Brew It Yourself: Make Your Own Craft Drinks with Wild and Home-Grown Ingredients

For Roscoe and Tilly

BREW IT YOURSELF

Nick Moyle and Richard Hood

First published in the UK and USA

in 2015 by Nourish, an imprint of

Watkins Media Limited

This edition published in the UK and USA

in 2024 by Nourish, an imprint of

Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House,

83–93 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DF

[email protected]

Copyright © Watkins Media Limited 2015, 2019, 2024

Design copyright © Watkins Media Limited 2015, 2019, 2024

Text copyright © Richard Hood and Nick Moyle 2015, 2019, 2024

Photography copyright © Richard Hood and Nick Moyle 2015, 2019, 2024

Photography copyright for pages 175 and 178

© Shutterstock 2024

The right of Nick Moyle and Richard Hood to be identified as the Authors of this text has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Designers & Food Stylists: Nick Moyle and Richard Hood

Production: Uzma Taj

Cover Illustration: Alice Coleman

A CIP record for this book is available from the

British Library

ISBN: 978-1-84899-421-8

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Typeset in Aller, North Pole, Bernier and LunchBox

Printed in China

NOTES ON THE RECIPES

Unless otherwise stated:

• Use medium eggs, fruit and vegetables

• Use fresh ingredients, including herbs and spices

• Do not mix metric and imperial measurements

• 1 tsp = 5ml 1 tbsp = 15ml 1 cup = 250ml

PUBLISHERS NOTE

While every care has been taken in compiling the recipes for this book, Watkins Media Limited, or any other persons who have been involved in working on this publication, cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, inadvertent or not, that may be found in the recipes or text, nor for any problems that may arise as a result of preparing one of these recipes. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have any special dietary requirements or medical conditions, it is advisable to consult a medical professional before following any of the recipes contained in this book.

nourishbooks.com

d_r0

CONTENTS

Foreword

The Basics

Wine & Mead

rhubarb wine

elderberry wine

second-run elderberry & plum wine

elderflower wine

crab apple wine

fragrant fig wine

pineapple wine

grapefruit wine

lemon & lime wine

parsnip wine

mint wine

oak leaf wine

easy mead

rhodomel

winter mead

Cider

farmhouse cider

cyser

pear & ginger cider

slider

bramble cider

scrumpleflower

rosehip cider

hopped cider

Rich’s hot cider toddy

lambswool

Beer, Ale & Lager

basic beer

London porter

India pale ale

wheat beer

lager

honey ale

Nick’s liquorice stout

raspberry ale

Viking ale

pumpkin ale

English brown ale

ginger ale

Sparkling Drinks

sima (Finnish spring mead)

tepache

fruit can fizz

fizzy iced tea

elderflower sparkle

lavender sparkle

boozy dandelion soda

chilli ginger beer

nettle beer

Liqueurs

sloe gin

second-run sloe whisky

raspberry & thyme whisky

damson & fennel vodka

wild brandy

crème de cassis & Kir Royale

rhubarb & vanilla liqueur

Julia’s orange whisky

limoncello

rucolino

mint, lime & lemongrass liqueur

beech leaf & honey liqueur

mayflower brandy

Irish cream liqueur

coconut liqueur

Classic Cocktails & Curios

summer cup

cherry fortified wine

Rich’s sangri-ahhhhhh

bloody Mary

rumtopf

orange bitters

spruce bitters & spruce martini

vermouth

chilli tequila & mango margarita

absinthe

horseradish vodka

spiced rum

marrow rum

Ilze’s beetroot kvass

egg-nog

glögg

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

elderberry cordial

iced chai masala

mixed berry shrub

rosehip & lime soda

switchel

Ingredient Guides

roots

honey

apples

hops

flowers

berries

herbs & spices

FOREWORD

For too long, the making of ‘homebrew’ has been a pastime more commonly associated with folk of a certain age: those that favour sandal/sock combinations, hairy jumpers and caravan holidays. Seen as a seventies throwback, this genteel pastime has long been mocked by the ignorant and uninformed.

This is all about to change…

We have bravely taken it upon ourselves to brew, ferment and infuse vast amounts of drinks from ingredients foraged, grown and scavenged in our gardens, on our allotment and sometimes – whisper it – from the shops.

Along the way, we have created gastronomic disasters too horrid to recount, but that has all been part of the learning process. And we did it for you.

This book contains a selection of our very best recipes, designed for a new generation of home brewers. It will provide inspiration for you to turn your own surplus harvest into tasty beverages, explain how foraged ingredients can transform ordinary drinks into something wonderful, and demonstrate how anyone can create their own uniquely flavoured booze. This book will debunk myths, celebrate experimentation and take the fear out of the science of fermentation.

With ingredients varying from parsnips to pears and dandelions to damsons, we’ll be furiously fermenting, boldly brewing and magically mixing a weird and wonderful array of alcoholic drinks. And, in this updated edition, we’ve conjured up some non-alcoholic drinks too.

Rise up, embrace the demijohn (carboy) and join us on our homebrew odyssey… it’s going to be one garden party you won’t want to miss!

THE TWO THIRSTY GARDENERS

THE BREW-IT-YOURSELF

MANIFESTO

You don’t have to be a boffin of science or a Michelin-starred chef to get fantastic results through making your own booze, bu we do try to follow a few guidelines to maximize the merriment.

Here is our simple manifesto, which we have nailed to the door of our brewing shed to keep us on the straight and narrow.

• Experiment! Swap ingredients to invent recipes, change base spirits in your liqueurs and add herbs and spices to just about anything. Try fermenting unusual produce... that unwanted vegetable lurking in the corner? It might just work!

• Make copious notes, and keep them safe. All of your experimenting will go to waste if they accidentally end up in the recycling bin, riding on the back of a cornflake packet.

• Taste is subjective. Remember, one person’s Chablis is another person’s sink cleaner.

• Don’t get hung up over quantities. Treat measurements as a rough guide. Slightly more or less is rarely a problem.

• Homegrown or foraged ingredients are best, but shops offer alternatives. There is no shame in purchasing produce in the pursuit of boozy beverages.

• Sometimes being patient will reward you with improved drinks, but if it tastes good, enjoy it early.

• Be generous and share your drinks. Receive feedback and take criticism graciously, no matter how misguided it may be.

• ALWAYS treat alcohol with respect. Your hard work deserves it.

BREW-IT-YOURSELF: THE BASICS

To make decent booze you need decent ingredients. The freshest, most flavoursome produce will always reward you with a higher quality of drink. We go into more detail about some of our favourite ingredients later, but here we’ll deal with the three main ways of acquiring them: grow them yourself, track them down when foraging… or buy them.

GROWING YOUR OWN

A lot of people begin their brewing journeys when they realize that surplus homegrown produce can be converted into alcohol. We know plenty of gardeners with substantial rhubarb plants who are harvesting stalks long after they’ve tired of rhubarb crumbles or pies, but don’t know what else to do with them. Point out how easy rhubarb wine is to make and there’s a fair chance they’ll soon be scouring car boot sales for their first demijohn (carboy).

Turning homegrown produce into tasty beverages is a hugely rewarding experience. And unlike most forms of cooking, where your hard-grown food is cooked and gobbled within hours, a bottle of booze will keep those flavours preserved for weeks, months and even years.

WHAT TO GROW

What you’re able to grow will depend largely on where you live and how much space you have. But even people without a garden can often manage a few pots of herbs on a windowsill, which can go into any number of drinks.

If you’ve got more space outdoors, you have a few more choices. Among the considerations for plant selection might be the following:

•What will save me money?

•What can I grow that’s hard to buy?

•What’s the most versatile?

•How much cost and effort will it take to grow?

•What will give me the biggest harvest?

These answers will be different from person to person, but we’re certain that whatever criteria you base your decision on you’ll enjoy the resulting booze just that little bit more.

FORAGING

Growing your own ingredients is rewarding, but foraging for them can be even better. Nature has done all the hard graft of sowing and nurturing, leaving you to grab the spoils for free.

Foraging puts you back at one with nature and takes you down seasonal brewing paths that have been followed by generations of home brewers. For us, few sights are more exciting than the mass arrival of elderflowers, signalling the start of summer and a long season of increased fermenting and infusing activities. When autumn arrives, a whole new selection of fruit and berry flavours will send brewing addicts into a giddy spin – we struggle to complete any car journey without emitting excitable yelps every time we drive past a previously undetected apple tree.

WHAT TO FORAGE

It’s obvious, but worth reinforcing, that many wild plants are poisonous, so only pick what you’re 100% certain is edible. Fortunately some of the most abundant forageable goods are easy to identify, making them worthy of a boozy dabble – leaves from mighty oak and beech trees, spruce needles and the common weeds dandelion and nettle all fall into this category.

Many wild flowers are edible and make interesting flavours for wines and infusions. If you want to test to see if you like a particular flower in a boozy context, start with quick sparkling drinks before progressing to wine.

Some roots, such as dandelion and burdock, are worth looking out for – although you should seek permission from landowners if you’re considering taking the garden fork with you.

Berries can often be harder to identify, as many species have poisonous lookalikes, so take extra care. However blackberries, elderberries, sloes and damsons should be familiar to most people.

GOOD FORAGING PRACTICE

It’s important to look after nature and, in return, she’ll continue to provide you with bountiful brewing goods. Try not to damage plants when picking, and don’t strip bare the first tree or bush you see – many birds and mammals rely on these same fruits for survival, so make sure to leave enough to go around.

WHERE TO LOOK

If you’re after a specific ingredient, it’s worth finding out what kind of environment best suits that particular plant before heading off into the wild. If you prefer to wander in a more aimless manner and leave your harvest to chance, then the edges of thoroughfares – particularly railways, rivers and abandoned paths – can be the most rewarding. The thin natural boundaries between routeway and cultivated land have often been left untouched for decades, meaning that any forageable goods will be well established. They’re also zones in which discarded fruit seeds (apple cores hurled from cars) lie undisturbed to germinate and grow, creating mini orchards ready to be plundered.

SHOPPING

There are numerous ingredients you’ll have to buy, including essentials such as sugar, yeast and spirits for infusing, plus most of the basic grains used in our beer recipes. And despite our advocacy of homegrown or foraged foods, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use shop-bought ingredients for everything you make.

Not even the very best horticulturalist is likely to have access to an all-year-round harvest for all drink types, and shops can fill in the seasonal growing gaps. For us that means imported citrus fruits, dried fruit and even canned food in the winter months.

It’s also worth tracking down your nearest homebrew shop or a suitable online equivalent. Besides selling essential equipment, a range of sterilizing chemicals, yeast and other specialist brewing ingredients, you might be lucky enough to find that they stock other treats such as dried fruit and flowers (including elder and rose) and an interesting array of fresh hops.

Beyond these specialist stores and supermarkets you should also get yourself acquainted with local farm shops, apothecaries, herbalists and health food stores for as wide a range of buying choices as possible.

GET STARTED MAKING BOOZE

So you’ve sourced your ingredients, have a raging thirst and are all set to brew. Before you plough headlong into our recipes, there are a few considerations to ensure that all your hard work doesn’t end up being poured down the drain in a giant sulk. We’ve gone into detail on the requirements for each drinks style at the start of each section; before you get that far it’s worth doing a bit of general cramming.

STERILIZATION

We’ll start with THE most tedious part of the process, but arguably the most important. Months of work can be wasted by contamination from a dirty bottle or piece of equipment, so all items that come in contact with your precious brew – before, during and after making it – must be cleaned thoroughly before use.

There are various chemicals on the market that will do this (our choice is VWP Cleaner, available in powdered form from homebrew shops in various sizes of tub). To sterilize your kit, simply dissolve the powder in warm water following the pack instructions, and briefly soak everything that will come into contact with your drinks in the solution before rinsing it through with water. The rinsing stage is important, as chemical aftertastes can taint a brew just as effectively as a grubby funnel. It is also wise, though not vital, to sterilize your cider- and wine-making ingredients to kill off unwanted yeasts and bacteria before any fermentation begins. This can be achieved by dropping a Campden tablet (which needs crushing; two teaspoons make perfect crushers) into your ingredients 24 hours before adding the yeast. This can also help ward off oxidization, so Campden tablets are often added to wine before bottling. However, Campden tablets come with a cautionary note: they’re made up of sodium metabisulphite, which one out of every 100 people is sensitive to (the effects cause asthma-like symptoms) – hence the ‘contains sulphites’ warning on many wine and cider labels. You should check with your guests before sharing any sulphited drinks.

For drinks that don’t involve fermentation, cleanliness is still important, and it’s always worth sterilizing glass storage bottles before topping them up with your booze. Wash