Homebrew Kits

Alcohol is not cheap. Not if you buy it from shops ready made that is. An average bottle of bottom of the range wine will probably set you back a fiver, and a bottle of beer will easily cost you a couple of quid, probably more. As we approach Christmas, a season when people seem to imbibe rather more than normal, everyone is probably feeling the pinch a little more. There is another way.

I'm stocking up for christmas now; 30 bottles of wine, and 40 pints of beer. If I were to walk into my local 'offie' or Supermarket, that'd cost me maybe £100 for the wine, and £50 for the beer, as long as there were some decent offers. So lets call it £150 for the lot. I can't afford that.
What I am going to do is get the 30 bottles of wine, and 40 pints of beer and I'm going to spend less that 40 quid. And it's easy. Home Brew Kits.

I've made kits before, and while some brewers would probably turn their nose up at them I see absolutely no shame in it. After all it's basically extract or juice concentrate brewing. Don't get me wrong, without serious outlay you aren't going to get a vintage bottle of wine or an artisan crafted beer. But you do get a quite satisfactory tasting bottle of whatever you brew for a fraction of the cost of the equivalent shop bought drink. The 2 kits I am using are about as bottom of the range as I can find. The beer kit cost me £15 and the wine kit cost me £20. Add in £4 for 5kg of sugar and that's change from £40, with 500g sugar left over.

If you want to have a go and you've never brewed before, there will be another cost, which is the equipment. This isn't going to break the bank, they sell complete kits for around £20, but in fairness a barrel and spoon and a syphon are about all you need to brew from a kit, and you should be able to pick those up for between £10-£15. Add this one time outlay to your first brew total and you'll still be quids in.

The premise of both of the kits above, and in fact for any of these varieties of kits is very similar. Empty the "wet" contents of the kit into a large barrel, add boiling water and sugar, top up with cold water, add yeast and leave for 1-2 weeks. Stabilise and clear the contents of the barrel (for wine), bottle and leave for a week or so and it's ready to drink.
I'll admit that as someone who brews quite regularly I find sections of the instructions frustrating. The first 3 steps of the instructions which were INSIDE the kit told you what to do before you openened the packet. Not an issue if you don't open it before you're ready to start. I've never taken a temperature reading as they seem to think you must (probably to sell you a thermometer). In fact between a thermometer and a hydrometer I know what I'd choose. The little irks I have though are not in any way major, and the instructions are clear and concise enough for anyone to follow.

These are my 2 barrels just before the lids go on, wine on the left and beer on the right. The weird "scum" on the surface of the wine is actually wood chips. These was a new one on me for a wine kit so I'm interested to see if it adds anything extra to the flavour of the finished product.

I'll update on how these turn out just before Christmas when they're ready, but I wanted to get this post up now and throw the gauntlet down to anyone who wants to save a few pennies at Christmas. These kits come in all shapes, sizes, colours and flavours, so whatever your preference there will be a kit to match. Given that they are for sale in a lot of supermarkets nowadays you should be able to source one quickly. I'd love to hear from anyone who decides to give it a go. And if not for Christmas, maybe New Year!