4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[KimmyCustard]

Girls and Boys

 

I have noticed, whilst perusing this forum, that there appears to be some sort of drinking habit going on. Of course, I have no idea what youre all referring to but can anyone advise me of how to brew my own wine?! Or are there any websites/info I can look at to get me started?

 

Is it complicated?

 

Will it cost me another mortgage for bottles, barrels, corks?

 

More to the point - HOW LONG BEFORE I CAN DRINK IT?!

 

Youre all very inspiring with jams,chutneys,pickles,chicken poopoo etc so I thought I should learn something new.

 

Many thanks

 

Kimmy

x

[Nicola O]

Hi Kimmy

 

I will be interested in peoples replies as I too want to try wine making. I have a huge Elder in the garden covered in berries, and as Dad tells me you can make Elderberry wine. I have got a library book out, haven't had a chance to read it properly yet but glanced at the Elderberry one - it needs to be in the demi-john for six months, and once bottled it should be kept for EIGHTEEN months before being drunk !!

 

As for bottles, for the last few months I have bought all my fruit juice in the plastic bottles rather than the tetra cartons, and have saved them as I'm sure you could bottle the wine in these rather than buying glass bottles.

 

Nicola

[KimmyCustard]

Hi Nicola

 

Hopefully then, one of the learned will read this and send us a good receipe! I know Christian makes wine after reading his threads, keep your fingers crossed....

 

Kimmy

x

[Lesley]

Hi Kimmy

 

I used to make wine a good few years ago....and have just started again this year.

 

I have an ancient book by a Mrs.Gennery-Taylor called Easy Country Wines (or something like that) - you can still getancient copies quite cheaply through places like Green Metropolis, Abebooks or Amazon.

 

You could try Freecycle for all the wine making kit? - or, if your tip has a recycling area you could pick up some of the bits and pieces there.

[KimmyCustard]

Thanks Lesley,

 

Found a copy on Greenmetropolis!

 

Kimmy

x

[Mrs Frugal]

I grew up with my parents making wine all the time but have only started making my own last year. It's great fun and the results can be.......interesting . I have the book Lesley mentions too and it's good. There are also some good recipes on the internet. Wilkinsons sell wine making equipment reasonably cheaply - demijohns for £5 each and all the other paraphernalia. You can also get wine making kits in Wilkinsons if you just want to have a go to see how you like homebrew. I've made elderflower wine with one of these and the results weren't bad but I've made it with flowers from the garden this year and I'm hoping that will be even nicer.

 

Good luck!!

[Los Tres Pollos]

The book I used to start winemaking back in the early 80's was 'First Steps in Winemaking' by C.J.J.Berry SBN 0 900841 40 0

 

It list all recipies month by month but I have made Elderberry at this time of yesr and have been drinking it at xmas. As with most books/recipies you have to use use a bit on intuition as to when things are ready.

[Richard T]

I started wine and beer making this year. I bought the beer starter kit to begin with in Wilkinsons and made a very nice bitter. Wilkinsons sell just about all the equipment you need, and beer and wine kits (including a kit for making wine in about a week).

 

When John Next Door had a load of rhubarb going spare in the summer I googled for a rhubarb wine recipe and used the one on the Vegetarian Society website - because it was simple. My rhubarb wine is maturing nicely in a demi-john from Wilkos. And will soon be decanted into bottles from Sainsbury's. Unfortunately, Sainsury's only sell wine bottles that already have wine in them, so we had to force ourselves to drink it. I think you can probably use plastic bottles, even old plastic milk cartons. The important thing seems to be to make sure everything is sterilised. It probably won't be ready for another couple of months. That's the drawback of "country" wines. They do seem to need a lot of time before they're ready for drinking.

 

I've now got the CJJ Berry book and am using the elderberry wine recipe from there. It's bubbling away nicely.

 

I've also got another barrel of bitter on the go. This is a "Christmas" beer based on a recipe in "Home Farmer" magazine. It's basically a home brew beer kit with the additional ingredients of water that's had raisins soaking in it, and brown sugar. I should also have used dextrose, rather than the usual white, granulated sugar, but couldn't find any in time.

 

There are are forums for home brewers, but I've not really got into them yet. And I've read that home brew shops are usually very helpful with advice and will stock the more specialised stuff that you won't find in Wilkos.

 

I'd say give it a go.

[Snowy]

Definitely worth a go! I used to do a lot, but haven't made any for the last couple of years. I can recommend the elderberry wine though - I am just drinking my way through abatch of 5 year old Regal Elderberry! Nectar!

[KimmyCustard]

Yum! I'll google for a Wilkinsons near us and get OH up there on our days off!

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Kimmy

x

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

The Blagger blog boys (who I think lurk on here sometimes - hello Rich and Nik!) have done some homebrewy things with elderflowers and apples. Have a look at their blog maybe:

 

www.blagger.co.uk

 

Anna x