What i'm brewing at the moment

[irigg]

no it was a c j j berry recipe but all in all was a very similar one to andys

[prison break fan]

Hi irigg, did it take a gallon of berries? Andys recipe is just 4 pints, should I split the difference? cheers, pbf.

[WILDBREW]

Started two gallons of elderberry wine, i picked on a farm in nottinghamshire.



The elderberries near where i live are still not ripe
Hope to get some more elderberries next week

[Pach]

Right now, 80 litre of plum rakia. I have not tried making wine, but I have two elderberry trees laden with fruit that are begging me to give it a try.

Hi Pach!

In your Neck of the woods doesn't Rakia refer to brandy?
Just to point out to Isher's that a good number of countries around where Pach is have state distilleries where people can take their booze for legal government distillation (they take a cut of the finished product).

In most countries (baring NZ where i am, and a few others) it is illegal to distill at home, so check first and stay safe.
This said, check out "home distiller forum" if you are able to go down this road - it will keep you safe.

Indeed, fruit brandy, mainly plum, apricot, peach, pear, though 'failed' wine is sometimes also added. Yes, legal here, it's traditional. They don't distill at home though, everyone takes their brew to the village still. The guy there is the 'maestro', he charges about 15 GBP. Anyway, it seems that the elderberries have been reserved for syrup, so I'm going to try plum wine, as there are still plenty of them left on the tree.

So I syphoned off about 15 litre of the liquid from the rakia bin, added another 20 litre water, 4kg sugar and a cup of tea. Transferred to bottles a few days ago. Still fermenting slowly, I let the gas out each day. It's not too bad, still a bit sweet, more like cider than wine.

[irigg]

the one i made took 4 pints of berries

[prison break fan]

Cheers irigg, I'm going for that! I picked a couple of pints yesterday, so must finish it today. Have made about 5 buckets of raspberry, all at different stages, very confusing. Must start writing it all down.!! Happy brewing, pbf.

[wabbit955]

to much run out od demi john hehe

[oldfella]

Ish th e clubb for sellsurfeient drunks section off tis forun; plese.

[prison break fan]

This is my favourite section!! cheers! pbf.

[irigg]

Its been a bad year so not much brewing been done
had to spend alot a time with my parents and help out through illness
back home now and just started 1 gallon of blackberry

[GeorgeSalt]

Hi all, has anyone made hawthorn berry wine? There are masses of them near me, shame to waste them! pbf.

Just cleaning the haws after picking them this afternoon.. still a lot of elderberries and blackberries about.

I can't believe we don't have a thread on hawthornberry wine.. one of us must remedy that later..

[GeorgeSalt]

Only 3.5 pints of haws now that I've cleaned them.. would it be better to make up the difference with 1/2-pint blackberries or elderberries?

[MKG]

Neither, unless you want to destroy the colour and flavour of the hawthorn berry wine. For the sake of a half-pound of haws, I'd be tempted to increase the pulp fermentation time by a day or two before straining, and possibly add a handful or two of sultanas to add a bit of body.

Having said that, I've never made this wine so you can take my comments with a pinch of salt if you like (sorry George - unintended pun).

Mike

[GeorgeSalt]

Thanks Mike, I realised that after I posted it. I got them cleaned and washed and slung them in the freezer overnight - which should help break-up the pulp. I'll go grab some more later today. I also realised there are no raisins in the house so I need to pick up some of those anyway.

[wabbit955]

just started 2 gallons of rose hip wine
and bottle up mint wine
rhubarb wine
elderflower and rhubarb wine
all tasting petty good rhubarb a little clould thou