Best Brew Blog!

All grain homebrewing can be a little extra work, but the extra investment in that area certainly pays dividends for the seasoned homebrewer who is confident to move forward from beer kits.  We have a great new range of Neale’s Grains, Hops and Malts just in stock, hot from a great supplier who assures top quality results using their grain, hops and malt products.  Have a look also at the last of the crushed malts in Donal’s €1 Specials  http://www.bestbrew.ie/blog/2010/07/14/donal%e2%80%99s-e1-specials-at-best-brew/

You might be forgiven for thinking the prices are just too darn low! We’ve set these as an introductory special and we’ll hold them as low as this for as long as we can. AND remember we’re entering our fourth month of FREE DELIVERY in Best Brew so you can get the best value from your homebrew delivery.

One thing to bear in mind when you are brewing is to use good quality water. You can buy the 4 litre bottles for very reasonable at most supermarkets if you’re concerned about your water supply quality.

As always, we look forward to any homebrew samples you would like to bring in to the shop to us in Athlone. And if there’s any way we can help improve your homebrew, we’ll certainly point you in the right direction. All free of charge and part of the service, of course.

Now, everyone likes a bargain, especially in these belt tightening times. Best Brew has introduced the bargain bucket to beat all bargain buckets. We now have Donal’s €1 Specials right here http://www.bestbrew.ie/donals-one-euro-specials.html?p=1

And in there, we have had Bitter Brewing kits, Sherry Brewing Kits (worth nearly 60 quid), Alcoshot refills, hops, malts and all sorts, at a crazy €1. All stock is in perfect condition and is updated on an ongoing basis.

To allow everyone a fair shot at the specials, we’ve limited it to one per customer.  It’s just nice to ensure as many homebrewers as possible get a good deal. As you might imagine, there are limited stocks and they tend to be snapped up quickly from savvy homebrewers.

And my god the deals keep coming in. Keep an eye out on those little gems on an ongoing basis. We email our existing Best brew homebrew customers with advance warning on these specials so they have the heads up on deals, so if you want to hear about the updated stock on Donal’s €1 Specials, consider signing up on the Best Brew website and you might be surprised at the finds you come across.

Also, be sure to ask Donal for any Donal’s €1 Specials on offer when you’re in the shop in Athlone.  Because you just might be lucky and get slightly more than you’ve bargained for.

We are delighted to see and hear from so many ladies who are coming into  the Best Brew shop in Athlone and placing orders for homebrew on the website.  

We have ladies from all over Ireland who are evidently taking advantage of the free delivery service to brew their own wines, champagnes, beers and ciders for the summer BBQs and gatherings.

The Elderflower champagne brewing has especially prompted a flurry of homebrew activity over the past few weeks. It’s fantastic. It’s a joke, in my opinion, paying through the nose for sparkling wine at the off licence when you can homebrew it yourself for a few cents, once you have your brewing kit.  

Remember, if you’ve any concerns about bottles going ‘pop’ in the night, you can degas them every so often (pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes so the homebrew stays in the bottle)  and the fermentation process will keep enough of the fizz once you cap them again.

Be sure to use strong bottles, the swing tops are great, or champagne bottles, save them from the bottle bank, or plastic bottles with screw tops.  When it comes to opening them, pop them in the freezer for about 10 mins, or the fridge for a couple of hours, and you’ll get a wonderful gassy champagne pop and lots of compliments from your guests.

Well done to the ladies, and remember you can bring your homebrew into the shop to get hints and tips on how to improve it, if you’re anyways unsure.  Let us know how you’re getting on and feel free to ask for anything you’d like to see stocked that you’d fancy having a go at brewing.

Did you know that the Bellini was invented between 1934 and 1948 by an Italian bloke called Giuseppe Cipriani – it reminded him of the colour of the toga of some saint in a painting by a 15^th century Venetian artist Bellini. Course you did. Homebrew folk have higher than average IQs as far as I’m concerned. Because homebrewers make their OWN Bellinis for practically zero monies and serve them over long, lazy sunny weekends. And here’s how. Dot dot dot.

We are promised a hot summer ahead so get preparations in order for the base of your Bellini. You can go out and spend 11ty million monies on Champagne or sparkling wine, or you can make about 30 bottles of it for about 10 cent a bottle. I kid you not. 

I can’t tell you how many people  recently I’ve spoken to that homebrewed their own Elderflower and Gorse Champagne and wine for their  wedding reception/do/bash. This lark of ‘corkage’ at weddings is laughable if you ask me. If you have 200 people at a wedding and need 100 bottles of wine, why would you spend 1500 euro on that side of things when you could get away with the guts of 20 quid for the ingredients if you homebrew?  So many people are getting married at non traditional locations now it makes financial sense to host your own reception in a marquee.  

 Have a look at a previous blog below for the recipe for Elderflower champagne. I’ll post a blog on Gorse wine soon but the Elderflower champagne produces a fabulous fizzy champagne wine which is a great base for the Bellini.

What You Need – OK this is going to be short, so don’t blink:

For the Bellini (per serving);

1. Whizz up 100g of strawberries with 2 tbsp of caster sugar and add twice as much Gorse or Elderflower champagne to it. Stir well and serve chilled in tall champagne flutes or sumptuous champagne saucers.
2. Watch your guest’s eyes nearly pop out of their heads with shock when you tell them it’s homebrewed.

Ooooo we’re into the final few days before Father’s Day. We’re delighted to see so many homebrewers getting their dads really cool gifts from the Best Brew shop and there are so many great items you can get. There are only so many ties a man can wear, golf clubs he can own and 40 handkerchiefs can only be good if your dad has an extra runny nose 365 days a year.

Dads who already homebrew might delight in anything from a pressurised keg to one of those new wine and beer testers. We also have swing tops that convert a regular wine bottle to a swing top. How fab is that? Maybe your dad would like to challenge the new berry cider on sale in the off licence at the minute and try his own version that’s available in kit form in Best Brew?  The range of budget is immense and you can be guaranteed that he will be thrilled with his gift and get years of happy usage from it to produce great wines, beers, champagnes and the like.

Lots of you are introducing your dads to their new hobby this Father’s Day – maybe they’ve been talking about it for years and did nothing about it, maybe you just know your dad with love it. Whatever the story, there is a myriad of options for dad this year from budget micro brewery equipment to all out posh and expensive. We speak to new brewers every single day and we can help cut out the hassle and guess work for you!

Save yourself time and hassle by dropping us a line on email to brewing@bestbrew.ie or call into the shop or phone us on 090 644 9410, and we’ll be delighted to guide you. We’ll even get it delivered to you for FREE. So for every budget small or large call or mail for the best advice you can get on your Father’s Day gift.

Good morning Best Brew Homebrewers!

Check out page 26 of the Irish Sun today for a coupon to get an extra 10% off all orders for the month of June.  To celebrate the advent of Father’s Day on 20th June, Best Brew is extending this order for the whole month. AND you get free delivery. OMG, as Usher would say.

So get your homebrew Father’s Day gift purchasing off to an incredible start with free delivery and 10% off the order. Can homebrewing get any better?

 There was a flurry of activity at the weekend in my house. The word on the street, well, ok by text, is that the elderflowers are out in bloom and are ready for homebrew purposes. They’re tricky little buggers to get down without damaging said branches. And there are lots of homebrewers around my area that are looking at the same blooms that I am.

The ‘homebrew’ bike was taken out in search of easier to reach blooms and there are lots of elderflowers but being vertically challenged I will need one of those long handled snipper things you’d get in B&Q to get them down. Well it’s worth persevering because you might have noticed a particular supermarket with only two letters in its name are selling elderflower champagne now for 6.99 or something like that. I howl with laughter when I see it for sale on the shelves, because you can homebrew it for virtually zero money once you have the equipment. And it’ll keep for months so you can enjoy over the summer and right through to the Autumn. Just remember to use good strong glass swing top bottles or plastic ones like the supermarket uses because all that fizz needs to be contained properly.  Those swing top bottles are just the business, if you ask me. But I’m biased.

So what are you waiting for? Get yourself out in nature next weekend (or this evening if you’re blessed to live close to your ‘stock’) and get picking those elderflowers for your very own homebrew easy peasy champagne. And if you prefer to do your nature gathering online, sure, have a look at the elderflowers that are on the www.bestbrew.ie shop. Can it be easier?

Now, this is a bit of a cheat homebrewed vodka because it doesn’t really require any of the equipment needed for home brewing. BUT… it is a great way to dip your toe into the homebrewing scene and gain confidence to progress onto brewing beers, ciders or wines from kits or hedgerow ingredients.  Rhubarb is in season at the moment so get yourself some and make this simple homebrew.

Don’t blink, because your homebrewing lesson will be over before it’s begun.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Hop into your mum’s or a friend’s garden for a couple of sticks of rhubarb.
2. Think of the last bad day you’ve had at work, hold that feeling in your head, put the rhubarb into a plastic bag and beat the bejaysus out of it with a rolling pin or a good heavy shoe. De-stressed? Great.
3. Put the bashed rhubarb into a cleaned jam jar, or similar type vessel, with 3 tablespoons of sugar and leave it to do its thing for 2 days.
4. Add 3 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick (or half teaspoon), zest of half lemon and cover with a litre of your chosen vodka -or pour it into a bottle big enough to hold your litre of vodka and rhubarb mixture. Homebrewed vodka is a very acceptable medium but you can use any commercial vodka.
5. Leave in a cool dark place for 3 weeks and shake daily.
6. Filter through muslin (the ones in the Best Brew shop are great; if you use the ones used for babies’ nappies they’re too fine and will do your head in) and leave for 3 months if you can before quaffing with select friends. Yum. 

Good morning Home Brewers,

Thank you for all the e-mails of support following our mention on the Ian Dempsey Upstarts slot this morning.  We’re very proud to bring you the only home brew store in the country and thanks to you all we’re going from strength to strength.

As usual, we love to hear feedback from you all on how your home brewing efforts are going and any speciality items you would like to see stocked. 

We are delighted to bring you all the products you need to get your home brewing up and running. We’re pretty sure you’ll prefer the taste of your own homebrew to that you’ll find in the off licence. And we’ll be pretty sure you’ll love the kudos of the raised eyebrows you’ll get from anyone you serve your home brew to.

So, thanks again, and keep those comments coming in, whether, you mail us or drop into the shop or by phone call.  We love to hear from you.

My mam loves to have liqueurs in the house. And we love to visit as a result. For communions, christenings, confirmations, The Stations (you need to bow your head when you utter this phrase in the village I grew up in), and the biggie, Christmas, my mum used to buy it in by the lorryload. The shelf life of some  liqueurs is just too short for my liking to warrant buying a litre bottle and using only half of it.  We only home brew it now. Quality, ease of brewing and cost mean it’s a no brainer.

The smarty pants in me likes to homebrew a selection and then store them in cool looking small bottles so they keep for longer. So whether you’re into Creme de Mente, Malibu, Baileys, Sambuca maybe Schnapps or a Martini it’s quitely satisfying to make them for yourself or give to people as gifts.  It’s a doddle to make any of them, and lots more besides. I’m pretty sure you could make them with your eyes closed. In that case, I’d careful to not spill any of your precious homebrew in the process, though. Showing off is one thing, spilling home brew is way the other end of the spectrum.  

You will need

•  A 5 litre vessel or demi john
• Chosen liqueur kit
• Bubbler and bung
• Syphon – either manual or automatic
• Bottles, corks and shrink caps, ensure corks are good quality or swing tops
• Hydrometer or a wine & beer tester
• Steriliser to clean equipment
• Brewing sugar (it produces a far superior quality home brew compared to supermarket sugar)
• A thermometer can be useful
• A bottle washer and drainer can take the pain out of bottling
• A corker can take the pain out of placing corks in your bottles if using corks

Method

1. Wash and sterilise all equipment. Clean clean clean.
2. Add the liqueur ‘kit’ concentrate, brewing sugar and water to the demi john or 5 litre fermenter.
3. Yeast likes a temperature range of between 18 and 24 degrees. Add the yeast sachet to your home brew once the temperature is within this range. The yeast feeds off the sugar and concentrate and alcohol is produced. CO2 escapes into the bubbler.
4. Fermentation completes when the desired reading is measured on the hydrometer. Alternatively a simple wine & beer tester makes the job ultra simple.
5. Stabilise by halting further fermentation and finings are added to clear your homebrew.
6. Add the flavouring.
7. The alcohol is ready to be transferred to bottles and is siphoned into clean, sterilized & drained bottles.
8. Seal the bottles. Label and leave to mature if you can.

And if you’re feeling woefully virtuous, you can make your own chocolate liqueurs.

• Melt a bar of chocolate in the microwave, cool a little, then mix with a little cream, leave to harden in the fridge while you make yourself a cup of tea.
• Once the tea is slurped, the chocolate should be cooled enough and you can take a spoonful and shape into a ball.
• Slice it in two
• Dimple one side with your thumb and spoon in a little of your precious home brewed liqueur. Seal with the other half. If you use too much liqueur you’ll be slurping it off your hands when you seal the two together.
• Roll around in some cocoa powder or chocolate shards (grate on a cheese grater) and sit into petit fours cases which you can get in any supermarket these days.
• Gift wrap for a special personalised gift if you can bear to give them away.