Home brew? Homebrew? Winemaking

The coldbrew tasted good. Bit sweet once sugared up. Demijohn is starting to burp.

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Elderflower bubbling away nicely too.

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We are having a bit of a clear out and have a little bit of brewing kit going spare.

Anybody want one of these apple presses? Free to a good home if you can pick up from SE10 this week.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F390924365087

^ nice offer!

Redcurrants preparing in Sugar... likely to add Gin as that's in the house already, thinking a vodka version too!

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I would love this if no-one else has taken it yet? I'm in SE13 so I can do pick up easily this week

Almost ready for gin, in other news these have reappeared in garden after my partner dug lots (them all) out. Happy days.

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First attempt at cider

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Not sure whats going on here. It certainly smells like cider. This is week 3

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Out Tayberries have fruited. Loads of fruit so would like to use these for something.
Have added to the Kombucha brew but would like to make something alcoholic with them.
Thinking of a fruit beer perhaps.

Any suggestions?

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Wit beer or a saison

Wit beer. Good suggestion. I've not made one yet.
I'll try a small gallon batch to test this weekend.

@mustardbeak just left my flat with an apple press and two bottles of my latest scrumpy.

If you don't hear from him for a while, prob a good idea to perform a welfare check.

Just woke up in a park with no shoes and and I haven't even opened them yet.

Thanks very much for the press, I'll return a few bottles to you when I do my first batch!

Need a recipe recommendation. Friend has just started brewing and wants to set up a 10l batch with me when I go visit next week. Would like to do something modern in style, reasonably hoppy and funky. Cellar manager down the pub recommended something like Howling Hops Tropical Deluxe. Anyone got anything good to share?

Hello Brewers, figured this may be the best place to ask.
Having spent a few holidays in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Liverpool & Wiltshire and been to some wonderful breweries that sell lovely session ales in mini kegs, wondering if anyone knows of any breweries in Kent where I'd be able to easily drive to to get some brewery fresh amazing ales?

Brewed a batch today of a Belgian-style Dubbel which I had done previously (beginning of summer), and had proved successful - judging by taste and rate of inebriation, I reckon it was about 5-6%. The last time I did it I didn't measure the OG and I was confused about temperatures (all the recipes seem to be Fahrenheit!) so I mashed at quite a high temperature. This time I have been more careful about both, mashing closer to the recommended temp (70 C), but the OG has been very low. I know these beers usually have added sugar, in order to get them up to 6-8% ABV but I thought that they would still be relatively high gravity readings before adding the sugar, but it has come up around 1.02.
Other key factors are:

• I have done BIAB both times
  
• I don't have any one vessel large enough, so I tend to brew different grains of the mash separately, so they aren't really ever all together until the last point.
  
• I did "over-sparge" (because it wasn't "rinsing clear" as some suggest it should) so my pre boil volume was probably 45L, where I had planned on more like 40L
  
  

So my question is - should I just add more sugar to make up the difference to get an OG of 1.06 (recipe actually says to shoot for 1.08, as final gravity tends to be higher in this style?), or just stick with what I have now with only slightly too much sugar (probably around 1.045-1.05?

Gained access to a scratter earlier this evening, great fun.

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Some of you may remember my mead that wouldn't stop fermenting. Well I dug out out of the back of the cupboard the other day and it looked good to bottle so I now have 6 bottles ageing and the remaining ⅔ have been very much enjoyed!

Still fairly sweet and flavour is good, could have more complexity but that will come with age, fairly sweet still so potentially dangerous at about 7%.

Bottled some elderberry wine at the same time and that's not great so hopefully it will improve with age!

mead

Sounds good!

I got 7l from my press. Going to skip Camden tabs and let it ferment with the wild yeasts that are present.

^ that stuffs odour changes between vinegar & nice dry (a 1l sample I racked) hoping the 5l comes good.

Got more apples unexpected so another 7l juiced (not pressed) so slightly foamy. Campden in, yeast adding tomorrow will hopefully be able to get it quickly into 5l & 2l demijohns once fermenting has begun.

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^ bubbling away nicely

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Anyone want a load of swingtop brown bottles, bottle caps and a capping machine?

yes please - pm coming!