Anyone make their own ale?

[yotetrapper]

I recently got a beer making kit, and today I bottled my first batch. Will take a week for it to carbonate, the directions says. I tasted it today and tasted like beer, but was flat. Anyways, I was hoping to save money by making my own, but couldnt believe the price of the "kits". Anyone make their own from scratch, i.e. growing hops doing whatever it is that needs to be done to make a malt from barly? Or does anyone know where to buy ingredients cheaper?

 

[ticks]

My dad used to make his own beer when he was a mountain man with a full scruffy beard.

 

[BrookValley]

I don't have any helpful info for you, but I'll be interested to read other's responses. I'm itching to try making my own wine, but like you I can't believe the cost of the materials! I guess the kits are marketed more towards someone who just wants to make a batch of beer/wine as a novelty, and not really for someone who wants to make it on a more regular basis. I imagine there's got to be a good place to buy ingredients in bulk somewhere online. Hopefully someone will come along who knows of a good source.

 

[yotetrapper]

Wine ingredients are much cheaper than the beer ones. www.ECKraus.com has free shipping over $25. Can buy the chemicals over there (all of them) for less than $15, a $3 airlock, and spend the rest on yeast. For $25 should be able to make a bunch of wine!

 

[ncnative]

Just checked out that site, Yotetrapper and it is a keeper! I have always wanted to try to make strawberry wine........ a friend of my dh gave us some and it was wonderful! It was very strong so I mixed it with Sprite and it made quite a tasty treat!

Maybe I'll be inspired.............

 

[hoosier girl]

I have a wine recipe handed down from a friend that's ready to bottle just 9 days after you start it and doesn't require any preservatives or chemicals found in store bought wines. I've tried it using blackberries/elderberries and also grapes/elderberries. It makes a pretty sweet wine and is good cut with 7 up or ginger ale. If anyone is interested in trying the recipe, I'll post it.

Just checked out that site, Yotetrapper and it is a keeper! I have always wanted to try to make strawberry wine........ a friend of my dh gave us some and it was wonderful! It was very strong so I mixed it with Sprite and it made quite a tasty treat!

Maybe I'll be inspired.............

 

[yotetrapper]

Hoosier girl...does it require wine yeast, or bread yeast? If doesnt require wine yeast, I'm definitely in!

 

[hoosier girl]

the recipe calls for one cake of yeast, but I use plain old bread yeast that comes in the little packets.
BLACKBERRY WINE

Mash berries and strain through a clean pillow case or cheese cloth, or both, just be sure you have nothing but juice -- no seeds or no pulp. Measure juice and add an equal amount of water. Add three pounds of sugar for every gallon of liquid (juice and water combined). Make sure sugar is completely dissolved. Add one packet Fleischmanns yeast (dissolved in a small amount of hot water) to five gallons. One and one half to ten
gallons. Stir wine so that everything is mixed up well.
Cover crock with a sheet or towel so flies/bugs cant get to it but air can. Keep the crock in a warm location and skim the top off the wine once every day for nine days then bottle the wine. Glass containers are a lot better than plastic to bottle your wine because glass wont change the taste. I used quart canning jars. When you bottle your wine, use a clear hose to siphon it from the top of the crock so you can watch it to see that you dont get any of the sediment from the bottom of the crock.

 

[yotetrapper]

Alright, blackberries ahould be ripe here now, guess I'll take the plunge and try it!

 

[Ace]

We make our own wine from champenial grapes. It has a merlot taste and packs a punch.Once it's in your stomach it gives a warm feeling.