Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: RJR_38 on July 30, 2013, 12:05
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I like the idea of making the more unusual fruit wines in the future (strawberry, blackberry etc). What is the basic kit I would need? I remember my parent making wine when I was a child with demijohns and rubber bungs etc in the airing cupboard so I am guessing I would need at least one of those. Is there a good site I could read more about it?
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Basic kit you'll need would be a demijohn (2 so you have a spare to rack into), bungs and air locks, siphon hose, hydrometer and testing vessel and steriliser. You have your ingredients which will vary depending on what you brew like yeast, vitamins, pectolase, camden tablets, finings and sugar. Then you have bottling to think of, you can save wine/beer bottles and buy a cheap corker or capper and a supply of fresh corks/caps. I've never re-used screw tops so can't say if they would seal the bottle sufficiently. I've surely missed out some vital equipment but I'm sure others will add to the list ;)
There are loads of brew dedicated forums on the net that are very useful and some of their members are on this forum too.
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If your starting out glass demijohns can be expensive. You could try two of these.
(http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/4/1/4136.jpg)
5 Litre PET Demi-John, cap and grommit £2.69
Lots of people stock them.
If you enjoy doing it then you can get some glass ones later.
A friend said she bought 5L water bottles and used them.
A trawl online will get lots of advice and instructions. Just find a recipie and start. Gather what you need as you go. After the first time you will gain equipment and knowledge. Like most things just go for it.
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Ok, thanks. I will have a look for some of the home brewing forums as well. It all seems interesting...
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It's worth keeping an eye on freegle for brewing equipment and also check your local charity shops. I've never bought a new demijohn and no matter how dirty they look, they've always cleaned up. It shouldn't cost too much to get started, I first bought a 1gal wine kit (http://www.balliihoo.co.uk/6-bottle-wine-making-equipment-kit-with-black-cherry-p-113.html) that came with all the essentials then gradually moved to glass but I can't remember spending as much as 40bucks on it... :ohmy:
Keep us posted with your progress.