Introduce Yourselves here

[lockwood1956]

OCD - you ought to try having NOTHING fermenting.

I'm sure a cure for that will be forthcoming Pete.....

probably by September 25th

[Tania_uk]

Thanks for the welcome
It's reassuring to read that my fascination with the bubbling DJs is normal(ish)
Am reading my ways through the tutorials. I never knew about degassing for starters. I'm sure I'll have learned heaps more by the time I'm done.
Tan x

[thelurch]

Hi there,

Im from Sussex, UK

New to the whole winemaking thing, I have made a 6 bottle kit (and drunk it!)

I have spent the last month picking fruit which is in the freezer ready to be put to good use.

Apologies for stupid questions, but I have a few!

[lockwood1956]

Welcome aboard

[Mamgiowl]

Hi TheLurch and welcome aboard.

Don't ever feel the need to apologise for asking questions. As has been said before the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask.

[spritzer]

OCD - you ought to try having NOTHING fermenting.

Now, thats worse than giving up smoking, in my opinion

Hi there,

Im from Sussex, UK

New to the whole winemaking thing, I have made a 6 bottle kit (and drunk it!)

I have spent the last month picking fruit which is in the freezer ready to be put to good use.

Apologies for stupid questions, but I have a few!

Welcome, and ask away

[Oldhippy]

Hi All.

Just sat down from preparing "wine No. 1" and waiting impatiently Been thinking about winemaking for a while, just waiting for the oh to get used to the idea. Managed to persuade her after recent hols in East Sussex/Kent where we had a rather nice time visiting the local vineyards.

Anyway, big learning curve that I look forward to drinking my way through!


John

[Mamgiowl]

Hi, John, and welcome.

[moonwitch]

Hi

just wanted to say hello, Im from Barnsley south yorkshire..made some lagar many years ago lol hadn't a clue what i was doing or why all my bottles were exploding don't know what made me suddenly decide to get my first wine kit maybe the cost of shop bought wines it was really good. since then i have built up and have 4 lots of 5 gallon fruit juice and some ale still asking questions and hunting for tips and help on internet. picked some elderberries and threw them away cos i didn't like all the spiders and critters lol might try again because the trees are full of them here

[goldseal]

welcome aboard

[Mamgiowl]

Lucky you, Moonwitch, there are absolutely no elderberries in my part of the world so I am very envious.

[tulaberry]

tulaberry - new member intro

Hi All,

As requested (hoping I'm posting in the right place!) a quick intro to me, Tulaberry, a new (sort of) member ... In actuality, a returning member from about four or five years ago, when I posted here under a different nym, which has been lost in the mists of time, hence the new login/nym, etc! If you were wondering, a friend told me to use tulaberry; it's apparently the fruit used to make some sort of drink in some Star Trek version or other. Yes, you've guessed it, he's a trekkie, it was late, and I was all out of good humour to come up with a better nym, so there!! LOL ... Anyway, onto brewing...

I did quite a bit of wine-kit making a few years ago, all drinkable, which was quite a surprise. All, that time, were country/kit wines, with Plum and Peach being my two favourites from all of those attempted. I also did a very mean line in Turbo Cider, which I understand has been somewhat depreciated in this forum, subsequently, but personally, with a few tweaks, I still do brew it ... The tweaks I use, to get a drinkable apply cider that isn't too harsh, is to ferment it quite high (7-8%), then 'water' it back down, once you've killed off all of the yeastie beasties, by adding apple juice back in! This takes out the harshness, somewhat, and brings back in the apple taste. Just a thought!!

As this is my second (and more serious!) start at home brewing, this time I treated myself to a bit of decent kit for beer making; a King Keg - well worth the money if you are new to the game .... The 'cheap' barrel I previously bought lasted but three brews or something like that, before it started leaking. Go for a top (of the barrel-side) tap; brings out a perfect pint every time, and quite remarkably, also gets clear beer out, even when it's just the last couple of pints you're trying to lay your lips on! IMHO, worth every penny of the money, and I'm hoping to persuade the other half to part with another 50% of the cost of another King Keg over this next week or two (whilst they are on special offer via art-of-brewing.co.uk - my local (Surrey) brew shop), so no longer will it be 'all or nothing' with the bitters; but permanently and literally, 'on-tap'.

One can live in hope! I don't think she was so impressed when I lashed out for the first King Keg, until, that was, she tasted her first live bitter, the other day (she's Polish, the other half, but fortunately, is a bitter drinker!!). I did tell her beforehand, but now she doesn't need to believe me when I tell her live beers are better! She knows!!! LOL

Anyway ... This time around, I've started brewing wines from fruit/ingredients, rather than kit(s). Thus far, I've just done (and almost drunk) my first Bramble Wine; tastes almost port-like if you were wondering; heavy, deeply coloured, strong in alcohol (I used Gervais No. 3 yeast) - didn't take any readings, but we suspect in came in at about 15% ABV! A couple of glasses of that, and we're both anybodies! <gg> It's so nice, we're planning on doing a 23 litre/30 bottle brew over this next weekend - the first was only a gallon ... Fortunately we live right near the River Thames (5 minute walk); plenty of fruits by the towpath/on the Islands, if anyone else on the board is near a river; great place to grab your brew ingredients free of charge - take the top tip! As to the Bramble Wine, if you're into presentation, I guess filtering it would do wonders for it's clarity, etc, but as to taste, it's perfectly fine, seriously nice, indeedy (sic), 'just as'.

I did an Ancient Orange and Spice Melomel four-five years ago (recipe used to be on this board), and after about year three, it turned from not particularly pleasant, into something quite nice. In consequence, I've kept the last two bottles back for some special occasion, many years hence, when I deeply suspect, it will be truly wonderful. If you've not done an Ancient Orange and Spice Melomel, I'd recommend it, provided you can store and keep your fingers off the cork, for at least 3-4 years; more, better!!

I got the g/f interested in this whole brewing thing via mead. She's a medievalist (PhD researcher at the British Library/medieval royal manuscripts), and thus wanted to taste the Ancient Orange and Spice Melomel when she first found out I had it. I wouldn't let her (with only two bottles left, it'd have to be the Queen asking! <g>), but suggested she should brew some of her own, for her medievalist friends/colleagues etc. Worked a treat, she loves brewing now, having helped me out over this past couple of months since I got going again, and did her first solo brew, Rosehip Melomel, just this past week; looks fantastic bubbling away, like a neon-orange rocket!

This time around, I'm interested to branch out even further into 'making from scratch'. I've only done kit beers before now, but wish to try get into doing my own wort, so that the range of bitters can be expanded somewhat, in directions under my control. I'm from up North originally (Teesside), so had to start brewing myself, so that I could have a decent pint down in these parts, where the vast majority of pubs serve ... how can I put in on a board where even *!&* swearing isn't allowed ... 'Something not quite beer'. LOL

Currently brewing away, I've got:

1. 40 pints of lager (Geordie kit)[for the southerners that visit over Xmas; can't stand most of the stuff sold in England myself - though am partial to a visit to Belgium strictly for 'research purposes' every now and then!] - fermentation should start today;

2. 40 pints of bitter (Geordie kit) - now in the barrel - ready in three weeks or so;

3. Ribena Wine (started almost 8 weeks ago);

4. Rosehip Melomel (started a few days ago);

5. Currant Wine (by accident; got back from the shop with four bags of Raisins, only to find, somehow, somewhere, we'd managed to pick up Currants instead of Raisins! {oops!} ... Though it'd be a shame to take them back so did a brew with 'em instead ...
see bottom of this post for a help request with this brew;

6. Ribena Wine - started yesterday ... Had a spare DJ, and an unopened Ribena ...

Coming soon to the home:

a) Rosehip Wine - couple of bushes outside the home - shame to see 'em drop;

b) Peach something or other (found two trees well hidden on an Island down here!!);

c) Bramble Wine (in volume this time; HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FREE BREW THIS MONTH!);

d) some attempt at a 'Rumpot' (layered fruit/sugar/fruit/sugar ad infinitum; all with almost neat alcohol poured on top - starting out with a Bramble base! ).

e) a tinned peach wine (been meaning to give that one a try for four or more years!).

So much for a short post, but hello to all! Nice to be back, and back brewing!

Sincerely,

Tulaberry.
PS. HELP NEEDED - with the currant wine ... So far have got this far:

- 1KG minced Currants;
- 1KG of sugar;
- 1 x teaspoon nutrient;
- 1 x teaspoon pectolase
- 1 x packet, Richie Sherry yeast

Minced the Currants, boiled them for an hour, dumped everything in the DJ; what did I do wrong, what can I do to rescue it now, assuming I did do something wrong?! What is this wine likely to turn out like (having read up on currants and realised their simply a special type of raisin, will I still get something like 'sherry' out of this brew, or should I kick off a raisin wine (a.k.a. sherry) this week too; wanted some ready for Xmas; and the last Raisin wine I did turned out to be indistinguishable from commercial sherry!). TIA!!

[goldseal]

Welcome aboard - that certainly is a pretty comprehensive first post

As for your currant wine, my first thought was white grape juice (supermarket stuff), but that will just increase the volume. Maybe something orange-y?

EDIT: reason for suggesting something for flavour is that currants are generally used for imroving the body of a wine, not necessarily as a flavour ingredient. Orange might complement it (maybe with a bit of back-sweetening too).

[tulaberry]

Welcome aboard - that certainly is a pretty comprehensive first post

As for your currant wine, my first thought was white grape juice (supermarket stuff), but that will just increase the volume. Maybe something orange-y?

EDIT: reason for suggesting something for flavour is that currants are generally used for imroving the body of a wine, not necessarily as a flavour ingredient. Orange might complement it (maybe with a bit of back-sweetening too).

TB: we aim to please! ... No use being a shrinking violet, now, is there, not if you're wanting a bit of help!! <g> ... Thanks for your suggestion re: adding some Orange ... How much would you suggest, and are we talking freshly squeezed, fresh oranges, or simply chucking in a bit of pre-pressed (concentrated/rehydrated) carton stuff?!

TIA for any further comments you've got time to make ... Any other takers on what else is required/might go well with currants?!

[Skeggyrik]

Hi from Solihull

Hello All

This is my first post although I have been reading through some of the threads in past few weeks trying to build my knowledge.

I acquired part of my wine making equipment from my mother in law after I commented that I was interested in doing something with the apples growing on the single tree in my back garden. I was presented with a few demijohns, lots of old brown sticky pipe and air locks along with some decidedly out of date additives.

A week later I had located a local home brew shop, I am lucky that there is one less than 10 minutes from my house, Brew Genie in Hall Green. I sorted myself out with some new equipment, additives and some cleaning and sterilising gear, ditching a lot of the old stuff that had not seen the light of day since 1992.

The kit I was given by my mother law came with an early copy of CJ Berries wine making along with another wine and beer and cider recipe book, so I read them with interest but I am conscious that winemaking has moved on with new tricks and additives to help us along to producing drinkable plonk. Something I am particularly interested in learning about is the choice of yeasts I should be making, as I am currently using a bog standard Youngs Brewing yeast for all my recipes.

I started with an apple wine and fermented it on the pulp with good helping of chopped raisins, which meant I had to to pass it though straining bags, the cheaper option to buying a fruit press although it is a bit of a faff! I added pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient and it all seems to be going well. I've been taking the SG and added sugar after the primary fermentation to bring it up to a SG suitable for wine making. It's been racked a couple of times and now seems to be starting to clear, fingers crossed.

In the mean time I got some others on the go, which was helped with a eBay purchase of some more demijohns. I bought a California Connoisseur 6 bottle kit from Brew Genie and that has been bubbling away quite happily for the last few weeks. I read online about a black treacle and demerara sugar wine which sounded interesting, so I have a demijohn of that on the go, with helping of raisins, lemon juice and some tannin. I have no idea if this will be any good but apparently it is drinkable if chilled! I have been lucky enough this year to find a plenty of blackberries behind my back fence (a benefit of living next to a train line) so I have demijohn of straight blackberry on the go which has now been strained and is lovely deep red colour. I have just last week used the last of my apples and blackberries in an apple and blackberry mix, which is now bubbling happily in the demijohn and what crazy pink it is!

So my first foray into wine making is started, hopefully I should have something drinkable come Christmas time, although I am expecting to have to wait for some of them to age for considerably longer.

Any tips, advice or pointers to useful threads on yeasts would gratefully received. There seems to plenty of recipes floating about so I am happy that I should be kept busy trying some of those.

Will post a picture of the happy bubbling demijohns when I get a chance.

Richard