Home brews that go beyond beer

Sloshspot recently offered up a list of 13 alcoholic beverages you can make at home. While some sound like they should be avoided at all costs, others are tempting if only for the challenge of producing something drinkable.

The easiest and potentially smoothest (outside of beer) might be hard cider. It’s apple season and that means you’ve got plenty of raw materials to get it right. This guide on Instructables will walk you through the process. If you start now, you should have figured out how to have a proper cider for Thanksgiving and an excellent cider by Christmas.  

Another to consider is mead, which isn’t usually available outside of Renaissance Festivals, because the line between a bad batch and a good batch is not that hard to traverse. If you’re set up to brew beer, you can brew mead. Essentially all you’re going to need is honey, a package of yeast and time.  

The worst of the lot is clearly Hard Welch’s — a drink made by fermenting the well-known grape juice brand. If you’re set on making it, here’s a recipe and step-by-step instructions that call for white grape juice, which would technically make it white wine. It doesn’t seem like something you’d want to serve guests.  

We’ve all made mistakes while drinking, but those mistakes shouldn’t start with the decision to make a drink that is likely to taste awful.

[Image via Flickr: drab makyo]