Discussion
Per the title - anyone made any? Picked a few pounds of blackberries earlier with the kids, made a crumble and loads left. Got some leftover raspberries and blueberries, so I'm thinking chuck it all in with some elderberries, few pounds of sugar, wine yeast, and it'll be brewed up by Christmas. Keep the grandparents quiet watching the Queens speech. Any tips?
Yeah, we make loads of the stuff 
We used to stick with fairly "pure" recipes as per the books, but these days tend to blend different stuff together. We normally brew them separately and blend at the end, gives a bit more flexibility that way. That said, we're not above bunging a load of leftovers into a bucket and seeing what comes out. It generally takes longer than from now until christmas tbh though, although it's certainly possible, but improves if it's given a bit longer.
Blackberry comes out well, but I find it very often goes off - more so than anything else. Good on its own.
Elderberry is a good reliable staple, again good on its own.
Raspberry is nice blended with other stuff, but hasn't got any body really - same with strawberries or plums. Gives a lovely smell though. They'll be totally overwhelmed by blackberry and elderberry though. We tend to put them in with something light like elderflower.
Wouldn't bother with blueberries, better to do something else with them, they won't add much.
4lb fruit, 3lb sugar, make up to a gallon of water, should see you right. Boil the water and put it onto the fruit, then dissolve the sugar. Let cool before adding yeast. If you can, add some campden tablets 24 hours before the yeast, after it's cooled, to sterilise everything.
Oh, and stand the demi jons on a tray, and cover with an upturned carrier bag for the first day or two. It's quite likely to foam out of the airlock overnight on the first day and makes a hell of a mess!
We used to stick with fairly "pure" recipes as per the books, but these days tend to blend different stuff together. We normally brew them separately and blend at the end, gives a bit more flexibility that way. That said, we're not above bunging a load of leftovers into a bucket and seeing what comes out. It generally takes longer than from now until christmas tbh though, although it's certainly possible, but improves if it's given a bit longer.
Blackberry comes out well, but I find it very often goes off - more so than anything else. Good on its own.
Elderberry is a good reliable staple, again good on its own.
Raspberry is nice blended with other stuff, but hasn't got any body really - same with strawberries or plums. Gives a lovely smell though. They'll be totally overwhelmed by blackberry and elderberry though. We tend to put them in with something light like elderflower.
Wouldn't bother with blueberries, better to do something else with them, they won't add much.
4lb fruit, 3lb sugar, make up to a gallon of water, should see you right. Boil the water and put it onto the fruit, then dissolve the sugar. Let cool before adding yeast. If you can, add some campden tablets 24 hours before the yeast, after it's cooled, to sterilise everything.
Oh, and stand the demi jons on a tray, and cover with an upturned carrier bag for the first day or two. It's quite likely to foam out of the airlock overnight on the first day and makes a hell of a mess!
IMO homemade wine is universally horrid, even when made with grapes.
If you want to cook up some rocket-fuel at home then Sloe Gin is well worth a go as results are pretty reliable. This is the right time of year to be thinking about it too, with Sloes ready for picking immediately after the first frosts of Oct/Nov. Your Sloe Gin will be ready by Christmas....
If you want to cook up some rocket-fuel at home then Sloe Gin is well worth a go as results are pretty reliable. This is the right time of year to be thinking about it too, with Sloes ready for picking immediately after the first frosts of Oct/Nov. Your Sloe Gin will be ready by Christmas....
Mave said:
Nice one, thanks. I've got about 4lbs blackberries, 1lb rasberries, and 1/4lb elderberries all sitting there smiling at me Do you bother with pectin enzymes, or just let the fermentation do the work?
Not for soft stuff like that, no. Apples and sloes and hard fruits benefit from it, but the soft fruits just need a quick mashing when you add the water - a spud masher is fine, just to break them open. Do you bother with pectin enzymes, or just let the fermentation do the work?Ozzie Osmond said:
IMO homemade wine is universally horrid, even when made with grapes.
If you want to cook up some rocket-fuel at home then Sloe Gin is well worth a go as results are pretty reliable. This is the right time of year to be thinking about it too, with Sloes ready for picking immediately after the first frosts of Oct/Nov. Your Sloe Gin will be ready by Christmas....
I did Sloes last year but reckon I picked them a few days too early as the end result is quite tart. Increased the sugar syrup content but just turns it more to couch medecine. Perhaps they weren't quite ripe enough. We have more blackberries around our fields than I would begin to know what to do with it. Blackberry wine doesn't really appeal though.If you want to cook up some rocket-fuel at home then Sloe Gin is well worth a go as results are pretty reliable. This is the right time of year to be thinking about it too, with Sloes ready for picking immediately after the first frosts of Oct/Nov. Your Sloe Gin will be ready by Christmas....
A safer bet would be to turn fruit into some sort of liqueur.
The basic recipe for this consists of:
672g of fruit, marinated in a cool, dark cupboard for 4 months in 500ml of 40% ABV vodka.
After this add 200g sugar, which you will have boiled with 100ml water and cooled, and stir well to mix then bottle.
Leave in a cool, dark cupboard for 6 months, then sample.
The basic recipe for this consists of:
672g of fruit, marinated in a cool, dark cupboard for 4 months in 500ml of 40% ABV vodka.
After this add 200g sugar, which you will have boiled with 100ml water and cooled, and stir well to mix then bottle.
Leave in a cool, dark cupboard for 6 months, then sample.
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