Elderberries

[Her Lushness]

I also fancy trying a port stlye one.

I've just racked my 1st gallon of the English Port http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/s...ead.php?t=1447 and it's yummy already - I can't wait for it to mature properly.

[spritzer]

I've just racked my 1st gallon of the English Port http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/s...ead.php?t=1447 and it's yummy already - I can't wait for it to mature properly.

Yes, Lushie...
I was looking at this recipe the other night, and it does look good.
I only have dried sloes though... I dont have any access to fresh ones round here.
I will have to look into what the equivalent of dried sloes is to fresh
Any suggestions anyone ??

Carole

Edit.... Just found this

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2613

I am not sure, but I would think that sloes would be similar to elderberries/currants/sultanas ect
Therefore the multiple of 4 may work..
So, I think I will try half pound of the dried sloes when I try this recipe...

Does that sound wrong/right to anyone ??

[Her Lushness]

A general rule of thumb is 1/4 dried to the amount of fresh fruit, ie 1/4lb dried sloes to 1lb fresh....

It's worked okay for me so far!

[spritzer]

A general rule of thumb is 1/4 dried to the amount of fresh fruit, ie 1/4lb dried sloes to 1lb fresh....

It's worked okay for me so far!

Good stuff
Thats what I will do then, when I get round to it

Thanks

[Her Lushness]

Well get yer finger out and get a move on, trust me, it's looking and tasting beauuuuutiful...

I just wish I'd made more than 1 gallon as Mr Lush has got his beady eyes on it, so I doubt it's gonna last long once it's bottled!

[spritzer]

Well get yer finger out and get a move on, trust me, it's looking and tasting beauuuuutiful...

I just wish I'd made more than 1 gallon as Mr Lush has got his beady eyes on it, so I doubt it's gonna last long once it's bottled!

Hehehe
Yes... I think I might do a couple of gallons, for the same reason
But, I do have to wait a week or two before I can start.... No room for any more at the moment

[Her Lushness]

Nonsense, just get a bigger house and more DJs

[spritzer]

Nonsense, just get a bigger house and more DJs

ROFLMAO

Funny that... I was looking at the property pages only yesterday

[Her Lushness]

See, it's fate!

[lockwood1956]

Kismet

(cue music)

[spritzer]

Lushie
You will be pleased to know, that I haven't wasted my day off work ... and have started on the English port
Just the three gallons to start with ....
The fruit is busy defrosting as we speak...

I just had one question...
Did you use all the sugar in the recipe ??
Or did you go for a SG of 1.090 ?

Thanks
Carole

As always.. all comments welcome

[Her Lushness]

I started it off at an SG of 1080 on the grounds that I can always sweeten stuff up, but it's almost impossible to unsweetend stuff if it's too sweet.

Having said that, if you want to feed the must with more sugar to get a higher alchohol level, then thats fine to do that too, but if you're going to add some brandy to the end product, then don't forget that that'll take the ABV higer still.

[spritzer]

I started it off at an SG of 1080 on the grounds that I can always sweeten stuff up, but it's almost impossible to unsweetend stuff if it's too sweet.

Having said that, if you want to feed the must with more sugar to get a higher alchohol level, then thats fine to do that too, but if you're going to add some brandy to the end product, then don't forget that that'll take the ABV higer still.

I going for a 1.090 SG...
I have followed the English Port recipe...
But will use the methodology (ooooooo ... an ology ) that Bob uses HERE
And I will be using brandy to fortify it
Although, I am not sure which one to use yet
I need to investigate that further.

Lushie, did you use brandy ? If so, which one ??
Thanks


Russ,
Out of interest, what else, if anything yet, did you make with yours, other than blackberry/elderberry ?
Carole

[Her Lushness]

Mine isn't ready for brandy yet, but I tend to use supermarket better quality own brand, rather than the value stuff if you know what I mean?. I don't actually like the taste of brandy on its own, so I use it sparingly when fortifying wines.

[kerosine]

Russ,
Out of interest, what else, if anything yet, did you make with yours, other than blackberry/elderberry ?
Carole

I purely made:
5Gallon of Elderberry
5Gallon of Blackberry and Elderberry

then I ran out

I think next year a I may attempt a grape and elderberry mix - we'll see what the hedgrerows bring.

One thing I did do with my Elderberries this year was to purchase a 5 gallon kit of Barolo (beaverdale) and I split it into 3 - this worked out cheaper than buying grape concentrate - so i'm hopind it would have added some vinocity. Time will tell

Got a little of the concentrate left so I'm probably going to add some frozen black forest fruit and make a 5G batch of that - now if we are talking about making a port , this is one I might add to as the last batch I made was superb and IMHO would make a nice port with the addition of Brandy