Woodland Wine !!

[oldclaypaws]

Those of us who hate brambles and look to eradicate them might start to cherish them if this works well: Haven't tried it myself yet, but certainly up for it. Nows the time !! Great year for fruit. Has anyone else tried Blackberry Wine, how did it compare to supermarket plonk? There are other recipes but they all seem to follow pretty much the same line...... (This one taken from River Cottage)

1. Pick 3lb blackberries on a sunny day, when ripe and dry.

2. Wash well, being careful to remove any small maggots that can be found in blackberries.

3. Place the fruit in a polythene bucket and crush it with a potato masher. (or stick in a blender?)

4. Pour over a gallon of boiling water. Stir well, allow to become lukewarm (about 21 c) then add a pectic enzyme according to instructions on the pack.

5. Leave for 24 hours, then add a red wine yeast and yeast nutrient (1 teaspoon of each) Cover closely and leave for four days, stirring daily.

6. Strain the blackberry liquor through muslin or a nylon sieve, onto 2 lbs of caster sugar. Stir well to make sure that all of the sugar is dissolved.

7. Pour into a dark demijohn, filling it to the shoulder and fit an airlock.

8. Keep the spare liquor in a bottle, fitted with a trap of moist cotton wool.

9. When the wine in the demijohn has stopped fermenting vigorously, (after about a week) top it up to the base of the neck with the spare liquor and refit the airlock.

10. Wait until the wine has stopped fermenting (no bubbles passing through the airlock) then siphon it off into another sterilised demijohn,

11. This wine should clear naturally if left in a cool place. If not, add a propriety brand of wine finings, and wait until totally clear.

12. Bottle in dark green wine bottles, and cork.

13. This wine will improve if left for 6 months, but can be drunk after a week in the bottle if you can't wait!

14. Enjoy!!!

[Dexter's Shed]

might have to give that one a go, although I'll run out of space, as already have 24 bottles of honey mead thats been in there around 16 months, plus I want to give some birch wine a go in the spring

[Zenith]

I'm going to give that a try. Many thanks.

[Bearwood]

Cheers 'Paws. May have to try that next year. Do you do oak wine as well?

[splodger]

i'm quite partial to a drop of homebrew

here is my current brews on the go .......

as for blackberry on it's own - i've found it a bit wishywashy - so i tend to use them in a summer berry mix, or port type mix or with apples.

[Bearwood]

That's a lovely setup Splodger! All those tasty brews!

[oldclaypaws]

Wow Splodger, I wouldn't mind getting locked in your shed for the night.

I did use to make high quality 30 bottle Red Wine kits, including the likes of Barolo, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet. They were ready in about a month and worked out at about £1.30 a bottle and were as good as anything at Tesco. Trouble is, it was rather good and 'on tap', so I used to find it disappeared rather quickly and I was putting on quite a bit of weight. Since I've had the wood, my routine has changed and I spend many evening working in the wood, and all the weight has come off.

My greatest success has been Glen Paws, which requires the use of certain copper vessels, malted barley and charred oak chips. In 10 days I can do what passes for a quality 18 year old 'Scottish Wine', at about cask strength. -Purely for research purposes of course, and never distributed other than a wee free sample to close discreet friends. Production is limited to about a litre bottle per fortnight, at about £7 cost. I have labels printed for it, its referred to as 'Dr McFirtles Patented Tooth and Tonsil Embalming Fluid.'

Paws

[splodger]

glad you like my wine room (it's in the house not the shed - far too cold outside)
some of them (most actually) turn out quite pokey - i don't do gravity readings - but some are really quite intoxicating

ocp - i'm lucky really - always been a skinny runt - and no amount of booze seems to add any pounds to the waistline

don't like those kit jobbies - i prefer homegrown fruit and veg + forages - and i won't/don't use any "extra chemicals" in my wines - no sulphites, no campden tabs, no finings, no other stopping agents - i like my juices to be pure - i count my wines as part of my five a day afterall

[oldclaypaws]

You can make a quite passable white wine from a simple mix of a litre of friut juice and a bag of sugar, I've had great success with orange juice, 'Five Alive', Apple, Red Grape, and 'tropical'. (Make sure its pure juice, not a 'drink').

I have happy memories of getting my Father in law quite sloshed on three large glasses of 'fruit juice plus'.

It should be remembered if you pay £6 for a bottle of supermarket wine, half of that is tax, factor in the supermarket profit, bottling, transport and other costs. and you're probably getting £1 worth of actual fermented juice. You really can make very good wine very cheaply yourself.

If only you could turn logs into diesel fuel. Anyone got plans for a wood fired road worthy steam engine?

[Dexter's Shed]

at 24 minutes, can use logs

http://youtu.be/j33DJk4-sMw