Australia's Science Forum

Strictly not Lab. related but was wondering if anyone on here is into Homebrewing anything not just beer? Am just about to start my first homebrew and wondering if anyone has any advice for me

Ultra clean bottles and a proper seal at the cap are essential! Don't try to brew anything too "heavy" straight up or they'll explode taking most of your stock with it.

In the past I have made ginger beer, non alcoholic and diet, it was yum, only when we had quite a few explode, it is worth having a go, if you have the time
cheers
Lisa

Hi,
I have done beer, ginger beer (alcoholic and non) very nice, I added some grated ginger to the ginger brew to give it some more flavour, the first lot I made from the tin was rather boring. I have also done wine using pretty much the same technique as the beer. For that I had to buy a big glass flagon type of bottle with a rubber bung (can't think of what it is called at the moment) that is used in the second part of the fermentation. It made about 30 bottles of wine worked out at about $3.00 per bottle, I thought it tasted pretty good.Not that hard to do. I think doing the brewing before it gets too hot is a good idea. I agree with the others that sterile bottles are the most important part of the process. I found bleach and water in a big clean garbage bin is a pretty good way to sterilise the bottles first up. Finding a good home brew supply shop is a good idea as well, the one I use on the Gold Coast is really helpful and if you have any problems they usually can tell you what went wrong.
Estelle.

I found that being accurate with the amount of extra sugar put in the bottle before filling is the key to avoiding exploding brew! Haven't had one explode since!
And the best brews my husband and I have enjoyed have actually been the generic ones bought from the supermarkets too.
Cheers and beers,
Lou P.

Check the SG with a hydrometer. Beer starts around 1040 and goes down to 1010 or lower @ bottling. You can calculate % ethanol from these readings by dividing the difference by 7.9, then add 0.5.

Just don't do what my grandmother did many years ago. She didn't understand the process of fermentation and wanted to make a sweet fruit wine so she decided all she needed to do was to just keep adding sugar!! The end product was variously described as rocket fuel, engine degreaser you get the picture. Bless her little cotton socks we had to add lemonade just to be able to drink it!! My husbands in the brewing industry now (yes we do get free samples ) and sterilised gear is a must to stop any nasty little wild yeasts getting into the mix (off flavours). Have fun

Cheers Trudy