Kombucha

There are many ways to make Kombucha tea, so this is only meant as a beginners guide. You could experiment with adding flavours before you bottle it. Ginger, lemon/lime or a handful of fresh or dried berries are all popular choices.

Kombucha is a really great health food, promoting good gut bacteria. It’s been in use for hundreds of years, all over the world. The first recorded use was in China in 221 BC during the Tsin Dynasty, where it was known as “The Tea of Immortality”.

Although this is a fermented drink, the balance of bacteria and yeast keep the alcohol content so low, it is classed as non alcoholic.

Two important points when making kombucha:

1. As with homebrew, make sure everything is really clean. Avoid antibacterial soaps and sterilisers though, Ecover is ok

2.Do not use metal containers or spoons, as this can kill your scoby!

Ingredients:

• 100g granulated sugar

• 4 tea bags (black, green, earl grey - whatever takes your fancy)

• 1.65L Boiled water

• 1 SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeasts) - Can be purchased online or befriend somebody who makes Kombucha already

• A little Kombucha

Method:

Put the sugar, and tea bags into a large, clean container. Cover with the boiled water and stir well. Leave until cooled to room temperature.

Remove the tea bags and add your scoby and Kombucha. Cover the top of the container with a muslin cloth. Leave to ferment for 5-14 days. The longer you leave it the less sweet and more vinegary it will taste.

Pour the tea into clean swing top bottles, leaving behind some of the liquid and the scooby (ready to start all over again).

This is where you can get inventive and add your extra flavours to the bottles.

At this stage fermentation starts and can take anything from 2-5 days. Pop the lid on and check every day to relieve the pressure. Be careful to keep checking - too much pressure and your bottles will explode. After a few days the Kombucha should be fizzy and ready to drink.

Chill before serving.

Over time new SCOBY’s will form which can be used to make more Kombucha or given away for friends to brew their own.

Ginger wine

This one is super easy to make and great on a cold winter evening by the fire.

Ingredients:

• 50g root ginger

• 1.5kg granulated sugar

• 100g raisins

• 2 tsp of citric acid (or the juice and rind of 2 lemons)

• 4.5l water (boiled)

• 1 tsp of wine yeast

• 1 campden tablet (optional)

• 1 teaspoon fermentation stopper (optional)

• 1 teaspoon Bentonite (optional)

• Rum

Method:

Grate the ginger into a bucket, add the sugar, raisins, citric acid, and 2.5l boiled water and stir well.

Mix in 2 litres of cold water and finally add your yeast. Take a reading using a hydrometer. This is known as the Original gravity or OG.

Cover loosely for 1 week before straining into a demijohn with an airlock.

When fermentation ends (bubbles passing through the airlock at less than one a minute) take another hydrometer reading. This is known as the Final gravity or FG. Using a simple formula, (OG - FG) x 0.13 = %, you can then figure out the alcohol content of your finished brew

Finally, add a few capfuls of rum to your bottles, syphon the wine in and cork. Age for a minimum of 3 months before drinking.

Parsnip Wine

Ingredients:

• 2 kg parsnips (cut into 5mm pieces)

• 4.5l water

• 1.5 kg granulated sugar

• 200g raisins

• Juice & rind of 2 lemons

• A strong cup of black tea (for tannin)

• 1 teaspoon pectolase (to prevent pectin haze)

• 1 teaspoon of wine yeast

• 1 campden tablet (optional)

• 1 teaspoon fermentation stopper (optional)

• 1 teaspoon Bentonite (optional)

Method:

Boil 2.5 litres of water and add the parsnips. Boil for around 20 to 25 mins until soft, but not falling apart, otherwise the wine will never clear.

Strain the water from the parsnips into a bucket, add the sugar, raisins, lemon juice/rind, tea and pectolase, and stir well.

Mix in 2 litres of cold water and finally add your yeast. Check your gravity and make a note of it. Cover loosely for 3 days before straining into a demijohn with an airlock.

When fermentation ends (when bubbles pass through the airlock at less than one a minute) add a crushed campden tablet and fermentation stopper, if using, as per the instructions on the packet.

After 3 days clear the wine by adding bentonite, if using, as per the instructions on the packet. Don’t forget to check your final gravity, if you haven’t already and want to know the percentage of alcohol in your brew.

Finally, syphon the wine into bottles and cork. Age for a minimum of 6 months before drinking.

Rosemary & Bay Beer

Before hops were common in beer brewing, herbs such as rosemary and nettles would have been used.

If you substitute the rosemary and bay for 35g of dried hops you can also make a simple hop beer.

For more authentic brewing, leave out the sugar, as this would not have been available. You could add honey instead, but this will be more like a braggot.

Without sugar the beer will be a lot weaker, maybe 1 or 2 percent, and so will not keep for long. This would have been made frequently and drunk within a few days at most.

Ingredients:

• 5 rosemary sprigs

• 10 bay leaves

• 500g amber malt extract

• 375g sugar

• 12 pints of water

• Beer yeast (or Young’s super wine yeast extract)

Method:

Put the rosemary and bay leaves into a large pan and cover with 6 pints of water, boil for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile put your sugar and malt extract into a fermentation bin. Strain the rosemary and bay water through a muslin cloth into the fermentation bin.

Stir well to dissolve all the sugar and malt extract.

Pour in 6 pints of cold water and stir. Make a note of the gravity, it should be around 1040.

Add your yeast and leave to ferment for 3 weeks. Whilst a lot of recipes state much shorter times I find the beer benefits from this extended time.

Don’t forget to check your final gravity, if you haven’t already and want to know the percentage of alcohol in your brew.

Add a level teaspoon of sugar to each beer bottle and siphon the beer into the bottles. Cap the bottles (or use swing tops) and place somewhere warm for 2 days before moving to somewhere cool.

The beer should be ready to drink in 2 weeks, 3 is better.