Demijohns - Making booze

[PieSlayer]

This thread has encouraged me to have a go at making some red wine.

Is this all I need kit wise?

http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/wineworks-superior-re...

[Jambo85]

Only other essential - I think - would be a load of bottles + caps or corks and a corking machine.

I've always stayed away from wine making as conventional wisdom has always been that while you can make beer as good as or better than you can buy for pennies; it's quite difficult and expensive to make even mediocre wine at home. A good friend tells me though that the modern high end kits are decent and you can knock out bottles you'd expect to pay £7 for for around £2 a bottle - let us know how you get on!

[4x4Tyke]

PieSlayer said:

This thread has encouraged me to have a go at making some red wine.

Is this all I need kit wise?

http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/wineworks-superior-re...

30L is is a big kit, but it has no bottles and is a bit pricey, the bucket gives you flexible to make wine from fruits and flowers, and beer, but not really necessary if you only want to make kit wine.

Wilko and the Range have smaller starter kits around £20-30 which include the equipment you must have, and also sell plenty of extras. I like the Wilko stuff, do not be fooled by the basics style branding, the quality is fine.

This one doesn't need bottles, it is a straight to dispensing bag-box, which would be easy for a beginner, if you continue then you can add a bottling step.

http://www.wilko.com/wine-homebrew-kits/bloke-stuf...

Edited by 4x4Tyke on Saturday 22 July 08:49

[Welshbeef]

My grandad a few decades ago - sadly now past away - was always making wine in these. He entered county wine making competitions - no idea how he got on.

Wines I remember him making
Sloe
Nettle
Rose pettel
amongst others.
Some were not to my taste others very nice - all very potent.

He loved pottering / his hobby and every single day he was doing something with it

[motco]

It's been a while since I made some but I used 'Five Alive' fruit drink as a base. These days there's a choice of flavours, but in the eighties there was one flavour only. It was light and dry as a wine, very quaffable - that's why I don't make wine any more because as an ale drinker I used to knock it back far too much! Having been down the orange route and moved to grapefruit juice, Five Alive was a good middle way between the slightly sweet (to my taste) orange and the very astringent grapefruit. Gallons of the stuff sat on the top of my old floor standing boiler fermenting until my (then) young son knocked one on the tiled floor where it shattered and soaked the cat in half finished wine! He stank for a week until he licked himself clean! The cat, not my son....

[227bhp]

PieSlayer said:

This thread has encouraged me to have a go at making some red wine.

Is this all I need kit wise?

http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/wineworks-superior-re...

It looks ok, not the best, but it's all down to taste and it may suit you fine, but yes everything is there*. Obviously to repeat that you'll only need to buy the basic wine kits and more sterilizer, corks and bottles next time.
The rule is simple, the more you pay the better it gets, the more expensive ones contain more liquid and that is what you want. Less initial liquid (syrup) = more water to be added which gives less body or an inferior product.
I regularly do a white 30 bottle, 10 litre one for £52, you would not know this isn't a decent £8+ Supermarket bottle of wine or £25 restaurant one.
Forget the times, it generally takes twice as long. Ironically we found we had to tweak the recipe as it was a bit sweet, cloying and never gave 30 bottles so we added more water and sugar and it suits us better. It definitely needs a month or two once bottled, if drunk young it tastes a bit 'industrial' like de-icer or screen wash, but then you wouldn't drink any wine at that age and expect it to be any good.

• Apart from bottles, corks and a corker.

I would encourage you to buy a two lever type corker, the cheaper plastic plunger type can be dangerous. What you find is that there are two sizes of wine necks depending on whether they are screw top or not. I was pushing a cork in using the plunger type when it split and the bottle neck then exploded, had I carried on pushing down it would have gone into my wrist, I took it back and swapped it for the lever type....

I'm using Tesco Direct at the moment, free delivery to my local mini Tesco, range here in price order:
https://www.tesco.com/direct/diy-car/wine-making-k...

Edited by 227bhp on Saturday 22 July 23:05

[Wiccan of Darkness]

Jambo85 said:

I've always stayed away from wine making as conventional wisdom has always been that while you can make beer as good as or better than you can buy for pennies; it's quite difficult and expensive to make even mediocre wine at home.

Oh you're so wrong there, soooooo wrong. The wine I've made at home is far superior to what you can get in bottles. I've made blackberry wine that's almost like a very decent port, plum brandy, an elderflower champagne that was to die for and an entire demi john of something I can't remember what it was made from, but gave it to a friend who served it up to some of her friends who refused to believe it wasn't some £100 a bottle nectar.

I used to go by the rules of 3; one batch would be dreadful, one batch quite palatable and could be served to friends and family, one batch would be utterly heavenly, and be far superior to anything you can buy.

The difference is that bottles of wine in the shops are always made from grapes (true wine) but the wine I make is from whatever I can get my grubby paws on (referred to as country wines).

I really am at a loss as to why you can't buy country wines in wineries. Personally I wouldn't have a vineyard, I'd have a field of blackberries and use those instead.

Once had a batch of strawberry jam go a bit wrong, so I emptied it in to demijohns and fermented it. By golly that blew your head off.

[otolith]

That's the thing - country wines, you can get good fruit for, and the result can be as good in its own way as a grape based wine. I've also had excellent results with blackberry, even better if you let it finish sweet and strong and then fortify it.

Grape wines, you usually have to use concentrate. It's possible to grow good grapes for white wines in the UK, some of them are superb, but reds seem to be a different matter and in any case not many of us have a vineyard!

[227bhp]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

I really am at a loss as to why you can't buy country wines in wineries. Personally I wouldn't have a vineyard, I'd have a field of blackberries and use those instead.

Because it's too time consuming to pick blackberries, also the yield per Sqm of land is very low, you'd have to sell a bottle at £30+ to break even.
I have got some bottles of it maturing at the moment though, personal use only

[Jambo85]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Jambo85 said:

I've always stayed away from wine making as conventional wisdom has always been that while you can make beer as good as or better than you can buy for pennies; it's quite difficult and expensive to make even mediocre wine at home.

Oh you're so wrong there, soooooo wrong. The wine I've made at home is far superior to what you can get in bottles.

Really? Reeeealllly? Better than anything you can get in a bottle at any price?

Wiccan of Darkness said:

I used to go by the rules of 3; one batch would be dreadful, one batch quite palatable and could be served to friends and family, one batch would be utterly heavenly, and be far superior to anything you can buy.

Getting closer to the truth here I think

Wiccan of Darkness said:

I've made blackberry wine that's almost like a very decent port, plum brandy, an elderflower champagne that was to die for and an entire demi john of something I can't remember what it was made from, but gave it to a friend who served it up to some of her friends who refused to believe it wasn't some £100 a bottle nectar.

I used to go by the rules of 3; one batch would be dreadful, one batch quite palatable and could be served to friends and family, one batch would be utterly heavenly, and be far superior to anything you can buy.

I'm convinced when it comes to infused spirits - eg. the plum brandy you mention. Sloe gin is great, and the best non-beer thing I have ever made - Creme de Mure - is hard to beat. Followed this recipe a couple of years ago when the blackberries were unusually good and it is wonderful stuff that I'm still drinking: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/blackberry-liq... . No fermentation or real skill involved in making them though, if we're honest.

Wiccan of Darkness said:

I really am at a loss as to why you can't buy country wines in wineries. Personally I wouldn't have a vineyard, I'd have a field of blackberries and use those instead.

There's a place near Perth making a go of this, driven past often enough but never been in: https://www.cairnomohr.com/
I think I will give a bramble wine a go this year - I am open to the idea of it being a superior fruit for wine making than grapes. However when you drive around Italy and France and see the fields of ancient vines manicured to perfection, it is not hard to see why no one has opted for a field of brambles!

[227bhp]

Has anyone got any updates or results from this thread? I've managed to make the best cider in the World and about to have another go at bramble wine as that hasn't been good in the past.

If you do fancy a go at Bramble wine or just pick them for desserts be aware there is a huge abundance of them this year, the plants have got so many on you can pick all the ripe ones off then go back a couple of weeks later and do it all again. Not a good year for apples and Elderberries though.

[Jambo85]

227bhp said:

Has anyone got any updates or results from this thread? I've managed to make the best cider in the World and about to have another go at bramble wine as that hasn't been good in the past.

If you do fancy a go at Bramble wine or just pick them for desserts be aware there is a huge abundance of them this year, the plants have got so many on you can pick all the ripe ones off then go back a couple of weeks later and do it all again. Not a good year for apples and Elderberries though.

Sounds good - did you make your cider from apples (seems a bit early?) or juice?

Yes it does seem a great year for brambles, I'm planning a batch of wine this year to see if it lives up to the hype. Main harvest is a few weeks off in Aberdeenshire I think.

I had a few lbs of wet honey in my beehives so have put that along with the washings from the extracting equipment and wax cappings into a demijohn to have a go at some mead. I've heard it needs considerable ageing to be drinkable but eventually is beautiful, we'll see...

I've always got beer on the go - just kegged an Ahtanum single hop ale, using the same malt bill that Brewdog use in their "Ace of..." single hop brews, which are usually fantastic.

[227bhp]

Jambo85 said:

Sounds good - did you make your cider from apples (seems a bit early?) or juice?

Yes it does seem a great year for brambles, I'm planning a batch of wine this year to see if it lives up to the hype. Main harvest is a few weeks off in Aberdeenshire I think.

I had a few lbs of wet honey in my beehives so have put that along with the washings from the extracting equipment and wax cappings into a demijohn to have a go at some mead. I've heard it needs considerable ageing to be drinkable but eventually is beautiful, we'll see...

I've always got beer on the go - just kegged an Ahtanum single hop ale, using the same malt bill that Brewdog use in their "Ace of..." single hop brews, which are usually fantastic.

I do both, from apples and bought juice (TC) it's too early for the apples here, a few weeks yet till I get those. It was the TC i've mastered as getting taste, clarity and fizz all in one bottle takes a few goes to get close, I think you've got to pick two and forget the other unless you gas it up afterwards.
The honey sounds good, I stick a jar in my cider brew too At least a year in the bottle for mead, same as bramble wine.

[otolith]

227bhp said:

The honey sounds good, I stick a jar in my cider brew too At least a year in the bottle for mead, same as bramble wine.

Cyser (cider with honey in it) is great. Much better way of increasing the alcohol content than just adding sugar.

I made a batch one year with caramelised honey - you carefully heat it in a pan until it starts to caramelise and get a toffee aroma. Then (very, very) cautiously add water a little at a time while stirring until its thin enough that it won't set when it cools. That was excellent.

[Jambo85]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Personally I wouldn't have a vineyard, I'd have a field of blackberries and use those instead.

Picked a couple of kilos of blackberries at the weekend and have got a batch on the go, keen to see if it lives up to the hype!

Used the recipe from Booze for Free, ran the berries through my juicer but it still needs strained in a couple of days.

[Jambo85]

Bottled the bramble wine yesterday - finished down at 0.992 from 1.090 so decently strong.

Taste and aroma-wise it has fabulous fruit up front, acid and tannins are about right. Finishes with a bit of a homebrew twang which I think will go with time, and doesn't have the body I like in my reds normally. Fantastic colour and beautifully clear.

Could drink it now if my sole aim was to get smashed but I'm after a bit more than that! Will try to forget about it until this time next year.

Here's a wee pic of it in the demijohn along with two different meads

[Jambo85]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Depends what you mean by brewing... do you mean infusing some neutral spirit; fermenting something using a really high tolerance yeast; or distilling?

[Jambo85]

I imagine any discussion on distilling would get shut down pretty quickly on a predominantly UK forum, I know little about it in any case!

[m4tti]

Seems a lot of grief.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/spirits-duty

I guess this also indirectly enforces safety measures and stops people flattening their streets.

[227bhp]

Jambo85 said:

Bottled the bramble wine yesterday - finished down at 0.992 from 1.090 so decently strong.

Taste and aroma-wise it has fabulous fruit up front, acid and tannins are about right. Finishes with a bit of a homebrew twang which I think will go with time, and doesn't have the body I like in my reds normally. Fantastic colour and beautifully clear.

Could drink it now if my sole aim was to get smashed but I'm after a bit more than that! Will try to forget about it until this time next year.

Is that aftertaste something which could be described as earthy or like chewing on the seeds? It's the one thing I don't like about bramble wine, last year we blended it with 'Jammy Red Roo' 50/50 and it made it perfect for me.

This year there were so many blackberries around we made 50ltrs and decided to experiment with 11 different recipes, different amounts of sugar, also banana, raisins, grape concentrate, pineapple juice and honey, sadly as there was so much in different DJs we never took any hydrometer readings which I regret.
These extra ingredients were for taste and body, I put the O/H in charge of adding them, advising that there was sugar in them and to take this into account.
This went over her head....

So we've ended up with all sorts, some had so much sugar in it hasn't fermented out, so it's like dessert wine.
We don't like sweet wine.
I got to thinking (as you know you get plenty of time to think making wine) it's a bit like Port, hmmm Port, we like a bit of Port So I went and bought the cheapest strong brandy I could find, sloshed it in and it's turned out great
It's very easy to drink because it's young, the only problem is being able to leave it alone until it's fully matured