Is there anything else OS I can be doing?

PennyGSD

And that's the forum that I used to spend hours on when I got back into winemaking in 2007.

I first attempted to make wine about 15-20 years ago with just the help of some books from the library, with either disgusting or rather indifferent results, then suddenly got the urge to have another go in the summer of 2007. What a difference the internet makes - such a wealth of experts available to help you with everything.

P.S. A gallon of (hopefully) wine using 2 cartons of red grape juice is bubbling away nicely in the corner, so my slightly out of date yeast sachets appear to still be viable.

missychrissy

I totally agree with you nopot2pin that the country wines are brilliant but they do sometimes need time to mature in the bottle. I've got elderberry from 2007 that although, I think, needs another year for straight drinking, is absolutely wonderful used for mulled wine. I find elderberries are in plentiful supply in my area and I made 16 galls last year using 40 lbs but I added to them any blackberries that I was able to find though there are not so many of them here. The trick with country wines is to be patient and keep them. They are a fraction of the cost of kits.

My rosehip wine is very like sherry and so I decided to use a sherry yeast for it last year. It's improving for keeping but I do like to use it in Chinese cooking and I find it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. It might last longer but I've used it up within 3 weeks.

You can make wine out of almost anything. It's just a case of trying it out to see what you like. I wasn't very keen on the wheat and barley wine I made last year so I am just going to leave it in the bottle and see how it matures. I can always use it for cooking.

I would really like to try beetroot wine as I think it would be a glorious colour but I just havn't got around to it yet. I've been concentrating on turning out a plentiful supply of white wine using apple and grape juice and rose using cranberry and red grape juice though this costs around 50p per bottle as opposed to approx 16p per bottle for the country wines. I find that at this time of year wine ferments very quickly and can go from start to finish in 6 to 8 weeks. I have 12 5 gall fermenters with taps so I can do quite large batches at a time. I have 4 sons plus partners/wives and so I give quite a lot away to them.

kinkyjinks

Both of the forums are really good and very informative. I totally recommend them to newbie wine makers like me. I thought I'd messed up when I made Wurzels orange wine and posted my mistake on the first forum (which sadly still doesn't appear to be working) and got really helpful advice. I'm certain your wine will work out just fine Penny. I gave a couple of bottles away and everyone who has tasted it has been amazed when they found out how I made it.

Missychrissy, the first country wine I've attempted to make was beetroot wine and it's a gorgeous colour. I have also attempted to make 2 demijohns of raspberry wine and the colour is even better looking than the beetroot wine. I've got to put my rhubarb pulp water stuff into DJs today and any remaining DJs will be filled up with carton wine, while I wait patiently for these country wines to mature. Wine making is an excellent hobby for someone learning how to have more patience

marmiterulesok

rosy wrote: »

Peanut butter is very easy ( I use Tesco value salted nuts so Sainsbury's will probably be OK ) - I put two 200g packs in food processor, blitz, then add a couple of tablespoons of honey or golden syrup and enough sunflower oil to get the right consistency (I add it gradually through the tube at the top to make it easy to gauge when I've added enough - I'd guess it's around three or four tablespoons worth). Store in fridge - ours gets eaten very fast so I couldn't say how long it would keep for.


/QUOTE]

Thanks for the recipe.I've just made some using whole unsalted peanuts with their skins on.It's delicious!I don't know if I would have thought of making it if I hadn't read your post.

zarazara

I havent read each reply thoroughly so please forgive me if I double up on ideas,other things to try include:-
Sloe Gin Damson Gin Raspberry Vodka,Blackcurrant and/or Blackberry cordial. Lemon curd. Pickles and Chutneys. Cottage cheese,cream cheese. Keeping chickens for both meat and eggs. Making rag rugs,patching and mending,Shabby Chic thread has some fabulous ideas for household stuff. Making your own Laundry soap,soaps and washing up liquid, face creams,hand creams.