cheap banana wine

[mark g]

hello wine fans,
I went on the market today and bought 8lb ofs for only£2.90p,i thought so i have started 2 gals of c.j.j.Berry,banana wine,the recipe is on page 146 of FIRST STEPS IN WINEMAKING.
NOTE.
I used 2lb of sultanas instead of white grape concentrate.

to mr c.j.j.berry,Editor, of the amateur winemaker and home brewer.

[fatbloke]

hello wine fans,
I went on the market today and bought 8lb ofs for only£2.90p,i thought so i have started 2 gals of c.j.j.Berry,banana wine,the recipe is on page 146 of FIRST STEPS IN WINEMAKING.
NOTE.
I used 2lb of sultanas instead of white grape concentrate.

to mr c.j.j.berry,Editor, of the amateur winemaker and home brewer.

The book is great, just remember Bob's maxim about CJJJJJJJJJJJJJ recipes, they were written when you'd just use sugar to the max until the yeast pooped out leaving a fair bit of residual. Well that's how it seems.

So it's probably excellent advice to add half the recommended and then check the gravity with hydrometer, adding extra (up to what he suggests in the recipe) to reach the right level.

Some of our "wine masters" here prefer to recommend that you start with a gravity IRO 1080 to 1090 - which might be a lot lower than you'd get with the full compliment of sugar as per recipe. They know what they're talking about - yes it might not be as strong, but invariably, it makes for an easier ferment. Plus if you feel that it's too dry, you can always back sweeten later.

Oh and the "wonder" of producing a high strength wine isn't necessarily all it's cracked up. They can taste very "medicinal" (Ken Schramm, in his mead making book, uses the analogy of Listerine). A wine that exhibits an "alcohol hot" sort of flavour can be correct in many ways, but invariably it needs to be aged for a long time (well that's pretty much how it's done with meads anyway.....)

regards

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