Kits for 1 gallon glass demijohn

[shevyshock]

Hey guys.... ive taken the plunge ans get myself some kit together to start my first homebrew. As im a new Brewer and this is my first brew, I wajt to be completely sure before I start. As far as I can see all the kits I have seen are for 5 gallon containers. Maybe im wrong and u just cant see any. I didnt want to start a 5 gallon brew until im sure I could do it correctly so I decided to start small at first. Could anybody recommend what I should brew in it. Doesnt really matter what it is as its just a test run for me to test out my knowledge I have picked up so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing the end result. Thanks in advance.

 

[bobsbeer]

Depends what you like to drink. Red or White wine? They do 1 gal kits. Have a look at the Beverdale range of 6 bottle kits.

 

[shevyshock]

White wine would be ok il take a look at those. Is it ok for primary fermenting in a demijohn? The kit I have is a 1gallon glass demijohn and bung with bubbler airlock. Sterilizer, hydrometer, thermometer 12" (spirit) and 4.5ltr auto syphon. im not sure what I should use to give it a good stare. Dont thinkcany ive seen would fit down the neck of the demijohn. Was going to get one of those stick on thermometer strips but dont think they would work on glass.

 

[bobsbeer]

Yes you can start them off in the DJ. For kit wines you don't need to rack for secondary fermenting, but you will need to rack into another DJ to stabilise and add finings. If you only have one DJ then get a 5 litre bottle of water and use that as a second DJ to rack into. Don't worry too much about the temp if it's indoors, just try to keep the room temperature below 25c and above about 16c. Ideal is about 20c

 

[shevyshock]

Cheers buddy. I'll nip down to my local supermarket and grab one of those big plastic bottles of water with the handle. Cant wait to see the results. Im like a kid on Christmas day lol cant wait to get stuck in :) shall post results and maybe some pics of my work in progress.

EDIT: Sorry if this is a stupid question but what do u mean when u say about adding finnings? Are these important? I understand that I need to take it off the yeast after primary fermenting has finished actually should have considered that lol forgot

 

[SloeBrewer]

California Connoisseur do 6-bottle kits, i.e. 1 gallon. They come in red and white varieties and are considered premium kits, as they use high-quality concentrated grape juice. You are looking at about £13 for a 6-bottle kit. I've done two red kits and they have both turned out very nice indeed.

You will need 2 demijohns as after fermentation is finished you rack (syphon) the wine off the sediment. The kits contain all the bits you need and have very good instructions.

You can also try country wine kits (such as elderflower & Elderberry, black cherry and so on), from places like Wilkinsons, that come in 6-bottle kits. These kits are cheaper and need added sugar.

 

[shevyshock]

California Connoisseur do 6-bottle kits, i.e. 1 gallon. They come in red and white varieties and are considered premium kits, as they use high-quality concentrated grape juice. You are looking at about £13 for a 6-bottle kit. I've done two red kits and they have both turned out very nice indeed.

You will need 2 demijohns as after fermentation is finished you rack (syphon) the wine off the sediment. The kits contain all the bits you need and have very good instructions.

You can also try country wine kits (such as elderflower & Elderberry, black cherry and so on), from places like Wilkinsons, that come in 6-bottle kits. These kits are cheaper and need added sugar.

Il maybe check out the connoisseur kit for my first batch..... ive seen a few of them online. Like is said not really too fussy about what it is at the min. Just making sure that I can do it first. I'll more than likely have 1 class and give it to my wife and mother and let them drink it and then get myself a 2 five gallon buckets for some beers. Thanks for your input guys.

 

[shevyshock]

Yes you can start them off in the DJ. For kit wines you don't need to rack for secondary fermenting, but you will need to rack into another DJ to stabilise and add finings. If you only have one DJ then get a 5 litre bottle of water and use that as a second DJ to rack into. Don't worry too much about the temp if it's indoors, just try to keep the room temperature below 25c and above about 16c. Ideal is about 20c

So I see the finnings are used in the secondary to help clear the wine of its cloudiness. I was looking at the Alcotec Turbo Klar. Is this the sort of thing u mean? That was the first I hard heard about thay part of the process.

 

[stevie1556]

California Connoisseur kits are good. I made a Zinfandel Rose, quick, easy, and I'm hoping it tastes good (I'm leaving it in the bottles for a while).

If you want something that's quick, and more importantly cheap, for your first brew, you can make Wurzels Orange Wine (WOW). It works out about 60p a bottle and is considerably cheaper then a kit.

 

[shevyshock]

California Connoisseur kits are good. I made a Zinfandel Rose, quick, easy, and I'm hoping it tastes good (I'm leaving it in the bottles for a while).

If you want something that's quick, and more importantly cheap, for your first brew, you can make Wurzels Orange Wine (WOW). It works out about 60p a bottle and is considerably cheaper then a kit.

Cheers for that buddy. Might actually take u up in that simply for the price as its a first brew. That way if I do f**k it uo it wont hurt me in the pocket that much although it will rip the heart from me lol I really only want to trial run the process so im sure im aware of what in doing before moving on to bigger and better batches. Makes sense :)

 

[Brewtrog]

Honestly, you're unlikely to do anything wrong with a 5 gallon kit, but youngs do their brew buddy in both 1 and 5 gallon kits, both easily available from tescos. As to whether you should do a white or red, that's up to you, personally I like the merlot, but it's personal preference. Good luck either way.

 

[Moley]

So I see the finings are used in the secondary to help clear the wine of its cloudiness. I was looking at the Alcotec Turbo Klar. Is this the sort of thing u mean? That was the first I had heard about that part of the process.

If you are making a kit wine it will almost certainly come with a stopper/stabiliser sachet and its own finings. There should be nothing else to buy, apart from sugar in some of the lower end kits.

If you were making wines from bought ingredients such as the Wurzel's Orange or other similar juice wines then you might want to use finings to clear the wine faster, although they should always clear naturally if left alone for a month or two. The Alcotec products aren't suitable for general wine making, in my opinion Ritchie's Kwik Clear is the best available.

 

[shevyshock]

No I wont be using natural ingredients yet, maybe just a kit. That said, I was checking out craigtube and watched him start a 1gallon batch of hard apple cider. Weather it is easy or not I do not know but he made it look so simple. I want to start of small at first and this hard apple cider looks the best for me. Jus 4ltrs of pure apple juice, no preservatives etc. Should I just let the yeast feed on the natural sugers or could I add extra suger to give them a little extra to feed on for fermenting? Regards.

 

[oldbloke]

No I wont be using natural ingredients yet, maybe just a kit. That said, I was checking out craigtube and watched him start a 1gallon batch of hard apple cider. Weather it is easy or not I do not know but he made it look so simple. I want to start of small at first and this hard apple cider looks the best for me. Jus 4ltrs of pure apple juice, no preservatives etc. Should I just let the yeast feed on the natural sugers or could I add extra suger to give them a little extra to feed on for fermenting? Regards.

1st, a plea: Only in the USA is it necessary to put "hard apple" in front of "cider"

I make this all the time, it's my wife's standard Friday night tipple. Sometimes I prefer it to beer...
It's quick and easy to make (you just chuck it all into a demi), and cheap
As yeast sachets will easily split between two demis I usually make 2 gallons at a time.

No need to add sugar, it'll come out 5.5%ish anyway - quite enough
Cheapo supermarket from-concentrate juice is fine, but the flavour will be a bit lacking
Simplest fix is to use 1/2litre of something else, eg cranberry, just to round it out a bit
It needs tannin - put a mug of sillystrong tea in it
And a bit of yeast nutrient helps it get going
It'll be very dry made this way, so you might want to add a little Splenda (or other non-fermentable sweetener)
Takes 10 to 20 days to ferment, when it clears bottle it, with a little priming sugar of you want some fizz.
2weekswarm2weekscold and it's ready but improves if left longer

To improve it a lot, add up to 1tsp/gallon malic acid, and leave it to mature several months after the initial fermentation, so a malolactic fermentation can happen. Try to source a yeast that has the bacteria for this in ti - a bottle of Old Rosie has it. Mine never stays around long enough for me to have bothered with thsi bit yet.

 

[shevyshock]

No I wont be using natural ingredients yet, maybe just a kit. That said, I was checking out craigtube and watched him start a 1gallon batch of hard apple cider. Weather it is easy or not I do not know but he made it look so simple. I want to start of small at first and this hard apple cider looks the best for me. Jus 4ltrs of pure apple juice, no preservatives etc. Should I just let the yeast feed on the natural sugers or could I add extra suger to give them a little extra to feed on for fermenting? Regards.

1st, a plea: Only in the USA is it necessary to put "hard apple" in front of "cider"

I make this all the time, it's my wife's standard Friday night tipple. Sometimes I prefer it to beer...
It's quick and easy to make (you just chuck it all into a demi), and cheap
As yeast sachets will easily split between two demis I usually make 2 gallons at a time.

No need to add sugar, it'll come out 5.5%ish anyway - quite enough
Cheapo supermarket from-concentrate juice is fine, but the flavour will be a bit lacking
Simplest fix is to use 1/2litre of something else, eg cranberry, just to round it out a bit
It needs tannin - put a mug of sillystrong tea in it
And a bit of yeast nutrient helps it get going
It'll be very dry made this way, so you might want to add a little Splenda (or other non-fermentable sweetener)
Takes 10 to 20 days to ferment, when it clears bottle it, with a little priming sugar of you want some fizz.
2weekswarm2weekscold and it's ready but improves if left longer

To improve it a lot, add up to 1tsp/gallon malic acid, and leave it to mature several months after the initial fermentation, so a malolactic fermentation can happen. Try to source a yeast that has the bacteria for this in ti - a bottle of Old Rosie has it. Mine never stays around long enough for me to have bothered with thsi bit yet.

Thanks, im definitely going to try this "cider". I will definitely be carbonating it. When u said "two weeks warm two weeks cold" would that be 2 weeks between 17-22 and 2 weeks in the fridge?

 

[oldbloke]

Thanks, im definitely going to try this "cider". I will definitely be carbonating it. When u said "two weeks warm two weeks cold" would that be 2 weeks between 17-22 and 2 weeks in the fridge?

I don't use the fridge, but you can. My garage never gets up above about 12 even in summer, that's cool enough - it just helps the CO2 from the 2weekswarm get absorbed by the cider instead of all hiding under the cap.

 

[shevyshock]

Thanks, im definitely going to try this "cider". I will definitely be carbonating it. When u said "two weeks warm two weeks cold" would that be 2 weeks between 17-22 and 2 weeks in the fridge?

I don't use the fridge, but you can. My garage never gets up above about 12 even in summer, that's cool enough - it just helps the CO2 from the 2weekswarm get absorbed by the cider instead of all hiding under the cap.

Thanks! Ive settled on a cider. Im definitely going to do this. Thanks for all you guys who forwarded input. Just one thing is it ok to add suger to boost the alcohol from a 5.5% to something a tiny bit higher. This isn't really an issue. Just curious.

 

[oldbloke]

You can (rule of thumb: 20g/litre=1%) and a few people do, but it really doesn't need it.

Worth mentioning as you're a beginner: anything you make in a demijohn wants at least half a litre of headspace for the first few days, or it'll escape.
With the cider I top up on day4.

 

[shevyshock]

You can (rule of thumb: 20g/litre=1%) and a few people do, but it really doesn't need it.

Worth mentioning as you're a beginner: anything you make in a demijohn wants at least half a litre of headspace for the first few days, or it'll escape.
With the cider I top up on day4.

Thanks for the heads up. I think I read somewere about filling it to just below the nect of the DJ. Also before I start im going to calibrate it with duck tape per litre. When u say u top up do u just add water?

 

[oldbloke]

You can (rule of thumb: 20g/litre=1%) and a few people do, but it really doesn't need it.

Worth mentioning as you're a beginner: anything you make in a demijohn wants at least half a litre of headspace for the first few days, or it'll escape.
With the cider I top up on day4.

Thanks for the heads up. I think I read somewere about filling it to just below the nect of the DJ. Also before I start im going to calibrate it with duck tape per litre. When u say u top up do u just add water?

Top up to the neck with 1/2l of juice (or a bit more) you held back when you started it off. You don't get enough apple if you start chucking water in it.