I've just bottled up my second batch of ale. I ran out of bottles so the rest had to go in a keg. ;D Lable ready to go on: The last one was pretty good for a £12 wilkinsons kit. ;D I've had a quick scout round the garden and found there loads of brambles (the garden is overrun with them), a few bushes with sloes on and kilos and kilos of rosehips. Theres thousands of nettles too which have become the bain of my life recently as they seem to grow everywhere. I'm thinking of making sloe gin and bramble wine and possibly nettle wine too but not sure what to do with the rosehips (wine will take one to two years to become drinkable). Anyone got any suggestions?
I made nettle wine once. Emphasis on the word once. It was horrible. Only thing a nettle is good for is burning/standing on/strimming or some other form of hacking/any other method of mass killing.
We made nettle and potato soup on holiday - splash of wine and a dash of cream - it was lovely! I'm sure you can make tea out of rosehips & also jelly / jam Will have to check the brewing book this weekend I love your label :-* - we want to get something designed for our Wisebrew ginger beer at some point. We can't expand into brewing ale / making wine yet as we've no space for anything other than two demi johns (next house!!). If you've not tried it before - elderflower champagne is gorgeous (wrong season at the moment)
If you want a quick use for the blackberries, but don't want to brew up a wine, make some blackberry vodka. Its like sloe gin......only with blackberries......and....errrr .... vodka 3/4 fill up a bottle with blackberries - for every inch of blackberries give a good sprinkling of sugar. The fill the bottle with vodka - leave the vodka just below the neck of the bottle. This way, you can turn and shake the bottle every week and add another spoonful of sugar. After 2-3 months you strain it off and have a great blackberry vodka liqueur. You can also make a great alcoholic apple & blackberry crumble with the brackberries - co nothing wasted...mmmmmmmmm 8)
I gave the bloke next door a bottle of my homebrew beer and in return i got 2 kegs, a plastic brew bin, belt heater and a homebrew cider kit. Guess what i'm gonna start today? ;D I made apple wine last year using eating apples. Tasted pretty good for a first attempt. I don't think cooking apples will be any good for cider. Heres a few useful sites: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/ http://www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk/homebrew/beer-kits/ http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/ http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/
I'll dig out the recipe and post it up. From what I can remember it was just apples, yeast and water. Probably some sugar too.
i don't make wine but found out how to eat crab apples last year , bake em in the oven with maple syrup on top-- they tasted ok
Recipe I found: Choosing and Picking Apples for Cider Make certain they are fully ripe, undamaged and not heavily bruised. Keep in a cool place for 1 or 2 weeks to soften the skins. Wash the apples to remove any insects, soil, etc. before processing. You won’t wash off the natural yeasts required for fermentation. Preparing the Fruit Crushing This can be done by putting the apples in a strong tub and pounding them with a length of timber but is heavy on the arms. If you are likely to make large amounts of cider, it may be better if you purchase a fruit crusher. Pressing The pulped fruit now needs to be pressed to extract the juice. You can get away with a domestic fruit juicer but, for larger amounts, you can either build or purchase your own press. pH The pH of the juice should be in the range 3.9 to 4.0 to give the right amount of sharpness. This can be checked using a small soil testing pH meter. To higher the pH add precipitated chalk, to lower the pH add malic acid. Sugar Levels Check the “specific gravity” (S.G) of the juice with a hydrometer for sugar levels. 15% sugar = S.G of 1070 and total potential alcohol content of around 8.5%, 10% sugar = S.G. of 1045 and total potential alcohol of 6%. This is if all of the sugar is fermented. If the S.G. is less than 1040 there may not be sufficient to protect the cider during storage and sugar can be added to raise the gravity. 2 ½ ounces of sugar should raise the gravity of 1 gallon of juice by about 5º. Fermentation The juice now needs to be poured into a good quality fermenting vessel. This can either be wood, stainless steel, glass or plastic (only food-grade plastics). Cover loosely as the initial fermentation can be very vigorous. Once it has calmed down, top up with more juice or water to exclude air and fit an airlock to the container. Traditionally nothing is added to the apple juice to turn it into cider, as the natural yeasts in the apples will turn the sugars into alcohol. A modern method of controlling the fermentation is by killing off natural yeasts with Sulphur Dioxide in the form of Sodium Metabisulphite (Campden Tablet), then adding a general purpose wine yeast. This has the advantage of subduing some wild yeasts and bacteria and reduces spoilage in the cider. Keep the fermenting cider at a steady temperature of around 15º. Fermentation can take anything from 10 days to 10 weeks. Racking and Bottling When the cider has finished fermenting, check the Specific Gravity with a hydrometer. If below 1005 it is time to rack the cider by siphoning into a clean container. Make certain that the sediment is not transferred. Ensure the new container is filled to the top, fit an airlock and put into a cool place to allow to clear. If more sediment shows, then you’ll need to repeat the racking process. 1 Campden tablet per gallon can be added after the last racking to prevent the cider spoiling. When you’re happy with your cider and ready to drink it, rack into bottles (all plastic fizzy drink bottles are suitable for cider) and keep in a cool place. If you’re using glass bottles, it may still be necessary to loosen the tops occasionally or the pressure could cause the bottle to explode.
WOW thanks for that.. but *coughs* may start with something a little easier as my first project and work upto this for next year!!
yayyyyy I just loaded up a bottle of vodka with blackberries and sugar and wodka .. should be about ready for xmas me thinks
Today my dad and I made up a press and got busy with the apples: Yes that's a trolly jack but only two ton. Version 3 will have a bigger jack We got 10 litres from around 70 apples and still got shed loads left on the tree waiting to fall