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  • Wine number 1 variants

    As all who have made and drank wine No 1 knows that this is a great recipe and made with different variants of juices can be made to satisfy many different pallets.
    It is often thought that to get 'body and flavour' into a wine that we should increase the fruit content or grape concentrate, not the case in this style of wine, 'less is best'. The following are some additions that I make to wine No 1 that compliment the wine, but do not overpower it.

    The only adjustment to the wine No 1 recipe I suggest is to start fermentation in a 10 litre bucket covered with a loose lid, this will allow the addition of fruit without the loss of wine at racking, rack all the following recipes to demijohn at hydrometer reading of 1.010. All recipes are for 1 UK gallon.

    Elderflower:
    Elderflowers can add a wonderful bouquet and flavour to this wine, there are three ways to do this that work well.

    1. Dried elderflowers, these are often very harsh and can give a 'cat pee' smell if overused. I have found that just 10 grams of dried flowers added at the start works well, the fermentation process seems to blow off any 'cat pee' smell or harshness. Strain the flowers off through a flour sieve when transferring to d/j for secondary.

    2. Fresh elderflowers, these are great when we can get them, the bouquet and subtle flavour is far superior to that of dried elderflowers, however as they are so delicate the flavour and bouquet can be blown off by the vigorous co2 production of the primary ferment. The addition of a small handful fresh flowers works best added after racking to d/j for secondary.

    3. Elderflower cordial, many supermarkets now stock elderflower cordial, this also works well. As this is often made with dried elderflowers add to the primary bucket at the start. You will also need to remember cordial contains high amounts of sugar, therefore any sugar additions will need to be adjusted.

    Why not try this same idea with other flowers such as rose petals, lavender, or dandelion petals.
    Check out this very interesting and informative thread by MedPretzel, regarding the use of flowers etc from the garden.

    Tinned fruit:

    So again, as above, follow the wine No 1 recipe, but the addition of some tinned fruit can really change this to become a totally different wine, here's some I have tried and tested.
    Add two tins of peaches at the primary stage and strain off at racking to d/j, this works well also with apricots, lychees, and pears they all add a subtle but pleasant flavour and bouquet to the wine.

    Fresh fruit:

    Many fresh fruits will also complement this style of wine, but here's where we need to be a little more cautious due to overpowering flavours, tannins and acid from under ripe fruit. Often is the case that additional acid is not required and some fruits are better peeled to reduce tannins from the skins.
    1. Rhubarb previously frozen then thawed in a colander over a pan to extract the juice only, 1 litre of juice per gallon works well. (no added acid)
    2. Kiwi fruit, peeled then squished by hand, I find about 6 standard sized fruit is sufficient.
    3. Plums, these vary in style, I have found some to be high in acid so check the must before adding too many, usually about 8 to 10 plums squished with the stones removed.
    4. Pears, I prefer to peel pears before using, I find the skins have an unpleasant bitterness, 6 average size pears chopped up is plenty.

    So there we go, something a little different for you to experiment with without much risk of disaster striking.
    All the above will still allow this to be an early drinking easy wine.
    Last edited by Duffbeer; 12-04-2009, 04:07 PM.
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