Introduce Yourselves here

[jay]

yes I was thinking of doing that one last time I made it it seemed a bit to sweet so may be will try again see how it turns out

[mrmojorisin]

ferment to dry then don't sweeten if you found it too sweet, maybe?

i sweetened a bit much but we've been drinking it chilled which has really toned it down and i've had several compliments on it now.

alternatively, the beaverdale sauvignon blanc is absolutely delicious, my dad couldn't believe it was home made!

[jay]

well i have been to asda to day and got ingrdients to day so will give it another go.
allso i got the ingrediant to do the tropicana tropical fruit wine cant wait for that one sound nice .

[busymummy]

Evening all. Found your great forum while browsing - lots of useful info, thank you. I'm a new to winemaking (a few months) done a few 5 gallon kits (rose which came with my equipment, beaverdale shiraz, solomun grundy medium white) - all tasted better than I expected, and I've also tried a 5 gallon fruit juice concoction which is ok. Currently got a Cantina rose awaiting bottling - I'm so sick of scraping labels of old bottles its unbelievable, highly tempting to buy some just so I don't have to!
My Elderflower wine was horrible, there were definately elderflowers (painstakingly picked off the green stems) in the bucket but could I heck taste any - just very strong yeast flavour urrggh shudder at the memory - so that's gone down the drain - don't know where I went wrong with it, but at least there wasn't much expense involved!
That's where I'm up to - not bad considering I'm mum to 4, working full time, dog, chickens, guinea pigs, rats, and small veg patch in the garden.
Thank you for reading

[lockwood1956]

Welcome aboard

[hughie]

Hi I'm Hughie. I have come back to wine making after a gap of around 20 years.
I have been happily retired for 2 years and find that my wine making helps to keep me from under the better half's feet. I intend using the forum more and hopefully will get to know you guys thru time.

[goldseal]

Welcome Hughie

[Tom Pegg]

Hello everyone, I'm Tom. Glad I've found you as I'm in Devon and apart from pro' org's I can't find anything that approaches what you guy's have on offer.

I planted 75 vines 3yrs ago and it's looking pretty good for this harvest so far. There are 3 varieties - triumphe, regent and acolon. All behave differently when growing. Made just 1.5 DJ's last year just to try the direct blend out. Fermented on the pulp for 5 days and ended up with a deep rose'. Thinking of going for maybe 8-10 days on the pulp to go for a deeper colour. Any experiences concerning this would be appreciated. Tried the rose, (I know no patience) only been bottled 6mths, very promising but needs time.
Nice to be here
Tom

[Lisa Cairno]

Hi Im Lisa

Newbie to this

Im a newbie to wine making.
Ive just had a bash at the CJJ Berry recipe. (17th July 2011 ) I tweaked it though! As people have mentioned the 375ml (12 Fl oz )of ribena to 1 gallon doesnt seem much at all!!
I thought well if it tastes weak to start it's not gonna be much good when complete! So I made a dilution to my taste and noted the ratio of water to concentrate then made this up to 1 gallon with water. I tested the SG first in the diluted ribena, then added sugar to reach 90 for a dry wine so should finish at 9 (1090-0009) deleting the initial 1! as it says in the books!!
I think I had to add about 2lb sugar to reach this. Ribena has a huge amount of sugar already in it, so measure first then keep adding sugar to the level required. I added citric acid,yeast nutrient and yeast.
Its been fermenting away for a few days and smells fab!! I used 1 gallon DJ of strawberry and 1 gallon DJ of Blackurrant. The coulour is very nice indeed not too dark or light. I will rack first when it starts to settle then ferment again then rack again. I do hope its nice i will be very dissapointed if its not.
: I am so excited but need to be patient for it to be ready to drink.

Dont kow how long it will take to be ready to drink. Any Ideas of this???????
thanks Lisa

[alex]

Another new member

Hi everyone

New member here, and a special thanks to Bob for sorting out my login problems.

As a fledgling wine maker I'm really finding this forum so interesting and informative. A special thanks to those that take the time and trouble to post up pics of what they're doing. I find this so helpful - "a picture says a thousand words". Well it does when it illustrates the advice given.

Got loads of questions but not in this post. I just wanted to say hello and happy wine making to everyone, particularly to us newbies just starting out.

[lockwood1956]

and a special thanks to Bob for sorting out my login problems.

my pleasure

I moved your message to here, keeps the job tidy

Welcome aboard
regards
Bob

[froggi]

Hi all

Hi all
A newbie here but not to other forums etc.... Stumbled across this site and am pleased with what I've come across.... A returner to home wine making and brewing from many years past
Looking forward to contributing and using others ideas and recipes to enhance my drinking pleasure
Cheers all

[Canonmillbilly]

After 23 posts though it was time to do an introduction!

I started making wine during 1995-1998 or so, while living in Ayr on the south west coast of Scotland.

Made some good ones: bramble, elderflower (which turned out like 5 gallons of Cinzano Bianco - happily!), oak leave was nice and a decent rice and raisin 'fino sherry'.

Then got into drinking commercial wine and enjoyed many years of that.

Now living in South Devon, have returned to home brew last year to use up excess allotment things (courgettes in particular) and just recently discovered this forum.

I've been browsing and searching the archives and am very impressed by the depth of information - helpful and very very inspiring.

And a very pleasant and friendly atmosphere too!

[goldseal]

Hi Froggi and Steven, welcome aboard

[billymateless]

Hi, I am BillyM.

I normally make jams, chutneys etc from fruit/veg in the gardens or bushes here where I live.
There is only so much jam you can make without going insane, so have turned to wine!

I have a problem with a plum wine I'm trying to make but wine from recipe #2 in the beginners section seems to be doing well & I'm looking forward to trying that.

There is so much to think about & learn - like everything else, there's more to it than you think!

Thank You! to all that have gone before me & left all this knowledge I'm trying to take at least some of it on board.

BillyM