Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

Gigervamp

Just opened one of the bottles of elderflower champagne that we made this year and it's slightly vinegary. Opened all the other bottles and they're all the same, although some a bit more vinegar than others. :mad:

I was really looking forward to having some.

missychrissy

I'm talking about something like 45 galls of wine (approx 270 bottles). That would be a lot of bubble wrap and the bottles wouldn't then fit in the boxes. Sorry, didn't mean to sound negative. I sppose I could bubble wrap the boxes.

I used to keep wine in my last garage but it was attached to the house. My present garage is detached so I'm worried about the wine freezing. I kept some bottles of lager in there last winter that was ok but I might just have been lucky.

missychrissy

Gigervamp wrote: »

Just opened one of the bottles of elderflower champagne that we made this year and it's slightly vinegary. Opened all the other bottles and they're all the same, although some a bit more vinegar than others. :mad:

I was really looking forward to having some.

Sorry to hear that. I'm gutted when my attempts fail. I was so disappointed in the apple wine I made from proper apples that turned out like alcoholic puree. However, I found it is good when added to a pork or sausage casserole so won't go to waste. I tried to bottle it and the 2 bottles I did blew out their corks making a terrible mess in my hall cupboard. I have just left it in a fermenter with a tap and using it 'on draft' now.

Gigervamp

missychrissy wrote: »

I'm talking about something like 45 galls of wine (approx 270 bottles). That would be a lot of bubble wrap and the bottles wouldn't then fit in the boxes. Sorry, didn't mean to sound negative. I sppose I could bubble wrap the boxes.

Yeah, bubblewrap the boxes.

Nice_Username

Hi all I have just got a couple of demijohns from freecycle but they are really grotty with scum etc inside. I wondered f anyone had any advice on how to get them sparkling clean? Thanks.

missychrissy

I have a curved bottle brush that is specifically designed for cleaning the insides of demijohns. I think I bought it from Hop and Grape.

Yes, just checked their website - £2.40. Will have to pay p & p but I find them excellent so see if anything else you might need. I love the 5 gall fermenters with taps.

missychrissy

Where have you all gone? Are you all out foraging for ingredients for wine making?

I picked about 3lbs of elderberries for the first time today. I need 20lbs with which to make 5 galls of wine. I will deberry them whilst watching tv this evening (Economy Gastronomy tonight). I find a fork is the best tool for this. I then freeze them as it can take me a while to collect 20lbs. The rosehips here are not quite ripe yet but should be able to start collecting them next week.

This week I have strained 3 galls of wheat wine into a fermenter. This was the second brewing from the same wheat and raisins. I added slightly less water and sugar than the first time. I have also racked off 1 gall of hop wine into a glass demijohn and bunged it down (term used in my wine making book). It is a lovely pinky amber colour. I have another gall fermenting but this is a completely different colour and I'm sure I used the same hops. I have also tried a little sample of my barley wine (started 17/07/09), previous wheat wine(started 02/08/09), elderflower using dried elderflowers (started 17/07/09), jennyjelly's red wine recipe (started 05/08/09) and rice wine (started 13/07/09). Most of my fermenters have taps so easy to try a sample every now and then. They are all coming along nicely. I particularly like the wheat wine. The only wine I don't like, apart from the disastrous apple, is the 2 galls of Chinese Rice Wine I bunged down in August.The recipe says to leave it to mature but it doesn't say how long for so will have to just keep trying it.

GooeyBlob

missychrissy wrote: »

I picked about 3lbs of elderberries for the first time today. I need 20lbs with which to make 5 galls of wine. I will deberry them whilst watching tv this evening (Economy Gastronomy tonight). I find a fork is the best tool for this. I then freeze them as it can take me a while to collect 20lbs. The rosehips here are not quite ripe yet but should be able to start collecting them next week.

If you can't quite find 20lbs of elderberries you can always top up the last 4 or 5lb with blackberries instead.

I have loads in my back garden, and make a few gallons of blackberry wine with them every year. It's not as good as elderberry wine, but takes less time, typically 4-5 months.

missychrissy

I did find 20 lbs of elderberries and more. I have set off 5 galls in a 5 gall fermenter and then I used the same berries to set off a further 3 galls. I did add about 1lb of blackberries to the original mix but I havn't been able to find many blackberries whereas there are loads of elderberries in my locality.

I have collected 12 lbs of rosehips that are now in the freezer and on my next day off I am going to set off 4 galls of Rosehip sherry. The elderberries are still coming thick and fast and I collected 4 lbs just yesterday and froze them. I will collect a few each day and set off another batch as soon as I have enough.

I have just received another 3 5 gall fermenters from Hop and Grape so that I can cope with the abundant harvest of elderberries this year. I love red wine and elderberry is one of the best, though it is only really drinkable well over a year after start of brewing.

I had 3 of my sons and partners visiting last weekend and one of them did complain that my house smells like a brewery. I don't care! In true OS style I'm expecting to be self sufficient in wine by Christmas time. I've told my large family, who don't live with me but visit regularly, if home made wine is not acceptable then they can bring their own. I'm the lynch pin of the family. I live in N Yorkshire, my parents live in Northumberland, I have another son and OH live in London, another and OH in Nottingham and another 2 sons and OHs about 25 miles away so everyone congregates at my house for family get togethers. I also have a brother and family that like to visit. It can get expensive on the alcohol front so homebrew was the way to go.

I am keeping a large book with each wine I make on a seperate page. I note: the ingredients used and quantities; the dates of each procedure; the recipe used and the page number; any problems encountered; any criticisms of the wine and any suggestions for future improvements.

My last year's elderberry, although drinkable is a little dry. I realised that in my conversion from kgs to lbs I made a mistake in the calculation and didn't add enough sugar - corrected this year. My last year's rosehip wine is also a little dry and very similar to a sherry. This year I am going to use a sherry yeast and add a bit more sugar and hopefully create rosehip sherry.

I'm quite enjoying myself perfecting my art!

chickien_2

I've started wine making too! I love it, it's such a great cheap hobby to have.

I started by foraging for things outdoors but have now also started going to the reduced sections in supermarkets late in the day. Before starting winemaking I always used to wonder how they were going to managing to get rid of all their reduced fruit as surely no-one would want to buy that much cause it would be unusable after a few days :rotfl: Little did I know you could turn it into alchol, boy had I been missing out :rotfl:

A few weeks ago I went to sainsburys and got 3kg of strawberries for 60p!!! I managed to make two gallons out of it, both demijohns are now bubbling away and starting to clear really well.

Just got to use my willpower to leave it alone in the corner :rolleyes: