon tubing to siphon the fermented beer into bottles or a barrel.
3. A pressure barrel or bottles sufficient for 23 litres, PET pop bottles are suitable or brown beer bottles with crown corks. DO NOT use non-returnable glass bottles or any that are cracked or chipped.
4. 1 Kg of white granulated or brewing sugar.
5. A proprietary cleaning agent to sterilise your equipment.
OPTIONAL ITEMS
1. A hydrometer is useful for checking the final gravity.
2. A thermometer & a heat tray or BrewBelt.
BREWING
1. Clean & sterilise all equipment with a proprietary sterilising agent then rinse with clean cold water. DO NOT use household detergents & cleaners.
1. Remove the can label & stand the can in hot water for 5-10 minutes, this helps soften the contents.
2. Pour the can contents into the fermenter, rinse the can with warm water & add this to your fermenter. Add 1Kg sugar to the fermenting bin & carefully add about 3 litres of boiling water, stir to dissolve the sugar.
3. Add cold water to bring the volume up to 23 litres & thoroughly stir to make sure all the contents are fully dissolved. If you have a hydrometer the specific gravity should be 1040-1044 & the temperature should be 18-24° C.
5. Sprinkle the sachet of yeast into the fermenter, loosely fit the lid & leave to stand for 4-7 days in a warm place between 18-20°C.
6. Fermentation will be finished when the bubbles cease to rise & the beer starts to clear (if you use a hydrometer, when the gravity will remain constant below 1008). It to important to make sure that fermentation is complete before bottling; otherwise there is a danger of the bottles bursting.
BOTTLING/BARRELLING YOUR BEER This "priming” process carbonates your beer, giving it life & a sparkle. Siphon the beer into bottles or a pressure barrel, add a level teaspoon of sugar to each 500ml bottle, or a maximum of 85 grams per 23 litre pressure barrel. Dry malt extract may be used instead. Stand bottles or barrel in a warm place for a few days to condition the beer then allow 14 days in a cool place or until the beer has cleared.
More comprehensive information about making beer kits can be found at the Colchester Homebrew & Brewferm web sites. |
By adding up the totals from the relevant columns we can see that for about £19 (£10.50 + £8.50) we can start brewing beer (plus the cost of the kit & any required sugar). Similarly we can do wines & ciders for around £15.50 (£8.50 + £7.00) & the whole lot for about £26 (£10.50 + £8.50 + £7.00). To put this in perspective, if we made 40 pints of beer using an £18 kit, the total outlay would be £37 which is less than £1 a pint. A second or subsequent similar batch would cost only £18 or 45p per pint as there is no more new equipment to buy.
The “mailonline” beer page quotes “Homebrewing equipment is not expensive and you shouldn’t need to spend more than £75.” Approximately four times my estimate (2009 prices) & a beer kit or sterilizer is not included. The (dodgy) instructions include “COOKING THE BEER”! The accompanying photo depicts a glass of murky, almost lifeless beer. Are they trying to put people off home brewing?
Visit www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1080305/Your-step-step-guide-home-brewing.html for a snigger sorry, for more details.
With the "essential equipment" mentioned in the above table, you should be able to make almost every kit available and lots of your own recipes, the beers however, will be limited to those made with hops, malt extracts, crystal, black & chocolate malts & roast barley (this is nowhere as near restrictive as it sounds).
Once you have gained confidence & wish to continue/improve brewing/wine making activities further equipment can be bought:
With the additional fermenting bin, a beer that is nearing the end of its initial fermentation, can be racked (siphoned of all the debris) into the second bin & left for about a week, this allows the beer to “rest” & lets a lot of un-wanted yeast to settle out before bottling, resulting in less sediment in the bottles.
The hydrometer measures the Specific Gravity of your brews & is a good indicator of when fermentation is complete (amongst other things).
A wine that has finished fermentation can be racked into an additional demijohn & allowed to "mature in bulk" for about 3 months, this improves the taste & helps give you "star-bright" wines. Alternatively, if you only have one demijohn, rack the wine into your clean, sterilized bucket while you clean out your demijohn, the wine can then be transferred back for maturation.
The natural progression in beer & wine kit making, assuming of course that you want to take this step, is to make your own “brews” from readily available ingredients. Initially the brewer would probably use malt extract & the winemaker use supermarket fruit juices &, possibly, some tinned or fresh fruits. Cider can easily made from cartons of apple juice but it may be better to try making 4.5 litres initially rather than 23 litres. Our "essential equipment" will be perfectly adequate but a hydrometer will be of great use &, for the beer a colander or sieve (200mm or greater diameter) will be needed for straining the hops, you could possibly find something suitable if you search your kitchen cupboards. The following table is based on "typical" recipes & prices; they may be rounded-up for simplicity.
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ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT | |||||
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BEER ONLY |
BEER WINE & CIDER |
WINE & CIDER ONLY | |||
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Fermenting bin (23l) Beer paddle Bottles (PET recycled “pop” bottles)
Total |
£9.00 £1.50 £0.00
£10.50 |
A new, unused white plastic bucket Sterilizer (100g) or (400g) Plastic tube (2000mm) Siphon Siphon tap Funnel 125mm dia. or so
Total (cheapest option) |
£2.00 £2.00 £4.50 £1.00 £1.50 £1.00 £1.00
£8.50 |
Demijohn (4.5l) glass Plastic Airlock & bung 6 Glass wine bottles (recycled) (for cider use PET bottles) Bottle stoppers (25) (better than corks)
Total (cheapest option) |
£6.50 £1.50 £0.00
£2.50
£7.00 |
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USEFUL ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT | |||||
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BEER ONLY |
BEER WINE & CIDER |
WINE & CIDER ONLY | |||
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Additional fermenting bin (23l) |
£9.00 |
Hydrometer |
£3.00 |
Additional demijohn (4.5l) glass Plastic |
£6.50 |
* 1.5Kg of dry un-hopped malt extract could be used.
** “Incidentals” covers the cost items such as Campden tablets, Bentonite, acids & pectic enzyme etc. wherever used. They are usually bought in small tubs & so it is not really practical to give actual costs.
Running Costs
Apart from the bottles, most of the equipment should last for years but our plastic bins & demijohns will get scratched with normal use & may want replacing say every two years. The plastic tubing gets discoloured with use &, whilst perfectly clean after sterilization, you may wish to replace it after six months or so. A tub of sterilizer will last around a year & the “incidentals” will probably work out at less than £3 per annum.
? .... Changing the font colour/size will not help!
A FEW DO’S & DON’TS:
DON’T tell your mates that you intend to do any home brewing, they will tell you boring tales about “mates of mates” who brewed the strongest beer in the world or that their Granny made wine that was used to fuel the Russian space mission rockets. Worst of all the freeloaders will want loads of free samples!
DO go to your local library & read as many books about the subject as possible but keep an open mind as quite a few would be of more use if all their pages were blank. Visit a few charity shops to see what they have in stock.
DO be careful when buying kits, avoid damaged goods, bulging tins & those that are out of date (a little bit past its’ date should not normally be a problem - use your discretion).
DON’T be tempted to add extra sugar to make stronger brews: the results may put you off home brew for life! If, after a making a couple of beer kits, you wish to modify your next brew then read my Kit Modification page.
DO read all instructions carefully, it’s better than pouring £10 - £20s worth of slops down the drain.
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MATERIAL COSTS | |||||
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BEER ONLY |
WINE ONLY |
CIDER ONLY | |||
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*1.8Kg Malt extract (wet) 1 Kg Sugar (£1/Kg) (inc. primer) (depending on the type) Yeast
Total |
£11.50 £1.00
£3.00
£1.20
£16.70 |
500g Sugar (£0.90/Kg) Yeast **Incidentals
Total |
£3.00 £0.50 £1.20 £0.30
£5.00 |
3l Apple juice 200g Sugar (£1/Kg) (inc. primer) **Incidentals
Total |
£2.50 £0.20
£1.20 £0.30
£4.20 |
Try
Pete’s
Home
Brew
Recipes
The above are typical of “good” instructions supplied with kits, they are designed to be comprehensive yet easy to follow. Any claims that the end product is ready for consumption immediately or in a few weeks are, in my opinion, exceedingly optimistic.
As your knowledge & experience increases you will, no doubt, adapt your own preferred methods of production, options include:
1. Re-hydrating your yeast before adding it to the brew or even making a yeast starter.
2. Rather than mess around with sample jars, always leave your hydrometer in the fermenting wine or beer, it’s much easier.
3. Fermenting beers produce lots of surplus yeast on top of the brew, this can be skimmed off with a brewing paddle/large spoon, especially the mucky, oily looking stuff that forms in the later part of ale fermentation.
