What's going on in your winery today..

[ms67]

4 gallon base on the go for adding elderflowers to later - they're out and smell great, just need the right weather for gathering.

bottling rose petal

drinking green tea & ginger

[Rich]

Contemplation.

Plenty of that going on tonight. Thanks to this forum (and David, and Komber for the review) I seem to be now own a Lidl 27l boiler and a cool box to add a tap too. So, In my 'I've tasted too much' state I've been reading the all grain tutorials whilst trying to work out what else I need to get.

Most annoying bit is finding a 26litre cool box in Costco tonight with a tap on the bottom of it, although it needed holding in to pour, so not so useful.

[modofodo]

just finished bottling for the night, one gallon each of;

* Pineapple WN1
* Pomegranate WN1
* Tanglefoot
* Green Tea & Ginger

ms67, can you elaborate on the 'tanglefoot' please?

[ms67]

Bottled the Rose Petal

sorted a selection of requested wines for my Sis to take with her after her visit. Elderflower, Pomegranate WN1, Green Tea & Ginger (personal bottle not for sharing!) and Tanglefoot (likewise not for sharing!) which leads me to ...

ms67, can you elaborate on the 'tanglefoot' please?

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/s...t=parsnip+wine

not the beer, but the wine. if you care about such things then some poking about famous search engines will reveal that long before a beer called tanglefoot was on everyone's tongues there was a traditional english wine of the same name. i forget which county/region but it was a southern one. It has, sadly, got an undeserved rep, which stopped me from making it for years. But this gets as many "wow's" as green tea & ginger gets. It doesn't get passed around as often tho because it's much more laborious to make, and in our house it's a firm favourite. Fiddley yes, hard to get right yes, unappealing ingredients yes. But crack it and the delight you'll get from witnessing reactions is like no other homebrew (imho).

i wouldn't blame anyone for giving up on trying tho, you'll probably have many near misses and big misses too. I was happy with the result i got from the linked recipe, but i have since tweaked it (only slightly) and now i have the recipe that i won't tweak again.

Should you give it a go the best advice i can give is be oh so careful with how you treat those roots. everything else is standard wine-making with additions/proportions to your tastes. Leave out the 'snips and you'll have a much easier wine to make, that'll be good too, but keep them in and it's a worthwhile and rewarding challenge if you have the time.

sorry for the ramble if you thought it was beer!

[alcopop]

Paul (Wurzel) look at your PMs your box is full so I can't send you one.
Terry

[wurzel]

Paul (Wurzel) look at your PMs your box is full so I can't send you one.
Terry

Hi Terry.......just deleated some

[modofodo]

Thanks ms67, I do grow parsnips, but I like mine roasted or as crisps. I don't know if I am ready to make it into wine just yet. Maybe next year or, if I happen upon lots of cheap parsnips.....

Thanks for the link - appreciated.

[ms67]

Thanks ms67, I do grow parsnips, but I like mine roasted or as crisps. I don't know if I am ready to make it into wine just yet. Maybe next year or, if I happen upon lots of cheap parsnips.....

Thanks for the link - appreciated.

YW; i roast them after making a brew with them.
parsnip chips mmmmm the business

[modofodo]

Been a busy day, up a 5am drove to 160 miles to Hampshire, visited my mum, spied some nice elderflowers and grabbed some (wow, Hampshire is just like elderflower central right now). Jumped in the car and drove 160 miles back. Nice cup of tea, some dinner, few glasses of plan de dieu and just been catching up:

Stabilised beaverdale kit
Did first racking on wine #1 - sneaked a glug (lovely)
Stirred up my sloe wine (from last years frozen)

Now adding elderflowers to my first wine #1 variation (batch 2)

[ms67]

Picked a heap of elderflowers, pollen all over our hands, wonderful smell in the car now.

[spritzer]

Just made up 3 gallons of Strawberry/Apple wine....
2 of the kit strawberry wine tins, and some apple juice..
SG is 1.082

Im not sure how this will turn out, as like Koomber, I am a bit miffed by the wee sachet of "strawberry flavouring" that came with the kit.

[ms67]

processed all the elderflower sprays, ended up with 5 litres of flowers. So I have 2 very different Elderflower wines on the go (different juices, OGs, acids, yeasts, flower addition timings and one with tannin). So no easy comparisons. Batch 1; 5 gallons. Batch 2; 3 gallons. Still plenty flowers out there so i reckon i'll do another 2-3 gallon brew yet.

[goldseal]

A bit grumpy today - last Thursday my elderflowers hadn't quite flowered. Got back after a week away and the flowers had come and gone . I'll have to get my boots on tomorrow and go searching.

Apart from that, just an SG check or two today.

[lockwood1956]

Still plenty flowers out there so i reckon i'll do another 2-3 gallon brew yet.

Why not prepare some elderflower cordial?

then you can add it to wines later in the year

recipe and method here

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2277&highlight=syrups+cordials

also a great tutorial on My mate Luc Volders site re freezing the flowers

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/

regards
Bob

[spritzer]

A bit grumpy today - last Thursday my elderflowers hadn't quite flowered. Got back after a week away and the flowers had come and gone . I'll have to get my boots on tomorrow and go searching.

Apart from that, just an SG check or two today.

Are you sure your tea consumption is tip top Pete ??

There are loads and loads of elderflowers here...
But I'm affraid I can't get my head into flowery things

Anyway, filtered my pineapple number one wine...
One of the sister in laws was here at the time, and went away with a bottle, so no doubt the rest of the family will turn up, soon, for some.
They all love it.... I can't keep up with them, almost