I'm 56. I made a couple of batches of beer 40 years ago, but didn't take it further.
Decided to get back into it now as my wife was diagnosed with coeliac disease and can't have "real" beer anymore (though some people will debate how much gluten is left in beer after all the chemical magic has happened). But the only gluten-free kit I could Google up went off the market, so I never got started on that.
A friend had a glut of plums so I made some wine out of that instead. Drinkable but slightly odd when un-aged, though some people claim to actually like it. Hoping it will age into something good.
Next did some elderberry (picked wild, locally). Excellent stuff even without aging. Must do more than 1 gallon next year!
After that, found a recipe for an ersatz beer that's gluten-free, made a trial gallon, and got something that tasted good despite messing up syphoning and priming.
A later 4 gallon batch is better in some ways but about a third of the bottles won't clear.
Have a gallon of parsnip in the airing cupboard that's still fermenting (very slowly now) after 8 weeks. I think using half&half white and brown sugar was probably a mistake, but the small taste at last racking was OK.
Started a gallon of mead this month.
Decided to do a gallon(or more) of something each month, using a Livejournal poll to let my friends choose what I make when there's nothing particular in season.
April will be a tea wine - Earl Grey, probably.
Decided to get back into it now as my wife was diagnosed with coeliac disease and can't have "real" beer anymore (though some people will debate how much gluten is left in beer after all the chemical magic has happened). But the only gluten-free kit I could Google up went off the market, so I never got started on that.
A friend had a glut of plums so I made some wine out of that instead. Drinkable but slightly odd when un-aged, though some people claim to actually like it. Hoping it will age into something good.
Next did some elderberry (picked wild, locally). Excellent stuff even without aging. Must do more than 1 gallon next year!
After that, found a recipe for an ersatz beer that's gluten-free, made a trial gallon, and got something that tasted good despite messing up syphoning and priming.
A later 4 gallon batch is better in some ways but about a third of the bottles won't clear.
Have a gallon of parsnip in the airing cupboard that's still fermenting (very slowly now) after 8 weeks. I think using half&half white and brown sugar was probably a mistake, but the small taste at last racking was OK.
Started a gallon of mead this month.
Decided to do a gallon(or more) of something each month, using a Livejournal poll to let my friends choose what I make when there's nothing particular in season.
April will be a tea wine - Earl Grey, probably.