Home-Brew Beginner: How Does One Go About Starting Out?

[user 39656]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so I apologise if this is in wrong area or my questions seem naive or noobish in nature.

I would like to start brewing vodka as a personal hobby. If it is something I enjoy, maybe even taking it commercial. As this is something I have practically no experience in currently, I would like to understand; how people start out, the general costs of equipment/ingredients and the legality of homebrewing spirits.

I did try searching the forum for this, but considering I'll probably have a 100 questions, it seemed prudent to make a post.

 

[lupinehorror]

welcome to the forum.
as far as i'm aware that's not something that's discussed around these parts.
there will be forums more suited i'm sure.

 

[dad_of_jon]

distilling posts aren't allowed on the forum. you can get around a 20% alcohol solution by using turbo yeast. And you could freeze and remove some of the ice. But I suspect what you really want cant be discussed on this forum.

 

[user 39656]

I see. So it's typical beer only, I assume?

Sorry, like I said, I'm totally unaware of the legality of it all.

 

[lupinehorror]

many different things that can be fermented...not things that are distilled.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I did try searching the forum for this, but considering I'll probably have a 100 questions, it seemed prudent to make a post.

Welcome to the forum @Eaves92

As members have already said distilling in the UK is illegal without a distilling licence so we don't allow its discussion in the forum however the use of yeast like the one below is a subject that can and has been discussed.


Makes 23% alcohol using 10.5 kgs of brewing sugar.

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/...MItbnl-P2-7QIVBwB7Ch3gDgTFEAQYBSABEgLkgvD_BwE

 

[An Ankoù]

Welcome.
How does one go about starting out?

Forget about Vodka and brew beer. You'll always need a decent chaser, anyway.

Down to ASDA and fill a trolley with 4 for £6. Lock yourself in a quiet corner (the "research corner") and carefully taste each one. On the basis of this, decide what style of beer you want to brew and which one you'd like to get close to copying.
Have a Vodka.

Sleep on it.
If not sure or can't remember in the morning, do it again.
Remember. Haste makes Waste.
Hope that helps.

 

[terrym]

The wording in the UK legislation regarding the production of spirits seems a little open to interpretation, and so as I recall there was a fairly lengthy discussion on this Forum concerning the legality of concentrating 'spirits' by freezing. What is clear to me however is that vodka is produced by distillation and apart from the fact that you can't discuss it on the Forum, it is very definitely illegal to produce any spirits by distillation, unless you have the necessary authorisation from HMRC with all the baggage that entails

 

[An Ankoù]

The wording in the UK legislation regarding the production of spirits seems a little open to interpretation, and so as I recall there was a fairly lengthy discussion on this Forum concerning the legality of concentrating 'spirits' by freezing. What is clear to me however is that vodka is produced by distillation and apart from the fact that you can't discuss it on the Forum, it is very definitely illegal to produce any spirits by distillation, unless you have the necessary authorisation from HMRC with all the baggage that entails

I rarely drink spirits, but I do like a good vodka. I think the difference between that and some dodgy moonshine is worth paying for such a treat. Either go into distilling seriously and legally, or leave it to the professionals, I would say.
Redistillation, too, needs decent kit if you don't want to blow half the town up.

 

[user 39656]

I rarely drink spirits, but I do like a good vodka. I think the difference between that and some dodgy moonshine is worth paying for such a treat. Either go into distilling seriously and legally, or leave it to the professionals, I would say.
Redistillation, too, needs decent kit if you don't want to blow half the town up.

My own intent is to of course do this legally, but it just seems like such a closed off industry to get into. If it is out of reach, then I wouldn't even bother. I just want to know realistically if its something you can throw a couple of grand into and learn or whether you need several years years of experience, tens of thousands and so on.

I know a small family run gin distillery has actually just opened nearby, so I may ask to see if they would be willing to let me do some voluntary work to learn the techniques and I'm going to call HMRC and find out what it realistically costs to acquire the licences from them. I'm already aware of the business plan and storage requirements.

 

[jof]

The small scale craft gin places I have visited usually buy in their base spirit (think strong vodka)

The gin distillation process is about extracting the flavours from the botanicals.

As such they are not doing the same distillation that you might think of for whiskey or vodka where you are extracting the ethanol from a weaker brewed product.