HOME BREWING

[stuhan]

I have been making beers & wines as one of my hobbies for about 20yrs, [ i am not an expert]  i retired in Thailand 4yrs ago and decided to start home brewing again. I do not go to bars now [was a party animal in my younger days]  and live a peaceful relaxing life in the north with my Thai family. I still like making and drinking homemade beers & wines for many reasons. Making beer is cheap.it's easy to make,ready in appx 3 three weeks, you can keep a good supply in your fridge, with a little practice you can develop your own characteristics, if you have a lot of spare time like me it's a rewarding hobby. There are many on this site who already know about making homemade beers & wines , this is primarily for those who would like to have a go but are not sure how to go about it, it is really simple to do and saves a lot of money compared to store beers,your own made beers could work out around 20-25 bht  a bottle depending on the cost of your beer kit itself. I tend to buy the cheaper kits appx $17-25 they are just as good as the expensive one's'

I have drawn up a simple information sheet that has what basic equipment you will need to buy, where to buy it, best type of beer kits to start with, some tips and links to You Tube and my suppliers in Europe, China and Thailand. If anyone wants a copy just P.M me .

1 other point is that buying beer or wine kits and equipment from Thailand will nearly always involve slightly higher costs,but search online and you can find very cheap prices don't buy the first one you see ,shop around find the cheapest,look for free shipping offers, there are cheaper out there just search for them.

As for wine making,that's a little more involved and will talk about that later

Have a good day.

Edited July 28, 2021 by stuhan
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[Faraday]

Used to make homemade wine 35 years ago, & the majority of it was successful - made banana wine once & surprisingly, it tasted very good.

A few months ago we started wine- making again, just fruit, yeast & water. So many recipes put in pectin, yeast energisers, tannin etc etc, which in my experience are just not necessary.

Started 8 litres of Cherry last week, using 4 kg of frozen Cherries from Makro, it's our second batch, but unfortunately the first one didn't get bottled as it tasted so good.

We have 2 grapevines in the garden & it's my intention to one day make some wine from. Without going into detail, my father was involved in wine production, & that would be a kind of tribute to him.

Cheers Dad...!

[stuhan]

41 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Used to make homemade wine 35 years ago, & the majority of it was successful - made banana wine once & surprisingly, it tasted very good.

A few months ago we started wine- making again, just fruit, yeast & water. So many recipes put in pectin, yeast energisers, tannin etc etc, which in my experience are just not necessary.

Started 8 litres of Cherry last week, using 4 kg of frozen Cherries from Makro, it's our second batch, but unfortunately the first one didn't get bottled as it tasted so good.

We have 2 grapevines in the garden & it's my intention to one day make some wine from. Without going into detail, my father was involved in wine production, & that would be a kind of tribute to him.

Cheers Dad...!

I make all my wines and beers on a budget so i don't use acid blend,campden tablets,tannins,yeast boosters or expensive sanitizers, instead i use ordinary household bleach to clean everything,lemons or limes for acid,tea bags for tannin ,raisins or vit B1 for yeast boosters.I do use pectic enzymes as i find they clear the wines better and draw out more flavor.Also i make my wines clear and drinkable in 1 month, i make wines to drink as soon as and have nothing against those who like to store for 6-12 months,i can't wait that long sir..Wish i had some grape vines [lucky man]

[JamesE]

You should give mead a go. (I'm a cider guy but if I ever try in Thailand I'd think I'd go with mead) You've got great local honey, amazing tropical fruits, and air-conditioning so your ferments won't go straight to vinegar. Plus, you could ratio the dilution and get probably 20 brix to start. That would be a wonderful sundowner.

[Faraday]

20 minutes ago, JamesE said:

I'm a cider guy

Used to know a girl who liked Pork in Cider.

 

[Ubon2530]

3 hours ago, stuhan said:

1 other point is that buying beer or wine kits and equipment from Thailand will nearly always involve slightly higher costs,but search online and you can find very cheap prices don't buy the first one you see ,shop around find the cheapest,look for free shipping offers, there are cheaper out there just search for them.

As for wine making,that's a little more involved and will talk about that later

Have a good day.

Just be careful who you talk to, and keep  it somewhere hidden... It's illegal to homebrew here :)

[Objectivance]

1 hour ago, Ubon2530 said:

Just be careful who you talk to, and keep  it somewhere hidden... It's illegal to homebrew here :)

It's illegal to sell, homebrew. 

[gummy]

2 hours ago, Objectivance said:

It's illegal to sell, homebrew. 

Its illegal to do many things here but many people still do it

[NCC1701A]

7 minutes ago, gummy said:

Its illegal to do many things here but many people still do it

yes. 

[stuhan]

5 hours ago, JamesE said:

You should give mead a go. (I'm a cider guy but if I ever try in Thailand I'd think I'd go with mead) You've got great local honey, amazing tropical fruits, and air-conditioning so your ferments won't go straight to vinegar. Plus, you could ratio the dilution and get probably 20 brix to start. That would be a wonderful sundowner.

Be adding some mead and fruit wine recipes over the w/end

[stuhan]

The facts are yes it's illegal to make alcohol in Thailand,if you are only making it for yourself, not selling it or making huge amounts of it their not that bothered , why otherwise would they allow home brew stores to do business in Thailand or allow stores like lazada to sell beer kits,also customs have never refused any of my orders from outside of Thailand. So really it's not an issue and it's been going on for decades, have you never seen that gut rot they sell on the soi's with no labels, thats an example, stay away from that stuff it's cheap but it's as lethal as a bad Thai sausage 

[Changnam43]

Our local temple brew their own beer.  According to the monks it is fine as the beer is only used by them for medicinal purposes.  Some monks seem to require a daily dose of medication.

[Lowseasonlover]

19 minutes ago, Changnam43 said:

 medicinal purposes.  Some monks seem to require a daily dose of medication.

My wife doesn't believe me when I tell her that, 

[gummy]

3 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

My wife doesn't believe me when I tell her that, 

Of course she doesn't believe you as she knows they need more than just one daily dose

[JamesE]

7 hours ago, stuhan said:

have you never seen that gut rot they sell on the soi's with no labels,

Dude, that's gasoline for the scooters!

[stuhan]

 

Dude, that's gasoline for the scooters!

Thats what i mean, sorry for my s.o.h

[AussieBob]

Beware the home brew explosions - lots of clean up work.

 

[stuhan]

The most basic wine recipe/method i still use.No equipment  just everyday store bought items.

What you need

1: 5g  Wine yeast is best for good results [optional] buy online 100bht inc shipping or store bought bakers yeast will work but may produce off flavors and only 8-10% alcohol.

2:  6lt bottle of water

3:  1  500/600g  can of any fruit juice/pulp or 2x 1lt cartons of your fav juice

4:  1kg white sugar = to appx 13-14% alcohol

5:  1 large balloon or [condom unused]

Method

1: You don't need to sanitize anything  it's already done [except the balloon]

2:  Remove half the water from the bottle

3:  Add the juice and the sugar mix well

4:  Add all 5g of yeast or 1 tsp = appx 5g

5:  Gently shake and top up the bottle to 2 inches below the top of the neck

6:  Fit your balloon /condom over the neck of the bottle.

Store in the coolest darkest place you can find. After a day or so fermentation should have started,the balloon/condom will start to inflate from the gases during fermentation,when the balloon has deflated again your wine is finished in appx 6 weeks,carefully syphon into 1lt clean soft drink bottles being careful not to draw any sediment from the bottom of the container. White,light or rose i keep in the fridge,reds or full bodied reds i store at room temp. If the balloon/condom deflates earlier just leave it for 5-6 weeks until it looks clear,the fermentation may still be going just slowly due to temp or yeast strain.

Enjoy

[Objectivance]

 

Its illegal to do many things here but many people still do it

Yes, it's wonderful.

[Faraday]

I've made Strawberry Wine from Doi Kham, using the same amounts as Stuhan.

It's a palatable wine, easy to make & tastes good.

I used Lalvin 118 yeast from Lazada.

[stuhan]

6lt Basic fruit melomel [mead/honey] recipe  abv 15-16%

You need

Hydrometer and airlock [optional] but invaluable

6lt bottled water

5g red star cuvee or lalvin E1118 yeast

4lbs honey

2x  1lt cartons of fruit juice   [not tomato or guava,try to avoid with pulp or anything with artificial sweetners] or additives they will ruin you wine.

1 strong tea bag  boiled in 250 ml of water

100g chopped raisins boil & simmer 5 mins in 250 ml water

Half a cleaned medium orange thinly sliced

Method

No need to sanitize but keep clean

Remove 4lt of water from bottle

Add the honey ,fruit juice ,orange,tea,and chopped raisins with liquid

give a really good shake,then shake again,the honey must be well mixed with the  other liquids

Add your yeast and gently swirl then top up with water to 2 inches below the neck of bottle

As before put your balloon/ condom on the bottle and leave for 6-8 weeks until clear, mead takes a bit longer to finish. If using air lock use now. Store in a cooler place away from light.

Carefully syphon into bottles leaving sediment in the bottom

No mess no racking

That's it!

 

 

[stuhan]

That kind of rounds up the very basic ways to make fruit wines and fruit mead, all you is follow the same  methods with different fruits. 6lt of wine will cost  appx 300bht to make, the mead will be appx 500bht still very cheap to make and good to have as a standbye if there is a full lockdown,stores closed or even worse an alcohol ban as happend in south africa. Later i will look at making wines and mead with fresh fruit.

This was my mango wine made by the basic  method i described, was clear and 15% drinkable in 1 month 8 galls of it, it didn't last long.

[stuhan]

 

That kind of rounds up the very basic ways to make fruit wines and fruit mead, all you is follow the same  methods with different fruits. 6lt of wine will cost  appx 300bht to make, the mead will be appx 500bht still very cheap to make and good to have as a standbye if there is a full lockdown,stores closed or even worse an alcohol ban as happend in south africa. Later i will look at making wines and mead with fresh fruit.

This was my mango wine made by the basic  method i described, was clear and 15% drinkable in 1 month 8 galls of it, it didn't last long.

Sorry forgot to say that was 20kg of fresh mangoes not carton juice from our trees .

[JamesE]

16 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Beware the home brew explosions - lots of clean up work.

Very Jackson Pollok-y looking.

[AussieBob]

11 hours ago, JamesE said:

Very Jackson Pollok-y looking.

Some say that was where he first got the idea of not using a paint brush.  Either that, or drinking far too much alcohol after eating lots of carrots, berries, and milk.