DIY ale

I've done it on and off for the best part of 30 years now - it can be as good (or bad) as you want... depends what you're looking for: when I started out, I was a poor student in a house full of brewers (bedroom 5 in the house was "the brewery" with 10 or 12 fermenting bins on the go at all times, it was quantity over quality there... now when I whack a brew on, it's all about the quality not the quantity.
 
I used to make my own beer, I have not made any for quite a while (20+ years) but I occasionally think of taking it up again.

As hunnymonster says it can be as good or as bad as you want but even with the best will in the world it can be a little hit and miss, and you never really know how good your brew will be until you actually try it. I've made made some excellent brews but I've made a couple or three rough ones as well!:icon_eek:

When it comes right it's beautiful! I'll swear it's as good as anything you can buy. A halt to the career has left me with time on my hands and the ferocious pub prices (combined with reduced income) has made me think of taking it up again.........

We'll wait and see!
 
Thanks Honeymonster and Mattlad.

To produce, say, 12 pints worth of product per week, what sort of investment in kit should I be looking to spend?

Are there any regulations to how much product you can produce, or, if you brew too much, are you allowed to sell it to recover the material costs?

Someone I once worked with was quite a keen brewer and had sheds of kit and expensive plumbing work done, he said he could occasionally sell a keg or two at a very small profit, he has since left the country and I'm not able to quiz him on the details, would this have been above board?
 
Only started last year using kits from Woodfordes. Approx 18 quid to make 40 pints after the initial cost of about 40 quid for the bin and keg.

Must get one on in next few weeks.

Half decent quality but need more pratice before i start attempting something more serious.
 
eneville said:
Thanks Honeymonster and Mattlad.

To produce, say, 12 pints worth of product per week, what sort of investment in kit should I be looking to spend?

Are there any regulations to how much product you can produce, or, if you brew too much, are you allowed to sell it to recover the material costs?

Someone I once worked with was quite a keen brewer and had sheds of kit and expensive plumbing work done, he said he could occasionally sell a keg or two at a very small profit, he has since left the country and I'm not able to quiz him on the details, would this have been above board?
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I have been brewing my own beer for the last cupple of years its great fun you will find most of the stuff you need to to know here have fun http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/index.htm
 
jon_hall said:
Only started last year using kits from Woodfordes. Approx 18 quid to make 40 pints after the initial cost of about 40 quid for the bin and keg.

Must get one on in next few weeks.

Half decent quality but need more pratice before i start attempting something more serious.
Click to expand...

What parts of the process would you say are the most difficult to get to grips with?
 
eneville said:
jon_hall said:
Only started last year using kits from Woodfordes. Approx 18 quid to make 40 pints after the initial cost of about 40 quid for the bin and keg.

Must get one on in next few weeks.

Half decent quality but need more pratice before i start attempting something more serious.
Click to expand...

What parts of the process would you say are the most difficult to get to grips with?
Click to expand...

Brewing from a can is as easy as you can get you just need to make sure all your equipment is clean and sanitized.
Its a good idea to list the whole process and tick off as you go along.
The woodfordes cans are good I wouldnt bother with the one kit cans as they arent up to much in .
 
eneville said:
Thanks Honeymonster and Mattlad.

To produce, say, 12 pints worth of product per week, what sort of investment in kit should I be looking to spend?

Are there any regulations to how much product you can produce, or, if you brew too much, are you allowed to sell it to recover the material costs?
Click to expand...

You can make as much beer as you like.

You are not allowed to sell a single drop of it.
 
eneville said:
What parts of the process would you say are the most difficult to get to grips with?
Click to expand...

Waiting for it to clear :icon_razz: - the longer you can leave it after it's been racked off from the primary fermentation (within reason) the better it gets.

Bottling is a pain in the arse - some sort of pressure vessel is the answer here (I have a 'stereo' pair - which in the past was one drinking, one clearing - must get some on the go :)) and if you need to take some elsewhere, well 2 litre plastic pop bottles are the answer to short term mobile beer needs (if you go down the bottling route, they're the easiest to handle too - 5 gallons of ale is 11-12 bottles rather than 40 pint bottles...)
 
I've dabbled with it a few times. I was going to say it's a few years since I last brewed any, but thinking about it, it's actually 13 years. Yikes.

I bottlied my ale, and as hunnymonster says, it's a massive PITA getting all the bottles clean. I think I've still got a pressure vessel in the loft... now I'm working from home, I might give it another go. :)
 
Brewing from the Woodfordes kits are a piece of piss, as HM says the longer you can leave it in the barrel to clear is better, in fact i'm due to buy a second keg purely so i can have two on the go (of different types) and as the cost comes to not much more than 40p a pint after the initial cost in getting started its a bargain as my local charges around 3 quid a pint these days.
 
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