How to Go from Shop Bought Beer and Wine to Homebrew

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by

James Walters
in
How to Go from Shop Bought Beer and Wine to Homebrew

Here we look at; The Homebrew Equipment That You’ll Need; Where to Buy Homebrew Equipment; and My Favourite Homebrew Recipes. This is one of over 40 ideas in our Sustainability Roadmap with Solutions to Climate Change, and part of our series on Eating Sustainably.

If you already know that you want to switch from buying beer and wine, here are the options to start making your own homebrew:

  1. River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze by John Wright*
  2. Balliihoo*
  3. Thermometer for liquids*
  4. Demi-Johns for homebrewing*
  5. The Malt Miller

If you want some more facts before making any decisions, let’s get into the details:

I’m looking at my copy of the River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze by John Wright*. It’s fairly taty. It’s had a LOT of use. It’s almost as tatty as my copy of the River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook* that I take out with me whenever I’m foraging for free food.

Find the River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon*

River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon

The fact that my brewing book is tatty, is a good reminder that I’ve brewed a lot of beer and wine, and saved a lot of money. It’s also one way to help climate change by cutting down on the conventional agriculture, packaging, and processing associated with mainstream wine and beer brands.

After buying the equipment, homebrewing is very low cost: Beer costs around 60 to 80 pence a pint; wine costs around 90 pence a bottle, if I can forage for the main ingredients. That’s quite a saving on shop bought beer and wine.

But, switching from buying beer and wine to making it at home does take some effort. It also takes some investment, depending on what you want to brew.

To learn how to homebrew, it’s best to buy yourself the River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze by John Wright*.

Find the River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon*

River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon

It’s an excellent book with all the details you need on equipment, recipes, and instructions for a lot of different types of infusions, wine, and beer.

For this piece I thought I’d give a heads up on my journey with homebrewing to see if it can help you get started, with less mistakes than I’ve made.

The Homebrew Equipment That You’ll Need

There is some crossover with the equipment you need for homebrewing wine and beer.

The Equipment That’s Used for Both Wine and Beer Brewing

  1. Thermometer for liquids*
  2. Siphon
  3. Hydrometer with trial glass (for measuring the gravity)
  4. Nylon straining bag (large enough to fit in the a fermentation bucket

Wine Making Equipment Is the Most Simple

  1. Fermenting bucket (with lid and airlock)
  2. Demi-johns (multiple so you can have different wines fermenting)
  3. Airlocks and bungs (to go in the demi-johns)
  4. Corks and corker (if your wine bottles are not screw top)

You’ll also need wine bottles. It’s easiest, and free, to reuse bottles that you’ve already drunk, or ask family and friends to save theirs.

Beer Making Equipment Depends on How You Want to Brew

If you buy a beer making kit then you can use pretty much the same equipment as homebrewing wine. If you want to homebrew beer ‘properly’, with malts and grain, then you’ll need more kit.

  1. Stockpot that can hold 30 litres (and will work on your cooker hob)
  2. 25 litre fermentation bucket with lid (for the mash stage)
  3. 25 litre fermentation bucket (you’ll drill holes in the bottom to strain grains)
  4. 30 litre fermentation bucket with lid (you’ll cut a hole in the lid to collect wort)
  5. A lid (inc airlock) that will also fit the 30 litre fermentation bucket
  6. Garden hose (see note below)
  7. Cask (if you are going to keep the beer in a cask)
  8. Bottles (if you are going to keep the beer in bottles)

Using a Garden Hose for Homebrewing:

This is my low cost tip that’s fantastic for the cooling stage of homebrewing beer.

If you homebrew beer using malts and grains, you’ll spend a lot of time waiting for liquid to heat up then waiting for liquid to cool down.

25 litres of liquid takes a LONG time to cool down on its own.

To get the best result and flavour from your homebrew, and to avoid being up until 3am; as you get to the end of the beer brewing process, it’s super important to cool the liquid as quickly as possible, without stirring the liquid.

I tried putting the bucket of liquid in the bath with cold water around the edge.

I tried putting the bucket of liquid in a large builders bucket with cold water and ice packs around the edge.

Both were useless. The liquid took HOURS to cool…

Here’s the perfect, low cost, solution:

  1. Buy a hard plastic style garden hose that you’ll use just for homebrewing
  2. Sterilise it so it’s clean
  3. Connect it to the cold tap
  4. Coil it up
  5. Gently put the coiled up hose into the hot liquid
  6. Make sure the end of the hose is somewhere that will drain water
  7. Gently turn on the cold tap
  8. Cold water will move through the hose, taking away heat from the liquid
Using a garden hose to cool liquid when making homebrew beer
Here’s an example of the garden hose that I use for cooling the liquid, pictured sterilising in the fermentation bucket

Normal Equipment from the Kitchen

You’ll also need these items, but you’re likely to already have them in your kitchen:

  1. Weighing scales
  2. Measuring jug (ideally 2-litres)
  3. Large saucepan (5 litres for wine, 30 litres for beer)
  4. Long handled spoon (for stirring liquid in the fermenting bucket)
  5. Large funnel
  6. Large sieve / colander
  7. Whisk

Where to Buy Homebrew Equipment

The homebrew shops that I’ve found to be the best are:

Equipment and wine yeasts from Balliihoo*.

Find Demi-Johns for Homebrewing Here on Amazon*

Beer brewing ingredients including ale yeasts from The Malt Miller (although, before I order more malt, I will be looking for organic options).

Cleaning Is an Essential Part of Homebrewing

It takes effort to make wine and beer. Beer is ready fairly quickly, some recipes within 20 days, but wine needs to mature for at least a year. It would be a waste of time and money to have a failed batch because the equipment wasn’t clean.

Sterilising your equipment is an essential part of home brewing. It will help to avoid problems and failures from the wrong microorganisms getting into your homebrew.

My Favourite Homebrew Recipes

Here are my favourite recipes from the River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze*.

Homebrew Wine Recipes

The main ingredient for most of these wine recipes can be foraged for free, nice!

  1. Elderberry wine
  2. Blackberry wine
  3. Cherry plum wine
  4. Sloe wine
  5. Sparkling elderflower wine
  6. Mead (although this costs more as it needs honey)
  7. Ginger wine

Homebrew Cider

I haven’t made homebrew cider yet. The recipe is super simple, but it needs specific equipment that can be expensive.

I have some apple trees at the allotment so I’ll have a go at doing a low cost cider, without the expensive equipment, then I’ll post an update.

Homebrew Beer

I do the ‘proper’ homebrew with malts and grains. It takes me approximately 1-day to make a 25 litre batch. It’s not a full day of brewing, there are long periods when I’m waiting for liquid to heat up or cool down, but I do need to be around all day to do things at the right time.

My first homebrew was the first recipe that is recommended in the River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze*, the orange pale ale recipe. I then had a go at ordinary bitter and rauchbier. Now, I just stick with the orange pale ale recipe, but without the orange, because it’s one of the easiest recipes, very consistent, and low cost.

I bought a year’s worth of ingredients to make orange pale ale, from The Malt Miller, and I think it worked out at about 60 pence a pint.

Start Homebrewing

My main recommendation is to get started. It’s a great experience to brew your own wine and beer.

I’m not an expert so it’s best to get the river cottage handbook, do your research, buy your kit, then get cracking:

Find the River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon*

River Cottage Booze Handbook Here on Amazon

Here Is What You Can Do

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Sources Used to Create This

  1. River Cottage Handbook No.12 on Booze by John Wright*
  2. Balliihoo*
  3. Thermometer for liquids*
  4. Demi-Johns for fermenting wine*
  5. The Malt Miller

Production Notes

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.

* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.