Greetings to all, I could kick myself for overlooking this.

[mike383838]

Greetings to all. I got put off brewing 20 years ago when my brother in law got into it and made some terrible brews which put me off home brewing, I thought, for ever. Someone in work had enough excitement to reignite the research bulb in my head again and now after finding this site and without even tasting any of it I have two kits on the go and Im even more excited by a batch of "Hippy Juice" which I got under-way last night as per the recipe on this site that wont let me link to because its my first post (search "hippy juice". I made a few alterations namely, I used Tesco water (17p for two litres), Bentonite, and Lalven red wine yeast. Got the 100% red grape juice from Sainsburys for £1.75 two for one, fantastic. The thing is off to a flying start after only 8 hours. Dark red and very fast starter. Total cost will be £3.80 for 6 bottles. Cant wait to try it (it already smells great). The others are kits, a 23L connoisseur Rioja wine kit, and a 40 pint brewbuddy pear cider with 1 litre of organic mixed berry juice added at the start to give colour and a hint of berry. If this works out which I'm pretty sure it will, I have found a new hobby that also saves me a packet. I am a bottle of red wine a day type of guy :shock: I think everyone should be at this and I intend to convert everyone I can to the joy of drinking duty free Hooch for as little as 60p a bottle. Amazing......

 

[Wendy1971]

Hi and welcome to the forum :thumb:

 

[GrumpyBunny]

You'll find loads of great ideas on here, if you like the hippy juice check out Wurzel's Orange Wine

Welcome aboard :

 

[weepete]

Welcome to the forums mate, I'm also a noob on here and like yourself quite enthusiastic about the possibilities hombrew opens up!

I've not seen that stuff on the hippie juice before so thanks and here's the link I found

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=2291

 

[KolinUK]

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

I too am a fellow newbie and as I've been warned, cheap booze is all well and good but the hobby can get impulsively more expensive.

I have a DJ on the go and just want to go and get more!

 

[EskiBrew]

Welcome to the forumm - looks like you are off to a great start :clap:

 

[Callum]

Welcome. I'm new here too - but as you have pointed out there is a wealth of information on this site. you'll enjoy your 'hippy-juice' - I know I did! It's been one of my best brews yet. Glad you got back into this hobby, it's great to get cheaper alcohol but more importantly (IMO) it is all about how it tastes and experimenting with different methods and flavours - and of course having fun! I've just looked at my homebrew notebook and I've realized that so far I've not done the same brew twice although if I ever find a spare D/J and I don't know what to put in it I have plenty of tasty options... Enjoy!

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome.

 

[mike383838]

Wow, thanks for the welcome, I like this place already. I racked my Rioja for the second time into 5 DJs from the 25L fermenter. Didn't have enough to fill the 5th so made up some sugar syrup with correct amount of sugar and added blackberry teabags. Is this OK to do that?, its already fermented 22 days. I don't mind if I ruined it cause it only had 2 litres in it. Hoping it will work out. Anyone done this? Great site Moderators. Hasta

 

[Moley]

Welcome to the forum :

Yes, it's a great hobby, but as others have already said it isn't all about cheap booze. Learn the basic processes and don't cut corners on hygiene, but then you can experiment with whatever takes your fancy. Keep notes though, so you can repeat things when an experiment turns out well (or learn from your mistakes and don't make them again).

As you say you like red wines, your options are limited. You can make some pleasant pinks from fruit juices and fruity 'tea' bags but a good, quick, cheap red is still eluding us all. If you're using the 30 bottle kits, reduce the water by a couple of litres to give them a bit more body. If you can go foraging for free fruits like blackberries and elderberries then you can make some really full-bodied reds and get down around 30p a bottle, but they do need a year or two to mature.

When racking a 5 gallon wine it is often handy to have some smaller containers. Scrumpy cider can still be bought in 2 litre glass jars, it used to come in half gallon jars and they occasionally turn up in charity shops. Or, keep hold of some 2 or 3 litre plastic cordial bottles.

 

[mike383838]

hey thanks for the tips, and yes your right, it isn't just about the cheap booze but it helps to justify the effort. I just really like knowing what I'm drinking, trying to stay clear of finings and preservative, might not work for some projects. next dj is going to be Wurzels Orange I think. :

 

[Redcar]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for the tip about making notes - I followed a recipe for Apple Wine that my sister-in-law gave to me but I've already changed it slightly. It's an old recipe that thinks that 6lb of apples per gallon makes for a 'light' wine! (It came out lovely, but dark golden and strong.)

Anyway, I have 4 D/J's on the go, so when they've finished I'm going to try to make WOW - there seems to be such a variation on it that I'll need to research while the apple bubbles away in the corner of my office. And I'm going to try Hippy Juice Mike! :)

PS. I've just got hold of the book 'Booze for Free' - I'm looking forward to making parsnip wine in the New Year :)

 

[cf.]

Welcome to the forum I have been making wines for about a year now yes it is a good hobby . people also on this site are very helpful if you run into any problems

 

[mike383838]

Hi Redcar,

I wish i could tell you how it will turn out with the hippy juice, I cant wait to know but patience seems to be the virtue with this new hobby. I just started a new one with 3 litres of the Sainsbury's red grape instead of recipes 2 last night. Made the tea bag mash with 6 blackberry and apple Tesco's bags instead of 20 to make up one litre and used 1 pound 14 oz of sugar to make a 1.120 hydrometer reading. I will top up a bit so should be equal to 1.100 on the whole DJ. Going to try to brew this one slower at lower temps to see the difference on drinking. The first one is very active and I'm worried about the quality of the alcohols as it is bubbling at about 40 BPM. I will keep you posted. I wont lie if its awful, I promise. I don't drink white wine any more but will try the Wurzels also just to compare with the taste of the reds. Might even mix them.

By the way I asked a question about re-fermenting two litres of 20 day old Rioja with tea bag mash earlier which looked dead, I thought I killed it. Murder no less. I didn't get an answer so I researched and found some things to try. I pitched some more yeast and it revived again after 3 days, back from the dead, so I'm happy to say I didn't lost it. Here hoping it turns out to be a cracker, but I reckon more likely not. LOL. I'm gona call it Zombie Juice maybe :)

Now brewing:- 5 X 1 gallon Connessaur Rioja, 5 Gallon Brew-buddy Pear cider with a litre of 100% berry juice in it, 1 Gallon Raspberry Strawberry and Loganberry Hippy Juice, and one Gallon of Blackberry and apple Tesco's hippy Juice.

Tasted none of it yet