Home brewing?

[Omega]

Wonder how many do home brewing in this forum
I made an ale about 8 years ago from grain and in a small quantity. Found it messy and not worth the effort. However, I started making wine last year and recently started making ales and beers, all from the kit. They all tasted acceptable or even great when comparing to what you can get in shops
Now I am contemplating starting brewing ales and beers from grain, then I can build my own grain storage that I could use in case of emergencies

[Kiwififer]

I make wine and I use the term loosely. Some come out pretty good, some less so.

I have a gallon of Rosehip which should be ready now, thanks for the reminder!

[lowlander]

Been homebrewing for over 30 years, no kits though. Currently got cottage cider on the go, some mead maturing nicely and apple wine lined up for next week
Home made beer is well worth the effort, so much better than most you can buy.

[jennyjj01]

Wonder how many do home brewing in this forum
I made an ale about 8 years ago from grain and in a small quantity. Found it messy and not worth the effort. However, I started making wine last year and recently started making ales and beers, all from the kit. They all tasted acceptable or even great when comparing to what you can get in shops
Now I am contemplating starting brewing ales and beers from grain, then I can build my own grain storage that I could use in case of emergencies

Making ale from grain is a slow tricky task where you need strict temperature control which would be hard post SHTF. It would also take a lot of stored grain to make a decent mash. I retain half a dozen 40 pint kits of beer and a few cellar7 wine kits. About a years worth

But check out my apocalypse wine recipe Adaptable for any old tinned and dry fruit.

Don't forget to store yeast. Not to mention water!

[korolev]

I got a load of brewing stuff a few years back but never used it. I recently dug it out as I wanted to make some cider from the apples from our garden*.
WHAT A PULLAVER !!
We spent all afternoon mashing/pulping/pressing apples and came up with a single demi john of juice which has been fermenting in the back room and is now ready for bottling.
I've also bought a homebrew kit which I'm going to have a go at.

*Neither of us like cider very much.

[jennyjj01]

I got a load of brewing stuff a few years back but never used it. I recently dug it out as I wanted to make some cider from the apples from our garden*.
WHAT A PULLAVER !!
We spent all afternoon mashing/pulping/pressing apples and came up with a single demi john of juice which has been fermenting in the back room and is now ready for bottling.
I've also bought a homebrew kit which I'm going to have a go at.

*Neither of us like cider very much.

I've made Beer and wine from base ingredients, about 40 years ago. So much effort! It's a cross between cooking and chemistry science.

Equipment can be expensive if you follow older guidelines. Demijohns used to be 75p and easily available everywhere, but are now almost £10. Just use 5L water bottles. Brewing buckets, glass bottles, etc all add up, but get creative and recycle pop bottles. The worst aspect to home brewing is the storage space taken up by the gear.

We can make regular beers and wines, far superior to shop bought, by using expensive kits, but for cheap and cheerful, we can make 'country wines' that are, shall we say, "A conversation piece" and an "acquired taste"
Even classic recipes from the 70s from 'brewing better beers' made big use of malt extract and adding grains and crystal malt was just about flavour. Modern kits are 'just add water and sugar' and turn out great.

Post SHTF, maintaining wort and mash temperatures would be a massive, energy hungry chore. Even clean water might be an issue.

[Ara]

Mr A discovered some tins of "home brew" recently when sorting out some boxes from our move (a year ago) and decided it was about time he made the beer. He might need some fresh yeast as I know even the dried stuff doesn't last for ever.
My first attempt at winemaking was elderberry and it proved to be delicious. I have never come close since even though I use the same recipe. I would blame inferior elderberries but my father made some at the same time from the same berries but it wasn't a patch on mine. He died over 30 years ago so it shows how long I have been striving for the same success. Other wines have ranged from palatable to undrinkable, even by those who drink just about anything.
I like the idea of rosehip wine; we have plenty of them in the garden. I also fancy haaving a go at metheglin - a kind of spiced mead. Watch this space.

[Omega]

Making ale from grain is a slow tricky task where you need strict temperature control which would be hard post SHTF. It would also take a lot of stored grain to make a decent mash. I retain half a dozen 40 pint kits of beer and a few cellar7 wine kits. About a years worth

But check out my apocalypse wine recipe Adaptable for any old tinned and dry fruit.

Don't forget to store yeast. Not to mention water!

I won't be making ales post SHTF . And SHTF already a few times - 2009, 2020, 2022... However, grain can be used for other purposes in case of emergency though I hope I will migrate if something really bad happens