www.iva.co.uk

I thought I would share this. We can all talk all day about how we get by, but this is a bonus for me.

My wife and I like wine (with meals I should add). Obviously in an iva this is a problem when a basic bottle costs more than a fiver.

So, I started brewing my own, and it can be done on a tight budget with only basic knowledge and equipment.

I can brew 6 bottles (1 gallon) of red or white (or vimto) for probably 50p a bottle.

Not only does it taste great, it's good for moral at the end of the month when the food budget only allows for cornedbeef hash or fish fingers (you know what I mean, right)

I'll give a quick breakdown and if enough people show interest I'll do a recipe & instructions.

Ingredients.
1 carton of Aldi red or white pressed grape juice
1 carton of Aldi elderflower juice (or whatever takes your fancy)

various common brewing chemicals off ebay, low cost and will last for 3 or 4 batches

A 5litre mineral water bottle from Asda or Tesco (keep the bottle for brewing in, use the water for the wine or give it to the dog etc)

1 bag of sugar

And thats pretty much it. Ive been at it for a couple of months now and even my wife enjoys it!
(I can also do cider on the cheap but it takes longer)

I'm a tee-totaller myself but I'm sure your post will interest others as every tip to save some pennies is a good one x

Nice tip!

What alternatives to elderflower do you suggest using?

Great thinking.....we were thinking about brewing our own ale but I dread to think of the mess it will cause....

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by ChristinaG

Nice tip!

What alternatives to elderflower do you suggest using?

well, whatever you fancy really. I have used white grape and peach with great results, exotic juice, peach pineapple & pomegranate and also orange juice - but this needs an extra month in the bottle IMO. The peach and the elderflower are best - not overpowering and still sweet tasting despite being a 'dry' wine. Vimto works too!!

Ah a fellow homebrewer!!

I have had mixed results using my own stuff so I tend to stick with the kits.

Costs me about £24 for a good quality 30 bottle Wine kit and with sugar and corks etc comes to around £30 and after a bit of wastage you tend to get 28 bottles out of it. So just over a quid a bottle but results are just as a good as an £8 bottle of Rose so it's worth saving the money up for me and doing a brew every 3 or 4 months.

I do ciders as well but more for the Summer really.

Got a brew of Rose on at the moment that should be ready for Xmas!! Shame that I'm doing Dryathlon in January for Cancer Research UK so am unable to drink alcohol for the whole month. [:(]

Thanks for the tip -- sounds like great fun!! Does it need a lot of space or any particular conditions to work best?

You do not need lots of space I use my spare room but a little corner in a utility room or some such space is all that is required.

It has to be warm, about 20C is good otherwise fermentation either doesn't get going or takes a long time. So ideally somewhere warm is a good idea. My spare room doesn't have the heating on so I use a heating belt that wraps around it and heats it up gently. It adds to the cost but not super expensive.

Most Wilkinsons have a section where you can look at kit to get an idea. I personally bought all my kit online as more choice and better value.

Are you looking at equipment that makes 6 bottles or 30 bottles? I started with 6 bottle equipment but for all the effort you ended up with next to nowt so went for economy of scale and do 30 bottle kits lol.

I'm happy to provide all the advice you need before you take the plunge so you do not make the mistakes I did!

How did this happen I would love some info on this please

Well i took inspiration from this topic and have begun wine making! Purchaced a wine buddy chardonnay wine kit and chep equiptment and can now make 30 bottles of really nice chardonnay for £25 )

How did this happen,
Please can I have idiot proof instructions on how to do this, sounds good

Aah this takes me back to some lovely memories, my grandad used to brew wine and boy did it it hit the parts other wines couldn't reach [:)]

You've made me think about brewing my own wine, will give it a go!

I have been wine making since the 1970s i love this hobby most of mine are what i pick though,elderberrys,blackberrys,elderflowers i am not so keen on the wine kits..but you can make wine from canned fruit or even those cartons of grape juice from supermarkets their is lots of scope and lots of ways to do it..I liek sloe wine as well when i can get enough i made some once and it tasted like harveys sherry...I think my favourite has to be damson wine and i allways look forward to them coming in season...But even when you have old fruit and carrotts long past their best in your kitchen you can throw together enough to make a gallon of wine..

OMG i just tried my cheapy wilkos chardonnay, was disgusting until i sweetened it up with more brewing sugar but by heck it blew my head off! Seems er rather stronger than my usual wine! 2 glasses and i was very tiddly LOL Its come out a bit cloudy but tastes good now. Only got 4.5 bottles out of the 6 bottle kit though as the sediment was thick. I prefer the winebuddy kit at around £10 for the 6 bottle kit. I want to do the 30 bottle kit so it will see us through the camping season but having to save for all the bigger kit

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by ChristinaG

Nice tip!

What alternatives to elderflower do you suggest using?

Making my own elderflower juice is the best thing I ever did!