home brewing

twoheadedcow

even the dirtiest most disgusting brands of beer even cost at least a euro a can these days, so home brewing seems to be an idea. i found a website www.beersmugglers.com which sets you up to make beer for 26euro, once you have this equipment you can just buy beer kits that are as little as 6 euro to make 40 pints. anyone drank home brew? i am going to order it to give it a whirl, 40 pints for 6-12 euro seems pretty good to me. they have a range of kits aswell.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

zAbbo

but then either is budweiser, i say try it and have a damn good time testing it;)

twoheadedcow

well, i know someone who used to make his own brew, but he started from scratch, with the basic ingredients and heaters and all sorts of mad ****.. it tasted quite good. shure i'll give it a spin, may as well... even if it's not the best, i still get 40 pints for 40 euro total.

zAbbo

yeah or sell it to students

Gordon

Dad used to make home brew wine. He needed all sorts of filters and bottles and jugs etc... and a warm place.

I think I have tried the home beer, it's drinkable. But yes, deffo just sell it to students claiming 50% alcohol level!

Occidental

Have done a lot of beer and wine over the last few years and most of it has turned out fairly good. I'd start with one of the quick kits, they've improved a lot over the last few years and there is now a much better range as well. Patients and cleanliness are generally the key to success, although I've had disasters where I thought I'd done everything right and great beer when I thought I'd made a mess of it.

You'll either enjoy doing it or you'll think it's too much hassle, and that more than anything will decide whether you do it again.

Rabies

here is another site for anyone interested

http://www.leeners.com/brewery.html

po0k

My father used to distill wine and brew a bit of beer.
Was way too ikkle to try it though.
Most of the equipment is either broken, borrowed by someone else, or too dirty to use now.

My cousin made some homebrew cider before, afaik he left it in the ground to brew.
Didn't know for definate how it turned out, but I think it came out ok....

OLDYELLAR

m this could be a very interesting little project , me thinks !

whiteshadow

i make homebrew wine.. ive been doing it since i moved out about a year ago, ..it's so ridiculously easy to do and prices in pubs are getting so outrageous that i reckon EVERYBODY should do it.

now i get 40 pints on .nice red wine for only about €32

Initially to get a large 5 gallon it's a bit more, but youre only talking like 25 for all the equipment, and 4 bags of sugar.
you can even get a starter kit.

and here's the good thing, it's called solomn grundy's wine kit,
their slogan is "started on monday, drunk by sunday", sometimes it takes like 7 days if you don't have a heating mat (which i don't) but it doesn't matter having one,

it's lovely stuff n gets ye pished!


we get it someplace out in rathmines

do it everybody.

phobos

The first time I tried home brew it was a good few years back, and with wine. I was in a mate's house and his Dad, came in with two glasses of (what looked like rosé) wine. It looked perfect, and tasted better. I'd honestly say it was the best tasting wine I'd ever had, but it was too easy to drink and that was probably it's downfall. Once we had that glass, myself and my mate spent the evening in his back garden drinking the stuff. We ended up getting plastered, and went clubbing. Twas the cheapest night I'd had out in years.

In more recent times (a couple of months ago), I was in a student house, and a mate had his attempts of beer in 2ltr bottles for us, ready to go. Thankfully it didn't cost anything (to us), because it was sooo bad I had to leave half of my bottle back. I just couldn't, it was wrong/evil. My best description of it would be watery Smithwicks. It had the colour, and it felt like it was too watered down. But the funny part is, that it couldn't have been mostly water, because it was quite potent. The lads that ended up finishing it, were monged.

Anyway past experiences have taught me to give the beer kits a skip, and focus on the wine. I could live on wine, I love the stuff. For some reason I have my best nights out when on wine. One that springs to mind, which was hallarious was at Trojan's graduation. Myself, himself, his sister, and his course coordinator, all sat in the college canteine robbing wine. We attended the wine reception of two grad ceremonies that day, and enjoyed it immensely. We were well on it leaving the college, coz I remember finding a full glass in my inside pocket (for later on ). Also in college, there was a wine & cheese reception in the lobby during arts week. Bugger all people knew about it, so there was more than enough wine for all of us. We ended up bringing it back up to the lab. Twas good craic chilling with a broadband connection, and some fine wine, and cheese.

;-phobos-)

po0k

heeh
Looking forward to some more of that this year

sceptre

Might try some of the wine kits - wouldn't go near the beer.

It's been too long since a nice bank would give us 400 nicker in college for a "cheese and wine reception" (which meant buying one bottle of wine, a block of cheese and running around Dunnes offlicence with a trolley:D)

kenmc

Yeah I was looking at that beersmugglers site, thinking of setting up a homebrew project. I love drinking beer, the more obscure the better, and having lived in Eindhoven for 18 months got to try most of the nearby Belgian beers, and can definitely say that the Belgians make the bestest beer in the world.
Anyway, I digress... did you end up getting the kit, and if so how did it turn out. What did you need to get to get up and running????
Kenmc

Ronan|Raven

I got all the kit a while back, Fermenting Bin, Keg and CO2 canister. Purchsed one of the all in one kits (just add water and sugar) It turned out to put it mildly undrinkable! Well you could have drank it but I wouldnt guarentee surviving it intact! I still cant figure out what went wrong but im going trying again this time getting help from a former brewer! Hygeine is of the greatest importance to prevent contamination of the beer.

kenmc

did you get the kit from beersmugglers??? i'm hoping to put something like this on my xmas list, but want to be sure that I get enough bits and bobs to start it up on xmas afternoon, when there's f*ck all else to be doing......
I tried looking at the beginners kit on beersmugglers.com, and there's a link that's supposed to list the whole shebang for beginners - everything you need to get started - but for some reason the link redirects me to the page I've just been looking at. stupid redirection broken.... grrrrr
I also had a catalogue from grape and grain if I'm not mistaken... (http://www.grapengraindublin.com/) - they used be a shop in Ranelagh, cos me ould man used go there to get homebrew wine supplies. think they're mail order only now (
K

rubadub

wine is far easier since you dont have the hassle of capping and secondary fermentation. there are 7 day wine kits which do just that. you buy it today and will be drinking it 7 days later. it is more efficient time and space wise since it is so much stronger than beer, if getting sloshed on the cheap is what you want it is the way to go.
the best beer kits are ones which you dont add sugar to, hambelton bard did a good bavarian pure malt extract kit a few years back, dont know if it is still available

then of course there is the ultimate website www.homedistiller.org

tovalee

http://www.mrbeer.co.uk/

I'm not sure that with the shipping it would be cheaper than buying it, but the beer is fantastic and practically idiot proof. The octoberfest vienna lager is nice, theres a cider brew kit too.

Musashi

Keep everything spotless and leave the thing long enough to settle out and the kits are drinkable and very strong beer!
Just going knocking up a lager and a stout kit now!
Never had a go at the wine kits but I'd love to make a lash of Mead!!

marillionhead

i am glad you got our catalouge ken mc but if i may i think i have to correct a little of your information . Grape N Grain Dublin is not a mail order company . we are a delivery service . we deliver home brew in the Dublin area . many of our customers form the country meet us in locations of thier choice in and around Dublin city . we can send orders out by post but have found this to be really expensive . if you are buying more then one 30 bottle wine kit (especially beaverdale or selection as they weight a lot ) it is not really worth your while . better and cheaper to meet my Father and myself in Dublin !
ronan raven if you are interested in brewing again contact me by going to my web site www.grapengraindublin.com , use the e-mail address there and i will answer any questions you may need .
the main thing i find when people make beer they want it ready in a few days and this can cause a lot of badly made beer. it is important to follow the instructions and be patient .
there is a new beer making system being introduced now called the microbrewery . it has improved the old way of making beer a hell of a lot . there are no longer 2 stages of fermentation . you add the concentrate and water to your sterilised keg and let it ferment out . then you add gas form the gas bulb and you can drink it . the keg as a flaot system and tap . no more meed to transfere from fermenter to keg or bottles . it costs 74 euros
( plus 4 euro delivery charge ) to make 40 pints and includes the woodfordes ale kit . after you make the ale you can buy any beer kit listed in our catalogue from 8-95 to 25-00 . even though i am not a huge ale drinker
( lager is my drink of choice ) i have used the system and i can personally vouch that the ale is a very tasty drink and that it is easy to make . i have also made a lager in it which came out fine as well . it still takes the same amount of time 3 weeks to a month .
for anyone thinking lof starting out on wine making we have the Beaverdale start up kits. all the euipment to make 6 or 30 bottles plus a Beaverdale kit of your chioce . the 6 bottle kit costs 35 euros the 30 bottle kit costs 82-00 plus 4 euros delivery charge .
toall those here who have ugh won;t try that why not give it a try and you might be surprised at the quality of beer and wine you can make . it is not difficult either . i have been working with Dad since 1993 and even in that time the quality of the end product and how easy it is to make it has improved beyond belife !
cheers
Linda
www.grapengraindublin.com

pickarooney

When I were a lad, we used to live on the stuff in college. Beer, wine, champagne, schnapps, we always had at least one brew on the go. Mostly it was in the bad, but drinkable category, but every so often we'd end up with a clear, delicious lager or a sweet, nutty ale. The alcopops were probly the nicest, and the cheapest to make - elderflowers and sugar were fairly student friendly - but probably the most brain-damaging in the long run. At the time (mid-90s) there was a fairly big section in Eason's on O'Connell St. selling all the kits and gear - about 40 of your earth pounds to get the kegs, buckets, filters, tubes and heating mat and 5-6 quid for a 40-pint batch.

rubadub

All that equipment is for lady-men & ponces
Get yourself a 25l washing up liquid container or veg oil container from a restuarant, we used to get them in the college canteen. I knew a guy who used to make a brew from orange juice and sugar (chateau de mountjoy) he used refuse to buy bottles and at one time I remember him drinking out of a head & shoulders bottle!
if doing cider or beer it is cheaper to buy cheap lemonade in 2l bottles and pour it down the sink. I used to use reusable press on crown caps for 330ml bottles. Beer in bottles is very cheap these days so everybody has empties about.

The best stuff I have tired available in grape n grain is the tom caxton larger, cwe cider, and solomon grundy "started on monday drunk by sunday" (literally!)