19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 My Coopers kit came courtesy of Wilkinsons 1/2 price Father's Day offer. £9.50 including all the fixin's. Bargain. Speaking of things I've only tried because of Wilkos offers... 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). Nasty. The plastic sachet of flavouring you had to chuck into the demijohn at the end of the fermentation was a portent of what was to come. Favourably reviewed on the Wilkos site. Have concluded that people who post homebrew reviews on the Wilkos site ask for nothing more in life than low cost inebriation. Have no problem with that. I've been googling kits before I biy them and reading about them on the proper homebrew forums. Its like TripAdvisor though, youve got to filter the reviews yourself. Done 2 WOWs and a tea bag wine and to be frank they've not been good. But I did buy a proper wilko wine kit when it was half price in Aug. 7 quid for a 6 bottle kit, big tin, no sugar I don't think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) Brewed this straight. (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 I've been googling kits before I biy them and reading about them on the proper homebrew forums. Its like TripAdvisor though, youve got to filter the reviews yourself. Done 2 WOWs and a tea bag wine and to be frank they've not been good. But I did buy a proper wilko wine kit when it was half price in Aug. 7 quid for a 6 bottle kit, big tin, no sugar I don't think. The forum reviews on the Wilko Black Cherry were good. My filtering powers appear to have eluded me on this occasion. I'll revisit my remaining bottles in a few months time. It can make all the difference. As it stands it's not a brew I would share with or give to anyone else, which is my measure of success. I picked up one of those 6 bottle kits and three different 6.8kg (i.e. decent amount of juice, no sugar) 30 bottle kits on clearance in June/July with a view to parking them in a garage for a year or two if they taste any good. I'll be deciding if they taste any good later in Octoclear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuG III Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Been out apple stalking today. Reckon I got a good 20kg if not more. I left it a bit late though. I reckon within a 15min walking radius of my house, there must be a few metric arus loads of apples just rotting on the ground. Tomorrow will grind and press them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Been out apple stalking today. Reckon I got a good 20kg if not more. I left it a bit late though. I reckon within a 15min walking radius of my house, there must be a few metric arus loads of apples just rotting on the ground. Tomorrow will grind and press them! You have used my word, you arusole! Lucky I am not Apple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Been out apple stalking today. Reckon I got a good 20kg if not more. I left it a bit late though. I reckon within a 15min walking radius of my house, there must be a few metric arus loads of apples just rotting on the ground. Tomorrow will grind and press them! Not too late at all imho. I've got a mound of apples waiting to be processed after I've dealt with the stuff that's going to spoil faster - pears and wild mushrooms mostly. Though the mushrooms get dried rather than fermented. 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). 5th October - Mint wine (c.15-16%). Very moreish. Split with two other people who gave it a thumbs up. Steeped mint leaves/ table sugar/ black tea/ a drop of vegetable glycerin to thicken it up a bit. I have been mulling over whether to use glycerine-based menthol flavoured e-cigarette juice instead of plain glycerine to give future batches an experimental nicotine kick. Probably won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuG III Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Got through about 25-30kg of apples and got 16 liters of juice. Added some SO4 ale yeast to get it going but didnt add any sulphites so the wild yeasts should also still be there. Bloody hard work, I'm broken! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Got through about 25-30kg of apples and got 16 liters of juice. Added some SO4 ale yeast to get it going but didnt add any sulphites so the wild yeasts should also still be there. Bloody hard work, I'm broken! Yes, yes it is. I've passed up on brewing anything with apples this year and am freezing/ drying them instead. Got myself one of these, and for the right sized and shaped apples it's fantastic I can load up seven dehydrator trays in a few minutes. Pears I am brewing. This year I'm trying out running them through a juicer and boiling the juice before pitching a couple of batches as a wine and a perry. Haven't the foggiest if the juicer/ boiling is a good idea or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Brewing from scratch is too hard for me. Sorry guys (gals?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) 6th October - Coopers Lager (guest homebrew) Brewed by a friend using 2 kits (Wilko half price) instead of sugar. Tasted surprisingly hoppy. If you'd said it was a pale ale it would have been almost believable. Still to decide on tonight's instalment (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuG III Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Brewing from scratch is too hard for me. Sorry guys (gals?). I promise you it is not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). 5th October - Mint wine (c.15-16%). 6th October - Better Brew Czech Pilsner (c.5%)- Made with dextrose, no spray malt. Nice, pleasantly hoppy. A v. good kit, particularly for the price. 7th October - Cooking apple cider (2012) (c.4%). Mashed a load of Bramleys, nothing added except for cider yeast and some sugar to carbonate when bottling. Pleasant enough, maybe too dry for most tastes. Bramleys are a shag to juice though... edit: I'm in this for the long haul but I can see November being a very dry month indeed, and maybe a time to contemplate an alternative hobby. At least until production and consumption have reached some kind of equilibrium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Result, I cracked open a Kwak. Exceedingly nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). 5th October - Mint wine (c.15-16%). 6th October - Better Brew Czech Pilsner (c.5%)- Made with dextrose, no spray malt. Nice, pleasantly hoppy. A v. good kit, particularly for the price. 7th October - Cooking apple cider (2012) (c.4%). Mashed a load of Bramleys, nothing added except for cider yeast and some sugar to carbonate when bottling. Pleasant enough, maybe too dry for most tastes. Bramleys are a shag to juice though... edit: I'm in this for the long haul but I can see November being a very dry month indeed, and maybe a time to contemplate an alternative hobby. At least until production and consumption have reached some kind of equilibrium. The last weekend of the month I'm away so depending how well I've done, I might curtail it a few days early. I've got a good 6 weeks of 'training' on the run up to Xmas so Nov will be pretty dry anyway or as I call it, a typical month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Got through about 25-30kg of apples and got 16 liters of juice. Added some SO4 ale yeast to get it going but didnt add any sulphites so the wild yeasts should also still be there. Bloody hard work, I'm broken! There is a place close by where you can bring and press your own apples in this for free to take home.....for a small charge they will sterilise it and it will keep fresh to drink for 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) 6th October - Coopers Lager (guest homebrew) 7th October - Kwak (bottle) A dark-ish, strong Belgian ale. Delicious. Hopefully I might sneak a couple of draught choices in tonight. By my reckoning, I'm sorted until Monday and then I'm out of ammo. Will need to go shopping. (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I am about to make this from windfall and other mixed apples, not done it before, the recipe below...if anyone interested enough to try it out I would be interested in knowing your results. Apple wine. Apples 24lb any type. Sugar 3lb granulated white. Water 1 gallon. Wine yeast one teaspoon. Yeast nutrient one teaspoon. This is a truly delicious wine, and although apparently heavy on fruit is well worth making. It is strong, yet delicately flavoured, with an attractive, faintly 'cidery' bouquet. - chop apples into small pieces, put in sterilised bucket/bowl. -add yeast, yeast nutrient and water, water will not cover apples. -leave for about one week, stirring vigorously several times a day to bring the apples at the bottom to the top. -keep closely covered in a fairy warm place. -strain the juice from the apple pulp. -press the juice from apples and add to rest of liquor. -to every gallon add 3lb of sugar. -put into cask or fermenting vessel, add air-lock. -rack when it has cleared. -the wine will be ready within six months, but improves for being kept a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) 6th October - Coopers Lager (guest homebrew) 7th October - Kwak (bottle) 8th October - Deuchars IPA (draught) (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eight Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Result, I cracked open a Kwak. Exceedingly nice. Sounds like the guest lagers in Men Behaving Badly. I think they were called Sod and Ploppy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Sounds like the guest lagers in Men Behaving Badly. I think they were called Sod and Ploppy. I still have a Delireum Tremens to drink - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) 6th October - Coopers Lager (guest homebrew) 7th October - Kwak (bottle) 8th October - Deuchars IPA (draught) 9th October - Floris Fraise (bottle) One of my smallr bottle, low strength stash for a night on standby. Dissappointing actually. Sweet and fruity, not the velvety smoothness of the raspberry version. (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). 5th October - Mint wine (c.15-16%). 6th October - Better Brew Czech Pilsner (c.5%) 7th October - Cooking apple cider (2012) (c.4%) 8th October - Reserve Du Chateau Semillon Chardonnay (2012) (c.12%) - One of a range of 8kg 30 bottle kits Amazon was clearing for £15-20, delivered. I opened up one of my 300ml 'sampler' bottles and, nope, the weird, vaguely fart-like, after-taste hasn't cleared since the last time I tried the batch. Mind you, that could be what Semillon Chardonnay is supposed to taste like. Never tried it aside from this kit. No reference point. 9th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (c.4.5%). Made with dex. Pleasant. Not farty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 1st October - Ticketybrew Blonde (bottle) 2nd October - Coopers Stout (homebrew) 3rd October - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (draught) 4th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (homebrew) 5th October - Estrella (draught) 6th October - Coopers Lager (guest homebrew) 7th October - Kwak (bottle) 8th October - Deuchars IPA (draught) 9th October - Floris Fraise (bottle) 10th October - Sainsburys TTD Celebration Ale (bottle) This was a leftover from a gift last Xmas. A strong "winter-warming" stout, 6%. Prefer my own brew bit needs must. (Plus Black Sheep Bitter, Cheshire Brewhouse Cheshire Gap and W H Buckley's Busted Flush - draught Super bock - bottle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 1st October - Brewferm Christmas Ale (c.8%). 2nd October - Brewferm Triple (c.9%). 3rd October - Coopers Australian Lager (c.5%) 4th October - Wilkos Black Cherry country wine (c.12%). 5th October - Mint wine (c.15-16%). 6th October - Better Brew Czech Pilsner (c.5%) 7th October - Cooking apple cider (2012) (c.4%) 8th October - Reserve Du Chateau Semillon Chardonnay (2012) (c.12%) 9th October - Brewferm Tarwebier (c.4.5%). Made with dex. Pleasant. Not farty. 10th October - Wilkos Shiraz (c.12%) - 6.8kg 30 bottle kit. I bought three different varieties of these kits cheap on clearance. I was a bit hacked off to discover subsequently that they're a bit of a fast one and something like 3/4 of the 6.8kg is not juice concentrate but water and added sugar. You may as well buy a 1.7kg kit and add your own sugar. This batch is only a couple of months old but drinkable, £3.49 a bottle grade plonk. Doesn't take like Shiraz though. If you want decent varietal home-brew wine there's no short-cut to buying the pricier kits. And no homebrew wine is going to taste pleasant (impo) after only 21 days, whatever it says on the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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