So last time I wrote anything I had lots of different brews on the go. Now I just have the Wine; hopefully I’ll be bottling this soon. All the other drink got bottled up (I’ll give details in a  later post). I had my first test subjects of some of my cider and student brew, which was good fun…

Firstly I’ll update you on the cider, since this was the drink I’ve been most impressed with… All 3 variations of my cider were drinkable and I think it’s personal preference as to the favourite; my personal favourite being the straight apple juice cider.

In all h0nesty i thought the cider with no added juice or flavour tasted like some of the vintage branded ciders out there, obviously not as appley, and not as aged, but incredibly flavoursome – I’ll definately be moving this one to the recipe section and making some more for an upcoming event.

The strawberry cider lost a lot of the strawberry flavour I’d hoped to save; It went down very easy, but had a slightly bitter taste to it. I think the key to flavouring some of the brew might be to either add flavour throughout brewing or at the end. (cider and black anyone…)

The Lemon cider was a bit over the top. It had the underlying flavour of lemons which was good, but as anticipated lost alot of the sharpness of citric fruit. Which someone commented tasted like jif (now cif…)

The student brew I was experimeting with came out well, a few friends loved it. I myself thought it was mediocre at best… I’d definately recommend trying it, but don’t expect a drink that going to win prizes, I think this is a purely “for fun” brew,  something that can be produced quickly and cheaply… My girlfriends tropical brew was very palitable and tasted better than some cheaper wines you’d find in the shop, with a much more “colourful”taste. My lemon and lime brew was nice, very much a smirnoff ice type drink,  the smell of this at first was alitle off putting (oddly yeasty), which i think was attributed to the higher sugar levels. After bottling with a bit more cordial this was nice… I’ve got a few suggestions for anyone out there who fancies trying their own student brew, these will be posted in the near future (all going well).

The main conclusion I’ve come to from this is that cheap brews made at home can actually compete with more premium drinks bought in a shop… Though obviously not in all cases. Homebrew remains fun… And most of all easy to get in to….

• 1 tsp yeast
• Sugar
• yeast nutrient – optional

Lemon and Lime

• 800ml lime cordial
• 2 litre lemonade
• 1 lemon
• 1 litre water

Tropical

• 800ml tropical squash
• 3 litres water

Instructions

• Activate your yeast in warm water
• Bring any of the juices/squashes/pops you are using to a boil in a pan and allow to boil for 5-10 minutes
• Let your liquid cool to room temperature
• Add this liquid to a clean vessel (this could be an empty 5l bottle, I used a demijohn).
• Add any additional water
• If you have a hydromoter to hand,Take an S.G. reading of your liquid and add sugar until you get this reading to 1050, if not add between 200-500g.
• If you have any add a suitable amount of nutrient to the liquid (usually 1 tablet to every gallon if using tablets, though check the packaging for specific amounts).
• Add yeast to your fermentation vessel.
• Put a suitable air-lock on your vessel.

The idea behind this is that for very little money you can produce an alcoholic drink that’s quick, easy and dare I say it, enjoyable. This really appealed to me, and whilst I understand that it’s unlikely anything made with this mindset will be award winning, I thought it could be a good way i could introduce my girlfriend to homebrewing.

All that said, the fact is the recipe on YoBrew effectively produces an alcoholic water, to which you add squash. This, I wasn’t to keen on, definitely something worth trying, but not for me; not yet any way.

I decided to take a different approach to this cheap brew utilising some of the equipment I have. We have 2 demijohns of student brew going at the moment, lemon and lime and a tropical drink. Rather than making alcoholic water I started with a base liquid “of flavours” made from pops and squash and throughout the process of these brewing I have been adding additional juice to try and incorporate the flavours better but not lose them completely during fermentation. The lemon and lime uses lemonade, fresh lemon juice and lime cordial as the base where the tropical uses water and a tropical squash.

Student Brew - Alcopops

I’ve also read many warnings about using juices and other shop bought drinks that contain Potassium Sorbate, a preservative that prohibits the “growth” of yeast. Generally this preservative is found in every single squash or pop you pick off the shelf. Apparently you can break down the Potassium Sorbate by subjecting the “juice” to a rolling boil for 5-10 minutes. I’m not sure how great the results will be, but it’s worth a try.

You can take a look at the recipe here.