WTD: Country Wine Recipe

[Ireland-or-bust]

Hi,

I "think" that i need country wine recipes.

I have fruit, sugar and demijohns.

I have no idea of how to brew wine and the more i read
the more confused i get.

I don't want to use any chemicals that i have to get through the post.
There are no shops near with brewing kit.

If i have to send away i have to pay heavily weighted ebay fees for postage
as i'm in Ireland and people seem to charge over the odds.
Which makes it un-economical.

Any help please...

Mark.

PS No book referals pls, i don't have the money. :-(

[the.fee.fairy]

if you have a look about, there's loads of recipes!!

What fruit do you have? Do you have yeast of any kind?
Do you hav something to sterilise your equipment with?
And...do you have airlocks and fermenting buckets?

[Ireland-or-bust]

Hi,

I have strawberries in abundance. I also have tayberry, loganberry, blackberry, black currant and raspberry.

The only kit i have is two demijohns.
I don't have any yeast and all i can get is dried bread yeast from the
shop but thats not economical to use as its so expensive.

I have boiling water to sterilise the bottles, thats all i'm affraid.


Mark.

[chadspad]

These people on Ebay are great and their prices are very fair. Altho they only show UK p&p prices, contact them, they send to me in France all the time. This is a link to their yeast - this is the stuff I use, its very good at getting a high alcohol content.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Homerbrew-Winemak ... dZViewItem

Honestly, I only use boiling water to sterilise stuff but I would say if u can spend a little money and buy a few bits and pieces it will be able to do several batches of wine as only a teaspoon is needed of each thing. Ive made 14 gallons of wine now and still using the same tub of yeast. I would def suggest pectolase if youre using fruit and campden tablets for ending off.

Here in France they use no chemicals at all just the yeast in the fruit. Ive tried it with my grapes but it didnt work too well and I spent a little money from that company on ebay to save wasting time trying again with no result.

[the.fee.fairy]

Or you can use milton to sterilise - its that baby bottle sterilising stuff.

You will need yeast to make wine. I'm not sure how much natural yeast any of your fruits have, so you'l need yeast to create the alcohol.

you'll also need something to start the fermentation off in (like a bucket) that you can cover with a teatowel for a week or so. And, an airlock per demijohn, there are people who use stuffed-in cotton wool, so that should be fine. Basically, you want to let the gas escape without letting the vinegar fly in.

I'll have a look when i get home to see what recipes i have for the fruits that you have.

i use the same yeast as Chad, and i've used bread yeast in the past - a teaspoonful per demijohn. Bread yeast only ever comes out to about 10% for me, whereas the super wine yeast can apparently get to 18%.

If you have difficulty getting hold of stuff like that, give me a shout, i'd be more than happy to send you a parcel of goodies!

[red]

I successfully steralise using only boiling water, so you should be ok. buying brewers yeast is worth it, but you can use bakers yeast ok, and it multiplies.. so you dont have to add alot, just need more time.

I make my wines without any chemical additives at all - no campden tablets, no pectin destroyer, no finings, no artificial tanin etc. and I have made good clear drinkable wine.

Basically, you need to get the juice from your fruit, add sugar and yeast, dont get nasty bugs in it, and let it ferment.

To get the juice out you can either freeze the fruit to break it down, cook it (but this can encourage pectin and make cloudy.. on the other hand, steralises) or bung the fruit in a bucket with the yeast and let the yeast work on the fruit for a few days before straining. or a combination

You could improvise an airlock if you got hold of a cork or bung of some sort - tubing and run it through water.. say a jar of water


how much sugar to add depends on how sweet the fruit is and how sweet you like your wine. perhaps start with 2.5 pounds of sugar and add more at the racking off stage if you think its too dry.

I dont have a hydrometer.. so judge how strong my wine is by noticing how i feel after drinking it!!!

the old fashioned way of making wine was to have a bowl of juice (+sugar) and float a bit of toast on top spread with some yeast, and cover with a cloth. I reckon the old fashioned taste in wine must have been fairly rough too.. but bear this in in mind - it does not have to be that technical if you dont want it to be.

[Ireland-or-bust]

thanks all for advice.

will see what i can do.

Mark.

[red]

HIC have alot of recipes - I have not actually tried any, though, but some look good, and you can just leave out the additives etc

I have some second hand airlocks someone gave me, if you want I could post you one. sup to you

[chadspad]

Heres a recipe for strawberry wine u could use to suit by adding other berries too:

4lb Strawberries
3lb sugar
1 tsp citric acid - u could use lemon instead
1gallon water
Yeast & nutrient

Take stems from strawberries and wash the fruit. Mash the berries well, mix with the sugar and 2 litres of water. Leave for 24 - 36 hours, then strain liquor into fermenting jar, add a further litre of water to the pulp, mix well & immediately strain again, then add the citric acid, yeast nutrient & yeast and make up to 4.5 litres (1 gallon) with cold water. Stir thoroughly. Fit an airlock and continue to ferment as usual.

[Cligereen]

Hi Mark,

I'm in Tullamore and there is a chemist here that sells the basics: equipment, yeasts and kits. If you're ever 'up this way' it may be worth calling into them but I wouldn't make a special trip.

Clig.

[Ireland-or-bust]

Hi,

Thanks for that.
Will bare it in mind.

I haven't found anywhere in wexford or waterford county's that sell the kit.


Mark

[pskipper]

I use bakers yeast, if you don'y have any pop down to the bakery counter of your nearest large supermarket and ask for some fresh yeast, they usually give it to you for free!