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I have not been a member of this forum for very long but I have learned sooooo much. I thought it appropriate to first of all say thanks to Bob and the gang for all of the free and thoroughly sound advice. That got me thinking. Just what was the best tip of 2009?
It was a close run thing for me between the 10% sulphite solution in a spray bottle (how do you make it last six months?) I make it by the litre and it only lasts three! (but I do use it a lot, no lil beasties getting in my wine!)
Another contender was the beginners wine series. I had only made from kits before (apart from a ribena wine) so this was a revelation for me. A cracking drop to drink with so many variations. My current favourites are a wine #1 with an additional litre of unsweetened pineapple juice and a reduction of sugar to keep the sg at 1080. It was a horror to clear but is delicious. I also love a variation of wine #2 replacing half the blueberry with Morrisons Pomegranite and blackberry. I did not read the label properly and did not notice the artificial sweeteners but this meant I did not have to backsweeten and the hint of pomegranate is amazing.
So thank you very much lads and lasses, whatever you celebrate or even if you dont, have a good one
Oh, just so no one thinks I am just a taker and not a giver here is my top tip for degassing a one gallon wine.
Buy a 5 litre bottle of water from your local supermarket and use the water to make wine. Then with the resulting empty bottle (kept beastie free with half a dozen squirts from my sulphite sprayer) keep until ready for degassing. Rack your finished wine into the freshly rinsed out plastic bottle. You will have approx 4.2 to 4.4 litres of wine in the bottle with 0.6 to 0.8 litres of headspace. Gently tighten the lid and just as gently shake the bottle a couple of times. twist the lid to allow the gas to excape. You have to take it easy at first as the amount of gas released is staggering but you can then get more vigorous. Now then, the escaping gas forces out the oxygenated air in the headspace so there is no danger of oxygenating the wine. This means you can reseal the bottle and return at intervals to continue the degassing without worrying about spoiling the wine. Works for me
So, what's your top tip?
It was a close run thing for me between the 10% sulphite solution in a spray bottle (how do you make it last six months?) I make it by the litre and it only lasts three! (but I do use it a lot, no lil beasties getting in my wine!)
Another contender was the beginners wine series. I had only made from kits before (apart from a ribena wine) so this was a revelation for me. A cracking drop to drink with so many variations. My current favourites are a wine #1 with an additional litre of unsweetened pineapple juice and a reduction of sugar to keep the sg at 1080. It was a horror to clear but is delicious. I also love a variation of wine #2 replacing half the blueberry with Morrisons Pomegranite and blackberry. I did not read the label properly and did not notice the artificial sweeteners but this meant I did not have to backsweeten and the hint of pomegranate is amazing.
So thank you very much lads and lasses, whatever you celebrate or even if you dont, have a good one
Oh, just so no one thinks I am just a taker and not a giver here is my top tip for degassing a one gallon wine.
Buy a 5 litre bottle of water from your local supermarket and use the water to make wine. Then with the resulting empty bottle (kept beastie free with half a dozen squirts from my sulphite sprayer) keep until ready for degassing. Rack your finished wine into the freshly rinsed out plastic bottle. You will have approx 4.2 to 4.4 litres of wine in the bottle with 0.6 to 0.8 litres of headspace. Gently tighten the lid and just as gently shake the bottle a couple of times. twist the lid to allow the gas to excape. You have to take it easy at first as the amount of gas released is staggering but you can then get more vigorous. Now then, the escaping gas forces out the oxygenated air in the headspace so there is no danger of oxygenating the wine. This means you can reseal the bottle and return at intervals to continue the degassing without worrying about spoiling the wine. Works for me
So, what's your top tip?
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