GIFT: HOME MADE WINE SECRETS By Peggy Hutchinson

Another lovely gift came in the post the other day from my Wish List, Home Made Wine Secrets [Hardcover] by Peggy Hutchinson, Revised Edition (1976).

It's a great historical wine making book that was complied before the Second World War, this revised (1976) edition includes metric measurements for all the recipes. There are loads of recipes from Almond Wine through to Yarrow Wine all listed alphabetically in the book. There are even a couple of beers listed.


I'm sure to have a go at a quite a few of the recipe, so a big Thanks to Em for adding it to my Library 

GIFT : Ben's Adventures in Wine Making (paperback)

Got a new book on booze!!! Cool, a lovely gift from my good lady Jane. I had not heard of this one and it wasn't even on my Amazon Wish List.

Book Description

Publication Date: 10 Oct 2011

Ben s Adventures in Wine Making is a home brewing book with a difference. It is a tale of one man s attempts to create delicious and interesting wine from unlikely ingredients. Ben Hardy takes us on a journey, in diary form, from picking his raw materials to drinking the final product. From the superb blackberry to the undrinkable potato wine, and thirty-one flavours between, Ben both amuses and informs in his efforts to produce the nectar of the gods. He is refreshingly honest about what does and does not work, and carefully records the triumphs, the disasters, and his long-suffering friends and family s reactions

I have only read the first few chapters, and it's very good. It is written a little like a diary, with how each wine is made along with tasting notes on each wine, even if the results where bad. The Amazon description above seems to cover the content of the book, so I won't go into it to deep. But I would happily recommend it.

Gifts : First Steps in Winemaking by C.J.J. Berry

Good old postie dropped of a present for me this week from my Amazon wish List,

 First Steps in Winemaking by C.J.J. Berry 

Having heard so much about this book it very nice to have it in my collection, and after a quick flip through it looks as tho' it may be a well referenced book, as it has lots of recipes and information.

Many thanks for the book must go to my lovely Wife Jane.

Book Review : Brewing Britain, The quest for the perfect pint by Andy Hamilton

 

 

Brewing Britain, The quest for the perfect Pint by Andy Hamilton

I received this book for Christmas 2013, I have Andy's other book "Booze for Free" and have used it many times for wines and beer recipes. This book is quite different than his other book on booze however.

The introduction outlines Andy's agenda for this new tome of beer brewing and drinking discovery, describing it as kinda like a brewery tour on paper, in fact it's far more detailed than any brewery tour that I have been on.

The next section is all about beer terminology which I have been able to skip over as I have been brewing now for quite a few years, however for a new brewer or someone that would like to expand their knowledge of all things brewing it is an invaluable reference. Even if you are a old hand at brewing you should still give this section a  peruse as there a some amusing additions to the standard terminology which I found put a wry smile on my face and even a couple of chuckles.

I won't describe every section/chapter in Andy's book as that will turn into quite a large post in itself. But to sum up in as little words as possible Brewing Britain, The quest for the perfect pint is a very welcome addition to my brewing library, in fact it's one of the best if not the best book I have on the subject of brewing, it's informative yet witty and covers everything a new brewer or old hand could wish for in a book, with examples of commercial beers to try, beers to brew Kit and All Grain for each style covered within it's pages.The book goes into plenty of detail about almost everything about beer and it's manufacture without getting overly technical.

I can highly recommend it for the new brewer, old hand or even the beer drinker with no wish to even brew their own pint but has a interest in the beer they chugg in the pub on the weekend and wish to find out what they are actually drinking.

 

GIFTS: Beer Tasting Notes [Paperback]

Got a nice little present the other day in the shape of a Beer Tasting Log book, it's called Beer Tasting Notes and is published by cicobooks.

The RRP on the back of the book is 9.99 UKP but this one was found in HomeSence in Somerset for 2.99 UKP

Book Description

Fans of craft beer will love this unique journal to record the characteristics of their favorite brews. The recent explosion of outstanding beers made by exceptionally talented brewers has been a dream come true for anyone who appreciates a well-balanced beverage. But with thousands of new beers coming out every year, it's hard to keep track of what you've been drinking and what you thought about it - especially if you've drunk quite a few! That's where this journal containing the following comes in: Specially designed pages to record the key characteristics of over 100 beers A section for home brewers to plan their recipes A craft-paper envelope to store the labels, bottle caps or beer mats of any particularly good ales

 

The book or log, is split up into Four sections,   

Understanding Beer which gives a short four page description  of different types of beer styles. 

Tasting Notes, which is where you can log beers that you have tried, there are 114 pages in this section and make up the bulk of the book/log and includes a few pages where you can write a few notes (8 pages)

The Brewing Your Own section is where you can record your own recipes and contains enough room to record the details, but only to a limited level of detail, but has all the sections you might require to recreate the brew at a later date. Unfortunately for myself and other home-brewers it only contains room for recording 25 of your own brew recipes.

The last part of the book/log is Keeping Organized, this section allows us to log Favorite Bars & Pubs (6 pages), Favorite Brewers (4 pages), Favorite Beer Stores, with areas on each page for names and addresses of each. Right at the end of this section is a 3 month per page beer diary called A Year in Beer, where you can record when and what you drank over the whole year.

 

Overall quite a handy little log, the only down side for myself is the recipe section being a little small to record my own home-brews, 25 is a little limited, but my plan is that I just use that section to record my own personal recipes that I have made up myself and to use the note section to record page numbers and the book of any that I make from the growing collection of beer brewing related literature on my bookshelf.

It's certainly going to be used quite a bit and very handy to have on my bookshelf

Xmas Presents (Brewing/Drinking Related)

Hey Hey, brewing and beer related Xmas Presents. A Big Thank you to every ones generous gifts this year.

Books

Got Andy Hamilton's new book "Brewing Britain" which is currently sitting next to his other book "Booze For Free" on my bookshelf, haven't had a chance to read it yet, but will do a full review once I have had a chance to put my feet up.

I also received another old book by Mary Aylett (1957) Encyclopaedia of Home-Made wines. Again not really had a chance to look through it as yet, but will Blog it once I have.

Beer!!

Got a nifty little beer mat/bottle opener personalised to me, Really handy and it got used alot on Xmas day, I  really like this little gadget as it also has a magnet on the back. It has a nice weight to it and the bottle opener is lovely to use as well a giving me a landing pad for my beer glass.

And to boost the now flagging beer stocks I now have a Coopers Stout kit to make up. Kits like this I find really  handy to have around and make because they are quick to make up and restock my Cellar with a good few pints in quite a short space of time.

GIFTS : Little Bottler & Country Wines by Mary Aylett (1953)

Received two lovely gifts from my Amazon Wish List this week, Thank you so much Emily.

Little Bottler : Product Description (Youngs)

The Little Bottler is designed to swiftly and efficiently fill your bottles from your fermenter. The Little Bottler consists of a dispensing tap which can be used as usual, plus a detachable filling tube. When the filling tube is fitted, inserting it into a bottle will result in the brew flowing and filling the bottle. Taking the bottle away will result in the flow automatically stopping. Ideally this should be used over a drip tray as, inevitably with this sort of product, small drips will occur.

I have one of these on my 25 liter fermenting bucket and they are great, really does make things nice and easy when it comes to filling up your beer bottles. This new one has been fitted to my smaller bucket (15 liters) for when I make my BIAB beers.

COUNTRY WINES MARY AYLETT

Product Description

This a fascinating and informative book on the age-old and delightful rural art of wine-making includes a very extensive collection of recipes for traditional country wines and many absorbing stories about wine-making and wine drinking through the ages. Full of wine making recipes, which include country wines, beer, cider and mead making. A useful book for the amateur wine maker.

London, Odhams Press, 1953 . First edition illustrated by line drawings throughout. Chapters on Raisin and Dried fruit wine, Currant wine, Elderflower and elderberry wine, plum port and beetroot wine, several fruit wines, parsnip and vegetable wines, flower wines, wines from grains, herb wines mead and metheglin, cider and perry and so on. Mrs Aylett hopes that "the book will bring afresh to many the joys of "a simple valuable and once widely practised art, which can be a source of pleasure to all, a wholesome addition to a woefully depleted diet and a new stimulus to a sadly waning hospitality" possibly just as true today as in 1953. 8vo., pp192 

I have already read through this whole book, it reads just like a novel, Even if you don't make home brew it's a great read. There are quite a few things I might make from this old book, but maybe not the wine the Manchus made from the flesh of sheep!!!