I've been making homemade wines and meads for over 10 years, here's some of the frequent questions I get:

-Can I use regular bread yeast?
Yes! Your brew might not win any awards, but it'll be decent homemade booze.

-Do I need an airlock?
Yes, but you don't have to buy one. You can use a balloon with a pinhole poked in it, or a piece of breathable fabric tied with a rubber band.

-Do I need a hydrometer to measure specific gravity?
Only if you really, really care to know whether your wine is 17% or 18% alcohol. I don't think it matters.

-Do I need to add raisens?
No, that's only for brews without added yeast.

-Do I need to buy special sanitizer like One-Step?
No, soap and very hot water will work just fine. You can do a bleach bath with 1 Tablespoon in 5 gallons of water if you really want.

-How long do I have to age my wine before drinking it?
Look, the initial ferment is done after about 3 weeks. You can drink it. If you let it settle after bottling for like a month, it will clarify and taste better because any sediment will drop to the bottom. After that, it's up to you. I've had 6 month, 18 month, and 5 year wine, and I couldn't tell much difference. Sure, the 5 year wine was best, but not better enough to wait 5 years for it, ya know? I say just drink it!

-I've seen a lot of warnings, is homebrewing dangerous?
No more dangerous than preparing any other raw food. There is a very small potential you could grow a toxic bacteria, but you will know it. It won't smell like alcohol or it'll get black and slimy on top. I've never had this happen once in 10 years, it's basically the same odds of getting salmonella from eating undercooked eggs. Wash everything well with soap, keep your working area clean, and you should be fine. If the brew doesn't look/smell right to you, don't drink it, and try again.

Overall, online forums and blogs about brewing can be kinda snobby and make it seem like you need all this fancy expensive equipment to get started, and it's bullshit. I've made brews with a plastic milk jug and a balloon. Humans have been making alcohol since there were humans. You don't need specialized equipment, just feed your yeast friends some sugar and voila!

Like making bread, brewing is a skill that has been eroded by mass produced culture. And that's a shame, because I think humans' reciprocal relationship with yeasts is one of the cornerstones of our species. Fermenting things is like harnessing the powers of life and death, and bridging the boundry between the two. Fermenting is magic.

#fermenting #homebrewing #alcohol