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

fiftyeighter_2

Thanks missychrissy. I was following a recipe from a kit i brought. This is my first attempt you see.
However i now have another 2 demijohns with apple juice from Jenny Jelly's recipee. So fingers crossed.
I did get a hydrometer but to be quite honest i'm not sure how to take the reading and how i know by that if it's ready.
You must think "why on earth is she bothering" but i really do want to learn. So any tips would be gratefully accepted.
Thanks again.

pol

There's info on using your hydrometer here and pictures to make it easy.

Hydrometers aren't easy to understand to begin with, but once you get used to them they make a big difference in knowing what stage your wine is at, and stopping it at your preferred taste. Let us know how your wine goes.

pol

missychrissy

My hydrometer has a bit on it that says 'bottle'. It falls between SG of.996 and 1006. If I think a wine tastes ready and is within that region I then filter and bottle. I know that if a wine has been in the fermenter for over 4 months and gives me a reading of over 1006 then it has probably stopped fermenting prematurely and it's alcohol content will probably be quite low. I have a cranberry and blueberry with a Sg of 1010 and it is very sweet. This is in sharp contrast to a cranberry and raspberry , set off at the same time using the same recipe, with a SG of 1000 and much less sweet. The cranberry and blueberry is not undrinkable it just has more sugar and a lower alcohol content. I don't know what makes the difference. I have a plum wine with a SG of.990 that is incredibly alcoholic. I have to be very careful with this one because it tastes wonderful.

I'm still learning. I'm still experimenting. I have had some great successes and some that are just ok. Only one major disaster - alcoholic apple puree - but it wasn't wasted as it was great in pork and sausage casseroles.

I havn't tried any of the kits. My first attempt at homemade wine was with elderberries and rosehips. I went straight for the cheap options. They work out at approx 16p per bottle but that does not factor in the equipment. I find that some of the 'country wines' are an acquired taste. I love my elderflower wine, but with the exception of one of my sons, no one else seems to like it. As a matter of interest this had a SG of 1000.

I think my biggest success was the apple wine using jenny jelly's recipe. It went from start to finish in 6 weeks over the summer and was a white wine very similar to a Pino Grigio. Although I'm more of a red wine drinker I was very impressed with it. I'm hoping however that my elderberry this year will be good. Last year it was a little dry because I had miscalculated the sugar required whilst converting from kgs to lbs.

This thread is all about helping each other and discussing our experiences. I look forward to all posts.

fiftyeighter_2

Thanks for that Missychrissy.
My hydrometer starts .980
.990
1.000
10
20
down in 10's to 90
then 1.100
110
120
130
140
1.150
Sorry but at what point am i suppose to get the wine at? i.e when do i know if its stopped fermenting. Do i then just wait for it to clear then bottle it?
OOOH! i so wish you lived nearby you are so helpful.
Hope you can help me with this too. Sorry if i'm just not getting it.

fiftyeighter_2

Forgot to thank you too Pol. will keep looking and reading this in the hope something sinks in. lol

pol

Missychrissy, do you have a recipe for the cranberry and raspberry please? It sounds lovely. Did you use cartons or the fresh stuff? I saw some fresh cranberries this week, so I could get it started right away with some frozen/tinned raspberries. Your alcoholic apple puree sounds nice, I could just eat some with ice cream.
Going to make some limoncello this afternoon, should be ready for Christmas.

missychrissy

pol wrote: »

Missychrissy, do you have a recipe for the cranberry and raspberry please? It sounds lovely. Did you use cartons or the fresh stuff? I saw some fresh cranberries this week, so I could get it started right away with some frozen/tinned raspberries. Your alcoholic apple puree sounds nice, I could just eat some with ice cream.
Going to make some limoncello this afternoon, should be ready for Christmas.

The cranberry and raspberry wine was made using jenny jelly's recipe that I found on 'if things get tougher' thread. It is as follows.

'Into each sterilised demijohn put 1 litre of cranberry juice and 1/2 litre grape juice (red or white, it doesn't matter). The very cheapest you can find will do.

Dissolve 1kg sugar in 2 pints water in a pan. Turn off the heat as soon as it is clear, no need to boil. When it's cool enough so that it won't crack the glass, pour it int the demijohn, then top up to the middle of the curved shoulder with cold water. Add 1 level tsp each of pectolase, citric acid and yeast nutrient and shake. Stick a bung and fermentation lock in the top and leave in a warm room for 24 hours, then add the yeast, shake again and leave it to ferment the same as with the expensive kits. Then just clear, filter etc as you would with any wine. I never bother bottling, just keep it in a spare demijohn and pour into a decanter. It doesn't hang around so chances of it going off are minimal!

You can make this with practically any carton fruit juice, our favourites are cranberry and red grape juice for a good red, apple and white grape juice for a white. I don't recommend using orange juice, we thought it was ugh. I reckon this costs a max of 70p per bottle and it's lush'

I have quoted her recipe as she wrote it.

It makes sense to do 2 galls at a time so that there is not half a carton of grape juice left over. I do 4 galls at a time in a 5 gall fermenter with a tap. This makes it very easy to rack off. I just put the fermenter on the worktop and place another fermenter with a funnel in place underneath on top of an upturned bucket and then just turn on the tap. I do use a siphon though when I'm filtering. As well as cranberry and raspberry (the carton was already mixed) I have some cranberry and blueberry on the go as well as cranberry, both using red grape juice and some apple using white grape juice. I found that over the summer these wines took only 6 week from start to finish. Another advantage to fermenters with taps is that I can lift them onto an upturned bucket and taste. I can tell by taste and look when they are ready for bottling.

I keep an A4 sized notebook with a recipe a page with exactly the ingredients used in a particular wine, the type of yeast, all the dates for racking, filtering, bottling SG etc and exactly what I think of them. I'm learning as I go along.

missychrissy

fiftyeighter wrote: »

Thanks for that Missychrissy.
My hydrometer starts .980
.990
1.000
10
20
down in 10's to 90
then 1.100
110
120
130
140
1.150
Sorry but at what point am i suppose to get the wine at? i.e when do i know if its stopped fermenting. Do i then just wait for it to clear then bottle it?
OOOH! i so wish you lived nearby you are so helpful.
Hope you can help me with this too. Sorry if i'm just not getting it.

It is a bit confusing. Alcohol is lighter than water so that if you get a SG under 1000 (this is what normal water is) the wine is likely to be very alcoholic, so beware. I learned the hard way with my plum wine. The more over 1000 the SG is, the sweeter the wine will be. I think you should go by taste and sight as to when your wine is ready and just take a note of the SG for future reference. I use it only as a guide.

Last night I filtered 2 batches of rice and raisin. The second batch was made reusing the same rice and rasins. The first was a bit on the sweet side but the second was much lighter and drier. I therefore tried mixing and I found that I liked a combination of 2/3s of the drier mixed with 1/3 of the sweeter.

I have not wasted any wine as yet because they are too dry or too sweet. I have found that I can often mix them to create something better and I can use them in cooking.

Akom

Hi Guys

A slight change on subject but not too far. I got a great beer making kit for my birthday and my 1st batch of beer has just finished it's 1st stage of fermentation and have now transfered it into a pressure barrel and should be ready to drink in a couple of weeks. I cant wait.

My question is, i have now used all the sterilising powder that came with the kit and i want to make a 2nd batch to bottle. What is the best and cheapest stuff to buy for sterilising?

Thanks in advance for your help.

missychrissy

I too would be interested in the answer to your question. At present I use Ritchies steriliser and cleaner from Hop and Grape at £4.65 for 500g. I also recycle the steriliser and pour it from one container into another and when I think it might be getting a bit past it's use by date I use it to flush the toilet.

I keep batting on about Hop and Grape because they are reliable but I would be interested in which other web sites other home brewers find reliable. Hop and Grape are usually very good but they always charge p & p. I would like a supplier that waves p & p over a certain spend.