Just given 3 demijohns, now what ?

[MKG]

The fruit tea bag wine goes into the third and, after you take up the offer of the extra ones (which you will ), there's bramble tip wine, more rhubarb wine, gooseberry wine (and if you're quick, you still have a chance of dandelion wine) - and that should last you until the really cheap strawberries become available, then there's the early blackberries, and then the elderberries come into their own, and then ... well, you get the idea. And all of this time, there are bargains to be found in tinned fruits, cordials, dried fruits (tinned peach and sultana is particularly nice) ... oh, it goes on ... and on ...

Best of luck, Sarah.

Mike

[SteveJamesBrown]

This is a great thread, I'm going to have a bash this weekend.

Just a little not about the water I learnt from a wine maker. I live in London where the tap water tends to be a little chlorinated. I was advised to leave the water out for 24 hours in an open top container to allow the chlorine to evaporate, this prevents it from killing the yeast. I'm not sure how important this is but its interesting how different water tastes after being left out overnight ;)

Thanks for the recipe Mike ;)

[sarahkeast]

Bramble tip ? never heard of it !!! What does it taste like ?

Sounds like a cheap one [plenty of brambles available] I looked around the park when taking doggo out just now, no shortage ! lots are in bud, is that what we want ? how about in a week or two, will it be too late ? not sure I have the time to do it till after Bank Holiday.

Just out of interest, so brambles fruit on new or old growth ? or both ? I have loads on fence in garden, leaving/training them for the fruit this year, plan to hack to ground in autumn, hoping for berries before then.

[MKG]

Bramble tip wine - exactly what it sounds like. You clip off the growing tips of fresh brambles (about three inches or so) and make your wine. It tastes ... ermmm ... interesting. A tad sherry-ish, really.

Mike