A town full of DIY maniacs, a communal love of food and drink, and a harsh economy: It’s the perfect storm in which to launch Urban Peasant, a group of urbanites dedicated to teaching “homesteading in a modern world” (read: canning, preserving, cheesemaking and the like). At their first workshop, held Tuesday night at Living Room Events/Kitchenette in Dogpatch, home-brewer and -winemaker Scott Mansfield showed 30 folks how to make their own booze—in small batches and without the need to stomp grapes or mash hops and barley. Within two hours, Scott (full disclosure: he’s my husband) showed how to make cider, pomegranate wine, ginger beer and blackberry melomel (a honey-based drink). Turns out all the basic equipment you’ll ever need will cost you about $120, and then you can start turning out beer for as little as $1.50 a six-pack and wine made from gold-medal grapes (vineyards package the concentrate and ship it straight to your house!) for about $3 per bottle. Don’t believe it? Check out urbanpeasantsf.com for details and recipes.