What’s Brewin’

How can I home brew my own cider without using fancy equipment/home brewing kits. I am a bit skint therefore need to do it using household items or inexpensive equipment?

Thanks

I’ve been brewing my own beer at home now for a few years now, and couldn’t have done without the help of the website I am about to give you by Robert Ragsdale.

I tried for YEARS to brew my own beer, but to no avail. I sucked at it, mainly because I was just following the generic instructions which came with the brew kits.

At the same time, I am kinda slow LOL and I need to see it in action before I can be successful at it.

Anyway, this website gives you a free eBook on everything you need to know about brewing your own beer from home. It doesn’t get into the specifics, nor does it claim to. It is a free 50 page eBook on how to find the right stuff, how to find supplies at the lowest cost or even free, and recommended home brewing supply companies. They also send you good emails here and there on tips, shortcuts, and recipes to use.

You should check it out – I visit it at least twice a week.

The thing that helped me the most were the videos that actually walk you through the process. The whole package of instructional videos are only $27, plus they throw in like 600 home brew recipes, mostly clone recipes of commercial beer.

If I purchased those videos, and got those recipes, then I would have never found success in making my own beer, and probably still be struggling.

It all works for hard ciders too, as the process isnt much different, and there are several cider recipes that come with the video training course.

I have attempted to home brew a pale ale. I went through the whole brewing and fermentation processes. Before I transfered the beer to the sanitized bottles that I purchased from the brew supply store, I sypohoned the beer to a bottling vessel in which I added the ascorbic acid and the syrup made from the priming sugar. While bottling the beer it had a good pale ale color. I also did not notice any sediment entering the bottles. I used 22oz bottles and left about 3/4ths of and inch of neck of the bottle unfilled.
Problem/question..It has been two weeks since the beer was bottled. At this time I notice no carbonation, ex. when I slightly aggitate the bottle no pressure seems to have built up. Also, there appears to be a small amount of milky sediment at the bottom of many of the bottles. I proceeded to turn one bottle upside down to see if I could determine what it was, the sediment then distributed throught the bottle giving the beer a cloudy appearence. Is this normal? Help!


The sediment you are seeing is almost certainly spent yeast. It is harmless, if unattractive, and, if you pour carefully, will not mar the taste of your brew unduly.

To prevent this, chill your beer before bottling and allow the sediments to really settle. Use a racking cane (curved tube) and work carefully from the top of the fermenter.

For carbonation… and this is tricky… you may want an extra shot of sugar just before bottling. Why is this tricky? Well, a dash too much, and you’ll be hearing exploding bottles in the night as the pressure overwhelms them.

Want a brilliant way out of all this? Think about investing in a cornelius keg or 4. 5 gallons each, your beer is "draft" and will stay yummy for a long time, easier than bottling, and you can add a shot of nitrogen or carbon dioxide safely to carbonate!

http://www.dwiggins.com/sca/kegging.pdf

My family is interested in home brewing beer. We have a home brewing kit and have ordered ingredients, but do not have anything in the way of supplies for bottling. Yes, we could go through the process of bottling beer, but I have seen and heard alternatives to bottling, namely a small keg-like vessel with a little part to insert a small CO2 cylinder to carbonate the beer. Does anyone know where I can get such a thing?

The only one that I am aware of is kegging it. If you invest into a cylindroconical fermenter you can blow out your yeast and then drink fresh from the tank.