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elderberry wine (froze the berries last year). had to test a bit the other day in the name of science. it was bloody good.

cider made from the finest T***o economy apple juice. with cloves to make it more classy.

a kit beer due to laziness. gonna do a proper beer at the weekend though. with bog myrtle if i can be bothered bouncing across the moor, which is highly likely, as i find i am highly motivated by the prospect of decent beer.

glad to see that T***o is starred out on these forums...

Rhubarb wine.

Ingredients : Rhubarb
More rhubarb

Basically, I want to know how far I can go with the only yeast which Wilkinsons now supply (Gervin Universal) which turns out to be EC1118, which was a nice surprise - it's fast, works over a wide range of temperatures and has high sugar and alcohol tolerance.

So, I've got 3 gallons on the go. The first used 6lbs of rhubarb extracted simply by covering with 4 lbs of sugar and leaving for a couple of days. The second has 4 lbs of rhubarb extracted with 3 lbs of sugar, and the third has all of the previously-used rhubarb re-soaked in cold water and another kilo of sugar. What I'm hoping to get is one gallon of high-flavour super-alcohol stuff at (take your pick)% alcohol, one gallon of on-the-cusp-of-sweetness stuff at about 14%, and a gallon of common or garden dry plonk at about 11%.

The high-alcohol version could turn out to be anything, as I'm not mollycoddling it in any way (if I did, I could - apparently - attain 18% without too much trouble) - but certainly strong and sweet. We shall see.

If anyone else is using this stuff, disregard what is implied on the packet. You still need only the normal level teaspoon of yeast per gallon of wine and, if you're a bit on the tight-fisted side (like me) there's enough in one sachet for three seperate fermentations. I've not had a single non-starter yet.

Well, that yeast is really something! It began to give up the ghost sometime in the last week of May. Well, I assumed it had given up the ghost but when I tasted the wine it was extremely dry. I had cosseted it a bit, but I certainly never expected that result so quickly. After a few tastes (as you do) I remembered what that all actually meant - four pounds of sugar, or at least the greater part of it, had been converted. That means that the alcohol content was getting on for 20%! I err on the side of caution usually, so let's say 18%.

Now I have a problem - I thought I would end up with a sweet, strong wine and, instead, have a very strong dry wine which I'm going to have to back-sweeten. I hate problems. I'll have to drink the results and start all over again.



Mike

EDIT: Oh, by the way - the third gallon (with re-used rhubarb) was ready within two weeks and tasted very refreshing almost immediately afterwards. This yeast drops very quickly and forms a firm deposit - it's easy to get the wine off the top of it.

A bit late, I've just started a couple of gallons of beech leaf wine. I tried this as an experiment last year, and it's definitely worth doing again.

I also have dandelion and oak leaf wines on the go.

just put on

fig leaf (was very good batch I made last year )
wild fennel wine
and bottom of freezer wine (sloe ,rose hip, huckle berry)

Elderflower blossom just starting to come out at allotment.
Might try and make some cordial or wine.
Hope the flowers will be just right next week as I haven't got a working kitchen until then.

Only just noticed this thread. Lets see, I've got last year's elderberry still in djs, rice wine, dandelion wine, Lemon and Ginger tea wine (hippy juice), Red label tea wine, Nettle wine, Potato wine, and the one I'm most interested in - Cock ale (beer that had a chicken steeped in it during fermentation). The elderberry, dandelion and nettle ones are the only ones I've actually foraged for (that aren't bottled/long gone)

I have just put 40 pints of Czech pilsner in the keg to mature for 3 to 4 weeks
and I have to more gallons of fruit juice wine fermenting away this will turn out like a rose.

Brewtrog wrote: Cock ale (beer that had a chicken steeped in it during fermentation)

I'm intrigued by this. I assume the chicken was cooked before going in the beer? Did you eat the chicken afterwards, and was it nice? If not, it'd feel like a waste of a chicken to me. And, um, why? I'll be interested to hear how the beer turns out.

As for me, I bottled my elderflower champagne yesterday and drank the first bottle today. No, it wasn't ready, but it was already a bit fizzy and I couldn't resist.

Zech wrote:

Brewtrog wrote: Cock ale (beer that had a chicken steeped in it during fermentation)

I'm intrigued by this. I assume the chicken was cooked before going in the beer? Did you eat the chicken afterwards, and was it nice? If not, it'd feel like a waste of a chicken to me. And, um, why? I'll be interested to hear how the beer turns out.

As for me, I bottled my elderflower champagne yesterday and drank the first bottle today. No, it wasn't ready, but it was already a bit fizzy and I couldn't resist.

Sorry, was a bit vague on details wasn't I. What you do is cook a chook, eat it, take the carcass and steep it in wine for two days. at the same time as putting the carcass in wine you start up a beer (basic job with spraymalt for me). When the 2 days are up you throw the carcass in a nylon bag and chuck it (and the wine) into the beer for as long as it takes to ferment, remove chicken and let clear. Then prime and bottle

sour cherry wine from home grown cherries

Just started two gallons of 5 A live citrus fruit & tropical five fruit blend.
this wine is fit for a .
it's started fermenting after just 1 hr. http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/imag ... happy1.gif
http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/imag ... orting.gif

Wine. No - really.

A trip to our local "we sell you anything as long as we got it for next to nothing" store yesterday was interesting - they were selling out-of-date sparkling white grape juice - 24 x 330mil cans for £2.50!!!! I checked the contents - basically grape juice, Vit. C and gas with nothing untoward added. 14 of the cans promptly went into a demijohn with a bit of citric acid (the origin was dessert grapes rather than winemaking grapes, which are more acidic) and about a half-pound of sugar to bring up the potential ABV, a bit of yeast nutrient and about 5mg Vit B just to make sure. Then I added the yeast.

The whole thing took off like a rocket, and I assumed that, for whatever reason, the excess carbon dioxide was being driven off. Well, I suppose it was, but the "like a rocket" description remained fit for purpose - it was still going like that two hours later. Overnight, it slowed down a bit, but it's still going at a rate which you wouldn't normally expect at this early stage. So, it looks like it's a gallon of real white wine for a little bit under £1.50.

Normally, I'd wait in case it turns out to be rubbish. But the juice tastes fine as it is - I'm going back tomorrow to stock up.

Mike

I'd be tempted to bung a strong cup of tea/some tannin powder into the wine Mike. Otherwise sounds very good.