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I may have to put a padlock on my homebrew when certain friends call round. We had a few drinks on Saturday night, I wasn't really drinking my blackcurrant cider as it was still carbonating in the fridge, so I just had one pint and then started on the Buckfast, but when I got up the next...

As a wine and cider maker, I've usually skipped past threads on brewing beer from grains and hops and stuff, since I don't like beer I've never had the interest to make it. But after seeing a thread on one-gallon beer recipes I have become intrigued, perhaps my OH would like some proper...

DH has made this a few times - the first time round he was very impressed, the last couple of times it was quite poor and he hasn't brewed anything since! We still have a kit in the cupboard that needs doing before it goes out of date (if it hasn't already), any tips on how to get the best out...

I made pear cider from a kit (not sure which one it was now!) about 8 months or so ago. It seems to have changed, it's a bit darker in colour than it was before and has an ale-like taste to it. Not unpleasant, but not sweet and pear-y like it was a few months after bottling. Could this be the...

DH brought me home a book on Irish Traditional Cooking (fab book, who knew there were so many ways to dress a pig's head?!), and I was intrigued by the mention of a "buttermilk plant". Buttermilk is used in a lot of Irish baking recipes, but it's often hard to get hold of outside of Ireland. In...

I have a few wines that need racked, then I'll add finings, leave for another week or two, then rack again and bottle. Is it necessary to add a campden tablet each time? I think I have already racked the wines twice (about a month apart), and used a campden both times. I don't want weird tastes...

I read that higher abv wines keep longer, does this mean that lower abv wines do not keep very well? I'm making an apple and blueberry teabag wine and not sure what to aim for - I'd planned for it to be quick drinking, so I have enough sugar in there for 11%, but since it's mostly apple juice I...

I've finally got my drill back (well, DH's drill), and I've got a dozen water bottle lids to drill through for an airlock. I don't know a whole bunch about drilling, what sort of "bit" do I need to do it? I've got a couple of grommets for some of the lids, but can I just drill a hole slightly...

I got a few bottles of white wine at Christmas, and since I don't really like it I opened one of the bottles to cook with. That was a couple of weeks ago and the rest of the bottle is still in the fridge... can I make it into vinegar or something? It's either that or down the sink :roll:

I've got 5litre bottles of water, brand new and unopened. I'm planning on racking wine into them, do I really need to sterilise them first? It's such a PITA! The wine is 15% if not more, would it come to any harm if I just pour the water out and fill up straight away?

Just been to Tesco to pick up some grape juice, their own brand cartons are now £1.60 each :shock: :evil: Seriously, two weeks ago they were 85p each. How can they justify putting up the price by nearly 100% in one go?? I know there's a bit of a grape juice shortage going on, but that move...

I've been wanting to try this for ages! A beverage made from fermented milk and honey. I've used a recipe from a US forum (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/milk-me ... fo-381045/) and tweaked it a bit. (sorry I dunno how to condense the link!) Ingredients: 2 litres semi skimmed Lactofree milk...

I just racked a couple of wines, on the first the FG read at 0.990, the next one looked like 0.980. I don't even know if homebrew/wine can go that low! So I tested it in a bottle of water at 20 degrees (tested with digi thermometer). I've ordered a new one, which will hopefully be here soon...

I came across these fruit purees on Amazon, just wondered if anyone has tried them for wine or cider? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funkin-Pro-Staw ... 025&sr=8-2 No preservatives, flavourings etc, I fancy trying the peach version in a cider, and the strawberry puree in a mead or cyser... any reason...

My forest fruit melomel was started on New year's day, and now looks ready to bottle. It's perfectly cleared and a lovely purpley red colour, and I'm tempted to bottle it and put it away to forget about for 6 months. However, would it be better to bulk age in the demi for another month or two...

I'm just about to go shopping for the ingredients of a 5 gallon WOW, what is your favourite juice combination? Has anything worked brilliantly or not so well at all? I was thinking I'd do 5 litres of grape juice, with two of orange and three of mixed fruit. I will be adding honey and spices...

It's very slow going just doing one gallon batches in 4 demijohns, so I'd like to do bigger batches in my 5 gallon cider bucket. Are there any issues with using plastic containers for making both wine and cider? I'm not sure I'll really appreciate 30 bottles of the same thing though, so I'd...

happy New year to you all :drunk: I haven't been to bed yet but I'm not long home and I thought I'd brew something before I fall over. decided on mead, so into the DJ went a bag of frozen forest fruits, three jars of honey and the yeast etc. I'm not sure how to manage pics on my kindle :wha...

Tesco finally got in the blackcurrant version of Lowicz syrup, and I bought a few bottles to experiment with. First I thought I'd try a cider. Recipe is basic - 8 litres of AJ (I used Lidl brand), full bottle of syrup, yeast nutrient, pectloase, tannin (tea) cider yeast. Didn't take an OG...

DH has decided that homebrew stuff can't sit in the corner of the kitchen anymore (apart from "one or two demijohns", he says, we'll see :lol: ), and put everything I'd bottled at the weekend out into the shed. Will it be too cold out there for the cider to carbonate? I don't have anywhere else...