Home Brew

My bro in law used to Make it, not sure what Strength  it was, but I woke Laid out on the floor in the Front room with five empties scattered around me

There was a thread on here a year or so ago.  I have been brewing for over a year now and have made some decent ales, plus a stout and a lager.

Ovalman was a keen home brewer and helped inspire  me, but haven't seen him around much lately.

Extract kits are much better than they used to be in 'the old days'.  Very simple to do.

I brew 'all-grain' which is similar to cooking from scratch in that you produce your own wort from barley.

If what happened to me in the 70s happened now I'd have the bomb squad round. Several gallons brewing in gallon glass jars in the garden shed + hot summer weather = explosions.

Some of the brews I've been asked to sample were more likely to give me food poisoning than get me drunk.
The main problem beginners experience is getting the wort to ferment.
This must be achieved as quickly as possible in order to protect itself from the air by the gas it gives off.
Correct temperature is vital in this respect.
And with wine, it's best to get the yeast working in a starter bottle before pitching it.

Blackberries make wonderful wine, and they're out at moment if you're quick.

I've been brewing beer for years, I don't use the kits and brew it all from grain and hops

the kits are a good place to start, don't get the cheaper ones where you add sugar, go straight for the more expensive ones. You will get better beer and hangovers won't be as bad

as mentioned above, yeast is the most important ingredient, got to get a good start to fermentation. It always pays to have a spare sachet of brewers yeast just in case things don't get going first time. I would recommend US05 as the best dried yeast

US-05 is my goto yeast!  Only problem with stalled fermentation I had was when I brewed my first lager.  I didn't realise it needed twice the amount as ale.