In an effort to minimise the effects of the Credit runch, I have been pondering the idea of home brewing. i’ve seen it done in places like Norway, where alcohol duty means that many people simply brew their own hooch, and surely it can’t be that difficult?

Anyone got any experience, and tips, do’s and don’ts?

Think Don’t get caught is the biggest of the "don’ts" especially if it’s a bit more than home brew wine or beer.

home brewing or home distilling?

Not sure I’d trust myself making a spirit!

Make cider on quite a large scale with a few freinds every year and normally make a couple of lots of beer.

check ebay out for kit!

Make crack instead, the profit margin is higher.

I used to make my own beer from kits, and some of it was pretty good. Some of it wasn’t, but it was very cheap and strong. Keep it all very clean is the main thing to rememeber.

And brewing at home is perfectly legal, so long as you don’t sell it.

Home brewing of wine or beer is legal but ditilling spirits isn`t AFAIK

Do buy a pickup truck, wear dungarees, call yourself Rab, Bo or Gunner and run for the county line! Listen to Steve Earle and the Dukes.
I have brewed beer for many years and found it very satifying, a least you know whats going into youR drink, unlike laegers.
Beware it can be very very strong.
Avoid distilling, the methanol makes you blgfdsrvaHSTSN… WHERE’S THE KEYBOARD GONE 😀

all you need…http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketdog/3203653786/

There are some excellent home brew beer kits now available. Spend a few £££’s and you’ll be fine. Kits like Whoodforde’s are great. Cheap kits are a waste of time and money, they’re awful.

or this…
http://www.stroh.co.uk/stroh/images/stroh_original_80.jpg
80% alchol by volume.

Must admit my beer making is cheating as I use a kit but wine is made from anything fruity I find, bunged thro’ the blender and chucked with a handful of yeats and lots of suger into a barrel. Anything works. Last lot ahd 2 litres of Lidl brand Ribena mixed in. Well it was 3 years out of date. Adds suger you know. When the minor nuclear explosion finishs I bottle/sample. Had half pint last night in the bath and boy I knew about it. Bottled some in 2 litre cider jars as thats about right for an evening.
Cheap ornage juice is a good starter and blend any fruit to add colour. A touch of lemonade helps it go down if its a bit rough.
Very popular on wet bonfire nights in Dads field. Coupled with venison chops its lovely. pass me the banjo.

been on some tonight?

Make crack instead, the profit margin is higher.

And the jail sentence is, too.

Besides, the market round here is flooded….

You’ve got a choice between beer, wine and spirit, with distilling spirit being illegal. They’re all interesting processes, but I’d say only beer was worth it. Distilling is not recommended – there’s a slight risk of toxic spirit and a big risk of fire. The clueless distilling liquor in a block of flats is a conflagration waiting to happen – You need to get a bit of equipment and knowledge together to distill, so that tends to keep the dickheads from trying it.

Wine is not really worth IMO as it is impossible to match the commercial product – you could practice winemaking for a 1000 years and never come close to the real thing.

Beer is different, as it’s quite possible to brew good stuff even as a beginner. There’s a bit of an outlay at first, so you have to hang in there to recoup costs, but there’s massive economy of scale. It’s a similar effort to brew 10 gallons as 50. Beginners start with extract brewing, and even this makes good stuff nowadays. It’s a simple process, you just need to be rigorous about it.