Hello folks, stumbled across this lovely forum while searching for an alcoholic Ginger Beer recipe. Thought I would join up and see what's what.
I started very stupidly a few years back when the bells and whistles on boysstuff convinced me that I needed a king keg in my life. So off I went, bounding in the dark, and made the most horrid stuff I have ever tasted. I can't even remember the name of the kit but it was better to leave it that way. I gave the keg one more go before ditching it to the loft, feeling less of a man as I couldn't get it right.
Around 6 months later I felt the urge to once again feel like a man so I ordered up a new vessel. Again I went with something not quite ideal for purpose, one of those 25l ones with the narrow neck. I think it was actually more akin to wine, but again I jumped in, 2 footed, with next to no idea what I was doing. This time I aimed for cider and got nothing less than vinegar. Not to be disheartened I got straight back on the horse and went with a lager. This time it came out drinkable, not great, not clear, not fizzy, but drinkable. Everything got thrown up the loft once more, swearing it would never come back down.
Around 6 months ago I got the bug again and decided to have 1 last crack at it. It was approaching winter so I decided to take the methodical approach to it all. I ordered up 2 crappy cheap bins, 2 lids (one with an airlock hole), an immersion heater and an On the Rocks Pear Cider kit. This time I used bottled water and made absolutely certain that everything was spotless (I always did really but this time I was extra extra cautious). The results were absolutely fantastic. The difference that those fermenting bins made to making up the brew and syphoning it off, not to mention cleaning, was unbelievable. The cider was clear, carbonated, unbelievably fruity and it had the kick of a horse (that might have been the extra sugar I added :twisted: ). I'm not sure if the water made all the difference or not, as our water is lovely but possibly not great for making homebrew, but I'm not changing the method now. Me being able to drink the brew rather than the toilet makes the £1.70 for 10 bottles of water well worth it
From there it's been onwards and upwards, I did a mexican cerveza that came out nice (not as good as the cider but miles better than anything prior to it) and I recently finished off a dry cider which is maturing just lovely.
Yesterday I made the ginger beer, fingers crossed.
Can only imagine things getting better after joining up here
Scott
I started very stupidly a few years back when the bells and whistles on boysstuff convinced me that I needed a king keg in my life. So off I went, bounding in the dark, and made the most horrid stuff I have ever tasted. I can't even remember the name of the kit but it was better to leave it that way. I gave the keg one more go before ditching it to the loft, feeling less of a man as I couldn't get it right.
Around 6 months later I felt the urge to once again feel like a man so I ordered up a new vessel. Again I went with something not quite ideal for purpose, one of those 25l ones with the narrow neck. I think it was actually more akin to wine, but again I jumped in, 2 footed, with next to no idea what I was doing. This time I aimed for cider and got nothing less than vinegar. Not to be disheartened I got straight back on the horse and went with a lager. This time it came out drinkable, not great, not clear, not fizzy, but drinkable. Everything got thrown up the loft once more, swearing it would never come back down.
Around 6 months ago I got the bug again and decided to have 1 last crack at it. It was approaching winter so I decided to take the methodical approach to it all. I ordered up 2 crappy cheap bins, 2 lids (one with an airlock hole), an immersion heater and an On the Rocks Pear Cider kit. This time I used bottled water and made absolutely certain that everything was spotless (I always did really but this time I was extra extra cautious). The results were absolutely fantastic. The difference that those fermenting bins made to making up the brew and syphoning it off, not to mention cleaning, was unbelievable. The cider was clear, carbonated, unbelievably fruity and it had the kick of a horse (that might have been the extra sugar I added :twisted: ). I'm not sure if the water made all the difference or not, as our water is lovely but possibly not great for making homebrew, but I'm not changing the method now. Me being able to drink the brew rather than the toilet makes the £1.70 for 10 bottles of water well worth it
From there it's been onwards and upwards, I did a mexican cerveza that came out nice (not as good as the cider but miles better than anything prior to it) and I recently finished off a dry cider which is maturing just lovely.
Yesterday I made the ginger beer, fingers crossed.
Can only imagine things getting better after joining up here
Scott
