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There are 3 different ways in which to brew your own beer.

1.    Beginner: Using a starter kit.  This is the easiest and quickest method and you only need the bare essential equipment. There are different qualities of kits, the Budget and Midrange which are normally in one tin or 1.5kg to 1.8kg in weight will produce a more than acceptable pint, and most require additional sugar or malt extract. The Premium kits, normally in two tins or around 3kg in weight, produce better quality beer and require no additional sugar or malt. It’s a personal choice and many customers find the budget and midrange suit their taste and budget. All kits have clear concise instructions to follow and require the same equipment and techniques. They are easy to follow, require very little skill and produce consistent results. All kits contain a concentrated liquid, to which water is added to produce a ‘Wort’ (the name for a pre fermented beer liquor). Yeast is then added which ferments over a few days, turning the sugar to alcohol. The fermented liquid is then stored in a barrel or bottles and allowed to clear before drinking. A small amount of sugar or malt extract is added to the bottle or barrel which ferments producing CO2 which gives the beer its fizz. Kits usually take about 2 – 3 weeks from start to drinking although most brews will improve with age.

2.    Extract – Hops and grain.  This method uses the same basic techniques as kits but you prepare the ‘Wort’ from ingredients rather than using a concentrate from a tin. Water, malt extract and hops are boiled for approx 1 hour before cooling then adding yeast as above. This method requires a large pan and strainer in addition to the basic equipment required for kits. You choose and buy packs of extract, hops and yeast then follow a recipe. There are lots of different recipes to follow and you can add herbs and spices to create unique blends. There is also a huge range of hops which all have their own unique flavour. This method works out about the same cost as using a Premium kit but you have the flavour control and satisfaction of creating your own recipes. Some people however will only ever brew starter kits, it’s a personal choice.  They might decide that they like the taste of a particular kit and find it very easy, convenient and practical to use. There are also many books available which contain recipes for most popular beers.


3.    All grain – full mash.  This follows the same principals as extract but you create the malt from grain instead of using extract.  The malt, hops and yeasts you choose depends on the type of brew you want to create.  This is the method used by professional brewers and how commercial beer is produced.  It is the hardest method, needs the most equipment and takes the longest to produce.  It gives you the most control over your finished brew.  Basically you are creating your own extract instead of buying it – which is where the extra equipment comes in.  All grain is the cheapest way to brew after the initial investment of the equipment has been recouped.  This method is not for a beginner and most people never progress to this stage being perfectly happy buying extract or using kits.


Water - If your tap water isn’t too scaly or contains fluoride then it will probably be fine, but if you are unsure you can use large bottles of water.


Temperature - Buy a thermometer. Get a glass of water and put the thermometer in it and leave for 1 day in the area you want to ferment your brew in. Temperature is really important when fermenting as the yeast is dormant at low temperatures so will not ferment properly, conversely, if the temp is too high then this will impair the flavour. All yeasts will have a temperature range which should be on the pack and adhered to. Lager yeasts generally require a lower temperature then Ale yeasts.

Cleanliness – All important! To ensure success it is absolutely essential that all equipment is always sterilised using a good quality steriliser.  

Ale or Lager?

1. Ale is recommended for the first brew.
2. Ale is quicker and easier to brew than lager.
3. Ale is typically served at room temperature.

Lagers generally need a colder temperature to ferment and in some cases takes a few weeks longer than ale.
Lager is served very chilled and best bottled to get a good fizz
 

 

The Basics of Winemaking
The main stages involved in the making of any wine are:

1. Extracting the flavour from the ingredients 
2. Fermentation
3. Maturation and bottling

There are endless ingredients that can be used to create the must (the liquid before fermentation), ranging from Grapes and other fruits to other fruits such as Elderflower. Like brewing beer, this is what makes wine making as addictive as you can experiment with different blends and flavours.

Wine Kits
The simplest and most reliable way for the beginner to produce wine is to use a kit. These contain concentrated fruit extract and yeast.  The extract is diluted with water producing the must.  The yeast is then added and then left to ferment. Fermentation time varies depending on the kit and the temperature of the environment. The kits we sell take around 1 week or less. Fermentation takes place in a closed fermentation vessel under airlock.
Once fermentation is complete the wine is then matured in bulk or depending on the kit, ready to bottle. The length of this time depends on the kit, but normally around 3 weeks.
Most wines will benefit from an extended time left in the bottle so the flavours can develop, but as commercially available wine from your local supermarket some are not suitable for long term storage.
The quality of today’s modern kits produces not only an exceptional quality but at a fraction of the supermarket equivalent. The kits are available in 6, 28 and 30 bottle sizes. The lager kits are the most cost effective to produce.

Making Wine from Fruit
Very rewarding as you have produced your wine from scratch using fruit picked from your own back garden possibly! There is so much to cover on this subject so we would recommend either buying a book for advice, such as ‘First Steps in Wine Making’ by C J J Berry, or you could Google , Yahoo or Bing it!

Fermentation Problems
Check with a hydrometer to see if the reading is the same for several days. If it actually changes (lower day by day) it means that your wine is fermenting and you probably have a leak somewhere so you can't see any bubbles in the airlock. You don't have to do anything about it now but before you start your next wine kit it might be a good idea to get some new equipment. Check lids and fermenter necks for damages. Check rubber bungs etc.
If your hydrometer shows the same reading for several days you have indeed no fermentation. If the reading is low (1000 or below) your wine kit has fermented ok and the wine is ready. Check for leaks as above, replace equipment for next time.
If the reading is high (1070 or above) your fermentation probably never started. That could depend on cool temperatures in the room or if you used very cold water for your wine kit. Cold water may delay fermentation start for 1-2 days so in this case just wait and see. If your wine kit hasn't started after 2-4 days (the longer time for cold environments) you should get hold of a new wine yeast from your retailer and add it as soon as possible. First check so you didn't add the stabiliser by mistake - if you did, there is no return.
If the reading is below the start value of the wine kit (normally 1070 or higher, check your instruction if you didn't record it) it means that there has been some fermentation but it stuck for some reason.

Stuck Fermentations
If your fermentation has stuck and your wine is too sweet, here are some reasons that could have happened:

• The Wine is yeast too old.
The yeast cells in your sachets have a limited life, a certain number dies every month and after 1-2 years there are very few viable cells left which means fermentation will not start properly. Check best before date!

• The water was too hot when wine yeast was added.
Heat will kill yeast cells. Try to keep liquid temperature below 30-35 C in the start unless instruction says otherwise.

• A damaged Yeast sachet
If air can get into the yeast sachet, yeast death will accelerate. Your wine yeast could be dead long before the best before date. Do you remember if the sachet seemed damaged, yeast leaking in the wine kit box etc?

• You added wine yeast before diluting the wine concentrate.
If you add wine yeast directly to grape concentrate, the osmotic pressure will harm the yeast cells. It is the same effect you can feel when diving deep into water - the pressure will harm your body if you get down deep enough. Your room is too cold.

• Temperature changes too much in the room.
If you have below 18 C in your room, fermentation may often stick a bit premature and it will stick higher if temperature is even lower. It may be a few units on your hydrometer, say final value 1000 instead of 997. Large temperature changes increases this problem. Too many preservatives in your wine kit.

• Not enough nutrients in your wine kit.
These are manufacturing errors and not very common. In most cases there is not much you can do about it and it is unfortunately very difficult to separate these problems from the "normal" ones above. The only simple indication is if it seems as if many customers buying this wine kit have had similar problems.

What can you do about it?
It is not obvious that you should just add another wine yeast sachet. If fermentation has been going on for some time, there is alcohol in the wine kit. Yeast cells can only survive in alcohol if the level is moderate and if they gradually adapted to the alcohol level. So if you just add another yeast sachet it is very likely that the yeast will die. Check with a hydrometer - if the reading is close to the normal start value for your wine kit (if you have no clue, assume start value 1080) it means fermentation has not been going for long. That of course means low alcohol so in this case you can add a new yeast sachet.

If the hydrometer reading is 50-60 units below the start value (i.e. 6-8% alcohol) you must use a special restart yeast. A normal wine kit starts at 1075-1085 so if your current reading is somewhere between 1015-1065 it is worth a try with this yeast. If your wine kit fermented most of the way and then stuck a little too soon (hydrometer reading 1000 or just over) you can normally not start it again. Try diluting it with 10% water, that will make it less sweet but unfortunately it will also lower the body and alcohol so don't overdo it. This trick works best with white wines where the body is not as critical as with reds. You can also increase the acidity slightly. This will mask some sweetness. Add 4-5 g of citric acid to a normal wine kit (20-25 litres), repeat if necessary but be careful and taste in between - you can not go back!

Use a Forum
A great place to get help or advise from an area with a wealth of experience is a forum, once registered you can ask questions or exchange ideas and recipes. The one of the best on the web is The Homebrew Forum (opens a new page)