[Lottieluv]

I have never tried makeing any type of wine or cider. But want to il be honest I'm skint and would love the idea of makeing a cheap cider or wine on the cheap .
I have no items to make it at all I have no idea what to do any simple ideas ?
For a first timer .      I have read alot of these posts and can't work out where to get the stuff like yeast and all other bits and bobs. Pleaseeeeee any help
thanks
 

[mumofstig]

The thing is that to buy the equipment you need to start is quite expensive IMO. so it's only later batches that can be done on the cheap
If you are lucky you may get some on Freecycle

[Lottieluv]

Is there shops in my town that may sell the stuff e.g. Boots or Argos or ??  We have most shops just don't know wear to look or what I need. Thanks for replying tho .
Also how much will it cost ish ?

[pairofacres]

Try your nearest Wilkinsons if you have one in your area. They do demijohns, yeast, airlocks, etc pretty cheaply. Enough kit for one batch on the go at once will probably cost just over £20. Alternatively, Freecycle might be worth a try.

Once you get the kit, try the ribena wine posted in this section with either blackcurrant or a similar juice. I've got a batch going with blackberry and apple concentrate (no preservative) bought from Tescos for less than a quid. I worked out I can produce a batch with this for about £1.50.

[Cazzy]

I'd definately try freecycle, thats where I got most of my kit from.

I eventually got around to getting my rosehip wine on the go tonight, one gallon for around £1.50 and fairly easy to do (hardest part is picking the hips I suppose).

I also started off another two gallons of 'Wurzel's Orange Wine' thats really quick, cheap and easy and great for beginners.

Good luck with whatever you try, let us know how you get on 

[Lottieluv]

* * * I put a add on freecycle    Predictive. Text on my iPod. ....   (Wanted please femedon).       Didn't relise that what I put till it got posted to my email address by mod. So now waiting for a reply. For a blooming femedon     I hate tecnoligy .    Il have to repost. . 

[Cazzy]

 

[pairofacres]

Before buying all my kit, I sent a wanted post to the local freecycle in the hope someone might have demijohns or similar to give away. My post never appeared and shortly afterwards, an almost identical post appeared from someone about 8 miles away asking for the same things. I'm sure one of the moderators saw my request and decided they'd get any kit for themselves. I left the list in disgust a few days later. My first experience with freecycle and now sadly probably my last 

[ciderman]

hi lottieluv id try car boots and ask your local charity shops demis 50p i got a king keg £5  where r u based

[Lottieluv]

Norfolk

[SarahB]

You can ferment in any foodsafe container to start - but not a bucket or dustbin, they contain toxins that can leach into the liquid.  When the initial fermentation's done, you can transfer into pop bottles (coke or lemonade), don't put the lid on, just plug with cotton wool to keep the dust out.  It's not ideal, because you can get too much air coming in.  Demijohns round our way no longer seem to be cheap, about £5 each, but if you have to buy equipment, you can get 1 gallon plastic fermenting containers with a cutout in the lid to take a bung and airlock, which work out cheaper.  Freecycle, bootfairs or the local junk shops really are your best bet though.

You can use bread yeast for brewing, it's just a bit gassy and won't give you a very high alcohol content.  Simplest alcohol has got to be ginger beer - we make ours with wine yeast and it gets up to about 6 or 7% in a week or two! 

[Elcie]

Definitely Wilkinsons.  Mind you, we bought our first kit there which included everything for about £20 for about 6 bottles.  Trouble is the buckets are quite small so when you go to buy the kit with just the wine you have to buy new buckets anyway.  I would suggest you cut out the first step and go straight to the £21 wine pack and get a bucket/bung which will cost you about another 12.  You will then need another container to siphon into but this won't cost much depending on what you buy.  I now have the buckets/siphon/bung and buy the £21 pack which makes about 25 bottles of wine.  Not as cheap as some, but pretty cheap by supermarket standards!

[Robin Redbreast]

try a turbo cider its as easy as 123.... i.e.
#1/ buy a demijohn and airlock and 5 litres of tesco apple juce pour into clean demijohn!

#2/ add one sachet of champagne yeast! put bung and airlock in demijohn and at room temp ferment until all bubbles have diisapeared from airlock usually between 1 and 3 weeks dependant on temperature!

#3/ let it settle until clear then pour gently into a glass (if you dont mind it flat?) alternatively siphon into bottles add 1 teaspoon of sugar per bottle for fizz and leave for a week at room temp then chill and drink!

p.s. this is quite dry so if you like it sweeter add some splenda to taste and be careful as it is known to have quite explosive effects!

[jonewer]

Turbo cider is the cheapest and easiest, if not the best tasting, form of home brew.

You can do it in tesco value 2l fizzy water bottles.

Drink fizzy water. Urrrp. Add 1.5l of tesco value apple juice. About 1/2 tsp bread yeast and you're off! Just leave the lids on very loose, else the bottles will asplode.

[ohbeary]

Lottieluv, don't panic, I hope you haven't spent a lot of money yet, this is the cheapest and easiest start up I can think of, 5 litre bottle of water from tesco or morrison under a quid, 1 lt supermarket apple juice, 1ltr supermarket grape juice, should be under a pound each, 700g sugar, 1x5g sachet of champagne yeast from homebrew shop or homehardware £1(mix yeast with 1/2pt grape juice, place in fridge for a day, use 1/2 for 1 gal wine, top up with grape juice and return to fridge, next brew use half and top up with grape juice), put 1ltr applejuice and 1ltr grape juice into emptied water bottle with 700g/1lb 5oz sugar fill to shoulder of bottle with warm water(from kettle) add 1 tsp yeast nutrient(from homebrew shop/homehardware)(Youngs), add 1/4pt of yeast mixture, cover neck with cling film, leave in a warm place until fermentation is complete, it will clear all by itself, siphon off with siphon kit from HB shop (£1:70?), should be drinkable as soon as it is clear, for more advanced advice I would recommend
http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=62
lockwood is the forum administrator, a wine judge and all round good guy, he knows lots about wine making and the other members are really nice people with oodles of knowledge, you will not find a better site for advice and recipies that really do work!, all the best m'dear, H.