Brewing From a Kit: The Basics

Having truly now been bitten by the brewing bug! I thought it best to share some of the little wisdom I have learned along the way.....so far.

I have only made a 40pint beer kit and a 6 bottle red wine kit to date, but I have learned a thing or two which hopefully will help anyone getting into the home brew hobby.

One of the first things I discovered is that there a loads and loads of brewers/wine makers out there! Some will drink pretty much anything and some take it very VERY seriously!

Before brewing anything I thought wort was the same thing as a wart! Beer and wine making were the same thing and I didn't know there was a difference between sterilize and sanitize, although I still regularly use the wrong word!

Let me address some of the points:

So what is Wort?
Well it seems that wort is the liquid or brew before it is fermented. Once fermentation has taken place it magically is beer, wine or spirit etc.

All home brew is the same thing, or process........WRONG! I never had a clue that the processes in beer, wine and spirit making were so different. It seems that each area has specialist equipment and to be extremely knowledgeable across all areas will take some time. Certainly longer than I've been doing it!

Do you sanitize or sterilize?! Well generally the equipment is sanitized, which in lay mans terms means cleaned very well. Sterilized means it's perfectly clean, which is pretty hard to achieve....but I still prefer to say sterilized! And does it really matter? Well in the grand scheme of things probably not but sanitized is probably the word I should be using.

I also got hung up on what is a PET bottle, 'cos I'd never heard of one before and the most confusing (for me) the hydrometer test.

Please click on the links above to see my videos on them.

Also if your starting out, stick to the ingredients, recipe or guides. Don't go all maverick too early or it may become an expensive hobby with poor results. If you have any good, easy recipes then please share them, as I find them I'll try the ones that I fancy the most and review them etc.

It may also pay dividends to invest in the right equipment, I still don't have a funnel.....and it would really help!

Thanks for reading and happy brewing! :)

What's in the Coopers DIY Beer Kit

A closer look at what is actually in the Coopers kit. I opted for the Australian Lager kit and looking forward to brewing a few other types and brands in it etc.

Hope you like the video, please let me know your thoughts on it, bear in mind I'm still settling into the whole video thing :)

Wilko: Cabernet Sauvignon Starter Kit

Here's what's in the Wilko 6 bottle red wine starter kit. I think it's great! 

When starting out with these sort of hobbies it can be a little confusing.....well it has been for me! I'm rapidly learning though as I don't particularly want to mess up one of my beer or wine projects! :)

I'll be making this kit in a few weeks so watch out for the video and let me know if you have any hints or tips for an easy to make beginner wine! Thanks for reading/watching! :)

Coopers DIY Beer Kit 2016

The brewing bug has taken it's first tentative steps and invested in the coopers DIY Beer Kit.

This kit includes pretty much everything you need to get your first home brew under way. As I say in the 2nd video it's a shame they don't actually include a DVD and a sterilizer or sanitizer would be great for the next brew.

Overall though it's a pretty comprehensive kit and although it may seem a little pricey, as you can re-use most of the kit it means you'll be producing relatively inexpensive alcoholic beverages before you know it.

Hope you like my first video, sorry about the sound issues, there appears to be a slight problem with the sound when I record. :)