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12th May 2011
http://www.facebook.com/pages/YoBrew/225563240791684
20th May 2011 Update
A big thank you to the early visitors / likes to our shiny new facebook page. Its fun and its evolving.
27th April 2011
Pete's Beer and Wine Calculators V1.7 [YoBrew Calculators]
The Home Brew Shop - Have a look at the new (huge) location for a very well established shop. Click to watch their YouTube video.
25th May 2011
This is a bit special, so if you are in the area do pop in.
Love Brewing
591 West Derby Road
Liverpool
L13 8AE
Tel 0151 2288377
Web site
www.lovebrewing.co.uk
12th May 2011
We are busy getting the next YoBrew Free Magazine ready. Lots of homebrew topics covered. If you would like to look at previous YoBrew magazines please visit magazine.php
To better control the brewing process better measuring methods are required. A good thermometer and a good hydrometer are a basic essential but more sophisticated measuring has not been anywhere near as easy as using a thermometer. I have purchased and used a pocket digital PH meter and would not recommend this. It needed regular calibrating and to do this I needed expensive buffer solutions. I tried litmus strips but found the wine and beer colour make reading quite tricky. I think the problem is now fully solved with a neat Fermentation test kit. The kit includes:-
The indicator papers a not like the old litmus papers, these are cleverly designed to make easy and very accurate reading. The ability to measure so many key home brewing criteria is a real bonus. In wine making I always guess the SO2 level. I add a campden tablet(s) without knowing the current SO2 level. No commercial wine maker would ever add SO2 without knowing the exact current level. Now I can measure SO2 easily and cheaply.
This looks to me like a readily good kit and now that I have my test kit I will try it out and give a full write-up. Because this test kit seems like such a good idea to me, I may make it available to purchase here on YoBrew. Until then please visit the following link for further details. They do an impressive range.
24th March 2011
Just received an email from The Home Brew Shop, Holland on Sea, Essex to let me know that YoBrew visitors to their shop or on-line will be given a 10% discount as part of the spring offer. Just Quote YoBrew.
THE HOME BREW SHOP 4-6 FRINTON ROAD, Holland on Sea, Essex
Pop in and bag a bargain.
28th February 2011
Right at the beginning of the homebrew revolution back in the 70s was a shop called Edina Homebrew and here it is today with a great shop in Edinburgh and they have just launched their on-line shop Brewstore.co.uk. An excellent looking site.
Edina Homebrew and Brewstore
14 Elgin Terrace
Edinburgh
EH7 5NW
So if you can pop in, then, pop in, and if not then you have always got their on-line store.
22nd February 2011
In Halton a specialist ale, Priory Ales, is now being prepared for production. This is a special local brew which will be produced in the Norton Priory Museum. What a great idea I must pop in when I a next up that way. Quite surprisingly in these hard time this is being driven by Halton Borough council who have won a major innovation award for this venture. The award was presented to them in 10 Downing Street and included £50,000. I am very positive about new ventures and micro-breweries in the UK. The fact that this venture employs people with various disabilities makes it that bit more special. Well that's a bit of thinking outside of the bottle and I hope it all goes well for them. At the end of the day the quality of their ale should shine through.
http://www2.halton.gov.uk/pdfs/news/1922837
8th February 2011
A ship that was wrecked circa 1800 contained Champagne and Beer. The beer was found to be quite drinkable if not a tad old and a bit tart. Under way right now is a team of specialist who intend to analyze it in great detail and reproduce it. There is both yeast and bacteria in the beer and they intend to reproduce these cells if they are still viable. If the cells are not viable then they will do a DNA analysis to find the closest matches to current yeasts and bacteria. They intend to deduce the exact hops used as well as all other ingredients. The thing that gets me is they got four specialist commercial beer tasters to sample it but this beer will be much more like a home brew and I would have liked to see at least one avid home brewer there to complement the experts. If they do manage to reproduce the beer exactly I think I should suggest to them that YoBrew visitors can assist them in a large scale beer tasting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12393875
5th November 2010
Pete's Beer and Wine Calculators V1.6 [YoBrew Calculators]
1st November 2010
This is our best issue ever. It contains "Best kits on the market" two separate views. "Concept brewing" a suggestion for future development of brewing kits. Crossword, Brewing additives, Christmas brewing “Olde Wig Bender” and wine as well as mulled wine making. There is also an article, not a part of the usual homebrewing scene,on yogurt fermenting.
Click to download magazine PDF
[YoBrew magazine on-line] [More home brew news items]
1st November 2010
I have really got into fermenting my own delicious yogurt. Its quick and easy. Now that I have developed a fully repeatable five simple step process, I have documented it on yobrew. If you like yogurt, have a go.
Electric bike hire right in the middle of a vineyard in Staffordshire. Sounds like a neat idea to me. (more info visit www.pedalspluspower.co.uk)
As if running a home brew shop is not enough of a chalange David and Maureen decided to rescue a historic pub (1791) and develop its very own micro brewery. If you are anywhere near Wakefield road Pontefract then do pop in. Maureen also runs the M&D Home Brew shop in Wakefield.
All the best of luck from YoBrew. I think these days you need a bit of luck to run a pub. Sounds like having a micro brew on site is a good idea.
Just been in touch with
Doug & Liz
Jarman who run a
great home brew shop "The
Brewhouse". "The
Brewhouse" is run
by very experience enthusiasts / professionals. They not only have a passion
for home brewing, they also worked for
British
Diamalt. With this background and pedigree their shop must be one of
the best in the UK. I had a look at their web site
www.thebrewhouseuk.com and WOW!. The price of the floor standing
corker was far lower than I expected. I have the exact same model, which I
am very very pleased with, but I wish I had bought it from
Doug & Liz.
From everyone at YoBrew all the best to Doug & Liz. If you are any where near Newark, Notts then please do pop in.
The Brewhouse, Used to be at:- Unit 7 Brisbane Court, Balderton, Newark, Notts, NG24 3PS
www.thebrewhouseuk.com
I tried out these two berry pickers with assistance from my two
young daughters. My daughters have helped me pick berries before but
armed with these they were much more enthusiastic and much better at
the task. I found the smaller red berry picker better on
elderberries. It was small enough to get between branches without
any fuss. The action of stripping the berries using the tool's comb
was very effective with elderberries. As a comparison I collected
berries by hand and using the pickers. By hand work is not much
slower but the pickers are faster and are better at stripping the
berries off the stalks and no mess on your hand. For elderberries
these are not essential but are quicker, cleaner, better and make it
more fun. I tried picking hops and found that these are not quite
suitable. The smaller one can get in between vines easily and picks
the hops quite easily but once the hops are picked they are quite
hard to get out of the collector. The bigger one is easy to get the
collected hops out but is not quite as nimble as the smaller on. The
pickers are well designed and made but I wish it was easy to
separate the black part from the red part as this would allow easy
removal of things like hops and would make it easier to wash.
In summary. Both are ideal for picking elderberries but if I had to choose I would go for the smaller one. It is just as good at stripping the berries but has the advantage of being nimble. If you go berry picking with young family members these pickers make it quite fun without the mess and without touching the odd creature. Not essential but good fun. Ideal gift for anyone that makes elderberry wine regularly.
http://www.netherwalloptrading.com/products/?Search=Berry+Picker
Tried
out their new apple picker. See the Cider page
for my review. In short it worked well. Better than a step ladder
and no need for a trip to A&E
Edinburgh's
Queen Margaret University study shows
pomegranate juice can be helpful in reducing
beer bellies. If that's not enough it
can also significantly decrease high blood pressure. The study showed that
90% of the people drinking pomegranate juice had significantly reduced blood
pressure. Dr. Emad Aldujaili and Dr. Catherine Tsang, proved that the risk
of cardiovascular disease decreases considerably by drinking pomegranate
juice. Scientists also think that pomegranate juice has the power to cut the
abdominal fat, AKA ‘spare tyre’.
I'll give that a go. Would Pomegranate wine provide similar benefits? Found a recipe on the net http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/pomegran.asp
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