“Roll on October. It’s the ideal time to start brewing again after the heat of summer. The hop harvest is gathered in, the apples are ripe for cider-making, the summer fruits have been stored, and there’ll soon be sloes to pick after the first frosts for sloe gin. But best of all, the room temperature at home will have dropped to around 18-20°...just the perfect temperature to get brewing”  – Doug Rouxel 

Home Brew (4 October, Pavilion, £20.00) by Doug Rouxel and Sara Paston-Williams. This inspirational guide to making your own tipple has all the low-down and the tried-and-tested techniques for the best recipes to brew up at home. I’ve attached a couple of extracts so you can see what the book looks like. There are 59 original colour photographs taken for the book and jpegs are available if you would like to use a recipe or two.

The hardback sturdy book has all the information you need on the ingredients, techniques and brewing kit with tips and step-by-step instructions for each recipe - whether it’s a light crisp lager, a heavy and dark stout, a cloudy, fruity wheat beer or a malty mild.. Home Brew also includes brilliant recipes for making your own sparkling ciders, perry or mead, 27 delicious fruit wines and spirits from damson wine to quince vodka, and favourites for all the family likes cordials, lemonade or rosehip syrup.

MAKING BEERS, ALES and CIDERS using yeasts, grains and hops – 25 eclectic recipes (all with a story behind the name) include Pure and Simple Pilsner, Flaming June IPA, Bold and Brass Bitter, The Raconteur Wheat Beer, Roofer’s Revenge Modern Mild, Nursemaid Milk Stout and Santa’s Little Helper Spiced Christmas Ale 

Fruit Wines and SpiritS – 27 recipes include Damson Wine, Marigold Wine, Blackberry Wine, Quince Vodka, Sloe Gin and Cherry Brandy

Cider and Perry Recipes – 14 recipes are Sweet and Medium Cider or Perry, Blush Cider, Mulled Cider, Cheat’s Cider, Mead, Metheglin, Braggot, Cyser and Pyment 

Family Favourites cordials, syrups and squashes - 22 recipes include Fresh Lemonade, Orange Squash, Blackberry and Apple Cordial and Helen’s Winter Cordial