Winemaking calendar?

Norman_Bean

it's from 1983 ISBN: 0 7011 2960 6

HTH

E x

Sunnyday

Sareybox - I`ve never tested the SG on our wine to work out the alcohol content, i think that eventually i may invest in the tool to do this, i do know that each batch is slightly different and that if i drink a whole bottle i can`t walk very well

Thrifty Felicity - I only filter the wine because i thought that i should tbh most of the time it dosen`t look any different but is usually incredibly clear, maybe next time i`ll give it a miss as i hate doing it so i think that you`ve saved me a job and some money too , thankyou :T

I have been using the yeast nutrient, pectolase and citric acid as well as stabilising powder and then a campden tab in a new demi john, i have always been scared of exploding bottles so i think that i shall always use the stabilising powder for peace of mind but may try less of the other ingredients to see if it makes a difference.

Norman Bean - Thanks for the info on the book, i found it on Amazon marketplace and have just ordered it for less than a fiver delivered :T

SD

Norman_Bean

Yay! Well done Sunnyday x I hope you like it
It is a nice book - I like reading the little excerpts about 'the old days'! and the recipes are the old fashioned ways.
Let me know what you think when you get it
E x

pumpkinlife

Thank you for all your responses!

Norman Bean - Excuse me for being a bit dumb, but how young is a young nettle? They are starting out in the garden right now, but I assume the leaves have to be a reasonable size? Or do you go by colour or hairiness? I do like the sound of nettle wine, especially as they are essentially free. There isn't much else to forage for in the city!

Gigervamp - I do not have the Berry book (though I do have his 130 New Recipes one); I bought a Good Housekeeping book from the 1970s which is very thorough, apart from no calendar.

Can I ask, what size batches do you all generally produce? I have equipment to do 1 Gallon ferments, but I know our local Brewshop has some ENORMOUS glass demijohns I would love to have lined up in my garage (mainly because they are pretty )

ThriftyFelicity

I almost always make one gallon batches. I did make a two gallon batch of elderflower wine, but it went from the fermentation bin into 2 one-gallon demijohns as that's the biggest size I have.

I was given a couple of half-gallon demijohns, but have as yet been unable to find corks that fit!

I haven't seen any demijohns bigger than one gallon; those ginormous ones would be quite spectacular filled with wine.

Norman_Bean

pumpkinlife wrote: »

Thank you for all your responses!

Norman Bean - Excuse me for being a bit dumb, but how young is a young nettle? They are starting out in the garden right now, but I assume the leaves have to be a reasonable size? Or do you go by colour or hairiness? I do like the sound of nettle wine, especially as they are essentially free. There isn't much else to forage for in the city!

Mollie Harris says the bright green tips, not the hairy stalkier bits of the nettle.
I did Hugh's nettle soup last year and he said similiar so I just picked literally the top three leaves, 2 cm off the top at most. You can see the greenest bits once you start studying the nettles
Leaves don't have to be a particular size, just fill up your recommended container - Hugh = plastic carrier bag (not v eco friendly HFW!) and Mollie says '1 quart of nettle tops' (whatever that is in metric!?) She says from April to end of May but I find once you cut down nettles new ones grow all summer (well in my garden anyway!)

HTH

Norm x

ThriftyFelicity

Norman_Bean wrote: »

Mollie says '1 quart of nettle tops' (whatever that is in metric!?)

There are about 1.1 litres in a quart.

I tried nettle soup a couple of years ago, but didn't think the reward was worth the effort

Then again, nettle wine could be very nice.

I am intrigued to try gorse, as it's meant to have a bit of a coconut flavour.

pumpkinlife

Thanks Norm, I shall have an experiment in a few weeks and see what I can make of the nettle patch.

I know a fairly abundant gorse patch locally, so perhaps I shall try that too.

I am going to start my parsnip wine this evening, just trying to build the motivation to start sterilizing everything, sigh. If only I had a glass of wine handy to get me going...

Norman_Bean

Thanks ThriftyFelicity x That's the only annoying thing about Mollie, she's an imperial gal x

The nettle soup was nice but I can see what you mean ... we were totally skint when I made it so guess it tasted nicer because it was free

I fancy trying gorse but have no idea what I'm looking for Do you think they have it here in Normandy I'm guessing so?

Pumpkinlife - I'm impressed that you have an official nettle patch :rotfl: Sterlising is the worst bit isn't it? Like having babies again x How did you get on with the parsnip?

Not very MSE but I bought 12 oranges yesterday to make Mollie's Orange Wine :cool: Blackcurrant still going nuts in the bathroom so should be a strong un!? x

Norman x

missychrissy

pumpkinlife wrote: »

Thank you for all your responses!

Norman Bean - Excuse me for being a bit dumb, but how young is a young nettle? They are starting out in the garden right now, but I assume the leaves have to be a reasonable size? Or do you go by colour or hairiness? I do like the sound of nettle wine, especially as they are essentially free. There isn't much else to forage for in the city!

Gigervamp - I do not have the Berry book (though I do have his 130 New Recipes one); I bought a Good Housekeeping book from the 1970s which is very thorough, apart from no calendar.

Can I ask, what size batches do you all generally produce? I have equipment to do 1 Gallon ferments, but I know our local Brewshop has some ENORMOUS glass demijohns I would love to have lined up in my garage (mainly because they are pretty )

I have about 12 5 gall fermenters and 12 one gall fermenters. When I find a recipe that I really like I do it in 4/5 gall batches. It is just as easy to produce 5 galls as it is one. If you use fermenters with taps it is really easy to rack off.

I usually rack off twice and then filter, but recently I have had a couple of wines that whilst bottling I realised I still had sediment in the bottom despite 2 rackings and filtering.

I love making my own wine. I have now built up quite a selection and I find that my family and friends have very different likes and dislikes. I give more away than I actually drink myself but most of my wines cost between 16p and 50p a bottle. I am not factoring in here the equipment but that gets cheaper with each batch.