DIY Drinks - brewing, wine making & distilling at home

We used to think that New Zealand was a nation of beer drinkers, although today it may appear that wine is the dominating drink. Whatever your tastes, our DIY spirit is as strong today as ever and the hobby of home brewing, wine-making and distilling is still popular.

Ale, beer, cider and perry

Beer was enjoyed by the ancient Egyptians who believed that it was discovered by the god Osiris who forgetfully left a decoction of barley out in the sun, and the earliest written recipes date back to ancient Babylon¹. These were actually ales as the modern definition of beer requires the addition of hops which wasn't in widespread use until the late middle ages. Early ales were flavoured with a wide variety of herbs and spices depending on the tastes of the brewer and local availability and were often of such low alcohol that they were drunk by everyone, including children at anytime, including breakfast.

Brewing beer can be as simple as buying a pack from the supermarket or one of several stores that supply brewing equipment and goods. Most beers are based on malt made from grains, usually barley, but ginger beer and ginger ales, usually non-alcoholic, are also popular. Beers are generally between 5 and 7 % alcohol.

Cider is a drink made of apple juice and can be either alcoholic (sometimes called hard cider) or not. As with grapes for wine the variety of apple used gives each cider a unique flavour and certain types of apples haven proven best for cider. Cider is often made from blending different varieties to get a good balance of flavours. Pears can also be used to make a similar drink called perry.

Wine

Wine is generally made from grapes but can also be made from various fruits e.g. plums, strawberries, etc or simply with honey (mead). While modern methods involve a number of processes the core process itself is quite natural and wine making's history goes back into mythology. Fermentation caused by the active yeasts changes the sugars of the fruit juices or honey into alcohol. Once all the sugars have been converted fermentation naturally ends. Most wines are about 9 13% acohol.

Spirits

New Zealand has the, perhaps dubious, honour of being one of the few countries in which it is legal to distill spirits for your own use:

"From 1 October 1996, the Customs Act and Regulations were changed to allow home distilling of spirits. Section 7 (b) of the Customs and Excise Act 1996 provides an exemption from the requirement to have a customs licence to distill spirits at home provided they are exclusively for personal use and not for sale to any other person."²

Spirits such as whisky, gin, vodka, schnapps, brandy, grappa, tequila, rum etc are generally up to 40% alcohol by volume. Liqueurs are made from distilled spirits, sweetened and flavoured.

DIY drink resources

Our online resources:

• Wine and wine making: clubs and courses from CINCH
• Breweries and home brewing: web sites for local companies from localeye
• Dictionary of Food and Drink (2005) by David A. Bender from the Oxford Reference database - excellent for descriptions of different drinks.
  Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.
• Encyclopedia Britannica has excellent articles on both beer and wine and the processes involved in making each.
  Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.

Our Internet Gateway recommends:

• NZS.com New Zealand Brewing directory - A list of NZ beer and brewing web sites.
• Real Beer New Zealand - Active forums for brewers, a beer blog, resources sections and news stories. Check out their map of breweries and brew pubs around New Zealand.

Browse the resources in our libraries:

• Brewing
• Cider
• Wine and winemaking
• Distillation

Footnotes

1. M. Toussaint-Samat, History of Food, translated by A. Bell, 1992 page 179.

2. Sale of Liquor FAQs, Alcohol Advisory Council web site, downloaded 16 February 2007.