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  • Recipe and Method Formulation....a work in progress

    once we know what it is we are trying to achieve, we can work backwards and put together a recipe/method to achieve the desired end result......


    WHITE TABLE WINE - DRY
    Pale colour is desirable; there should be no brown or pink tone.
    The wine should taste dry, without easily recognisable sweetness. The flavour should be pleasant, with no bitter after-taste, and should give an impression of freshness, leaving the mouth clean.
    Alcohol content may be between 8.5% and 13%, with acidity between 0.5% and 0.8%. It is most important for this type of wine that the bouquet should be clean, fresh and vinous.
    Commercial examples would be white Burgundy, Alsace and dry Loire wines such as Muscadet and Sancerre.
    This is a light style of wine, and as such should not be too strongly flavoured, and should have a light refreshing feel. A starting gravity of 1.080 is the place to be, and single varietal of grapes, or not too many different fruits or juices, fresh fruit in the order of 3 lbs per gallon, or a mix of apple juice/grape juice (1 litre of each) is sufficient,. Acidity should be light (max 1 tsp per gallon)…or no acid added if high acid fruit is used, for example Rhubarb. Light to medium bodied.

    WHITE TABLE WINE - MEDIUM OR MEDIUM SWEET
    Pale colour is again desirable. The wine must have easily detected sweetness, but not sufficiently prominent to classify it as a sweet wine.
    Unless stated otherwise, a range of sweetness from medium-dry to medium-sweet should be accepted as being within class, with good balance and flavour being more important than the exact degree of sweetness.
    Alcohol is as for dry white wines, but the acidity may be between 0.55% and 0.9%.
    Commercial examples would be German wines such as Liebfraumilch and many non-trocken Qualitätsweins (QbA, and QmP Kabinett or Spätlese); French examples would be demi-sec versions of Vouvray. English medium wines also fit this category.
    This is a style of wine similar to the dry white, but this time as we are going for medium sweetness, a little more body can be imparted by adding a little extra fruit or juice (up to 2 litres of each juice) and up to 4lbs fresh fruit per gallon Acidity is slightly higher to balance the sweetness. A Start S.G of 1.080 ferment to 1.010 and add juice/sugar to take SG to 1.020 and ferment to dry. Acidity max 1.5 tsp per gallon. Light to medium bodied.

    WHITE TO GOLDEN TABLE WINE, SWEET
    Colour can be deeper than for the dry or medium wines, ranging up to golden, but in the glass should not be dark.
    The flavour can be richer than in the other white table wines, with the alcohol content up to 14%.
    The acidity should be between 0.6% and 0.9%, sufficient to balance the sweetness of the wine and prevent a cloying finish.
    The sweetness, on the other hand, should be such that it does not overwhelm the other characteristics.
    This is a wine which is best drunk with fruit or dessert at the end of the meal. Commercial examples would be Sauternes (12-14% alcohol) and sweet German Auslese wines (which may have as little as 8% alcohol but are still usually sweet and well-balanced).
    This is a style of wine that can take a bit more oomph in terms of sweetness and body, but not overdone more body can be imparted by adding multiple ingredients for complexity, but again don't go overboard, max 4lb fresh fruit per gallon, or 4 litres juice, it is still a lighter style wine Acidity is slightly higher to balance the sweetness. A Start S.G of 1.080 ferment to 1.010 and add juice/sugar to take SG to 1.020 ferment to 1.010 and feed to 1.020 again and ferment to dry. Acidity max 1.75 tsp per gallon.
    Medium to heavy bodied

    ROSÉ TABLE
    Commercial examples vary from the dry Tavel Rosé to the medium or medium-sweet Anjou Rosé.
    Accept whatever degree of sweetness is specified in the show schedule, which is often ‘medium’. Rosé wines should be pink; variations in colour intensity and slight orange or ‘onion skin’ tints are acceptable.
    The flavour must be light, fruity and fresh, and the bouquet should reflect these points.
    There should not be excessive astringency, but tannins may be quite noticeable in the Tavel types.
    Acidity should be between 0.55% and 0.9%, with an alcohol content from 10% to 12%, and the whole should be in balance with any sweetness.
    This is a style of wine similar to the dry whites, but always a light style, sweetness and acidity rules apply the same as dry medium and sweet whites, but there can be some astringency, as long as it isn’t overdone, tannin additions acceptable (max ½ tsp per gallon) light to medium bodied style.

    RED TABLE WINE - DRY
    The colour should mainly be red, but tints of purple or black are acceptable, as are tints of tawny (often found in older wines).
    The wine must be dry, i.e. without easily recognisable sweetness.
    The flavour can be substantial and should remain in the after-taste.
    Some astringency from tannins is expected, with some mellowness and maturity desirable.
    The bouquet should be complex and vinous. Acidity should be between 0.45% and 0.65%, and the alcohol from 10% to 14%.
    There are many commercial examples such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rioja, etc.
    This wine style should be flavourful and can be quite complex, try not to go overboard with too many flavours or too much fruit 4lbs fresh fruit per gallon is about right, any more and the body may be too much, a start SG of 1.080 fermented to dry is sufficient, 1 tsp of Acid per gallon (max) would be the norm, less if you have high acid fruit, slightly more acid if fruit is low acid (taste it) The wine should be plump in the mouth and have firm yet soft tannins, everything in moderation. Medium to full bodied


    RED AFTER-DINNER SWEET
    The colour should be deep. Mature wines may have tawny characteristics but should display some red colour.
    The flavour should be rich, fruity and vinous, the whole being mellow and mature. Acidity should be between 0.45% and 0.7%. The alcohol content should be from at least 14% to as high as may be achieved by fermentation, with higher levels allowable only if the schedule permits fortification.
    The wine should be as sweet as the other characteristics will permit without becoming cloying. Although this wine is often called ‘Dessert’, it is meant for drinking after dinner.
    Commercial examples for an unfortified class are the Greek Mavrodaphne of Patras (15% alcohol) or the sweeter versions of the Italian Recioto della Valpolicella, with Port (19-22% alcohol) for a fortified class. Some Tawny Ports are too light in colour to be ideal examples of after-dinner red sweet wine.
    Similar to dry Red the flavour should be full and enjoyable, the Acidity will be higher to balance out the sweetness, (max 1.5 tsp per gallon) up to 6lbs of fruit per gallon may be used, but everything must be in balance. Too much sweetness without the acid in balance results in the wine being cloying. and unpleasant to drink. A start S.G. of 1.080 ferment to 1.020 and feed with sugar/juice to 1.020 up to twice and then fermented to dry is a good start point. The wine should have lots of body and mouth feel should be rich.

    A word on mouth feel/Body
    People seem sometimes unable to describe or understand mouth feel and or body of wines, it is really simple. Think of it in terms of milk……
    Light bodied/thin on mouthfeel is semi skimmed milk
    Medium bodied/mouthfeel is normal milk
    Heavy bodied/full mouthfeel is full cream milk



    So in order to produce these wines, we need a recipe.

    To make things easier we will divide the recipe up into sections.
    the first section is the tools to do the job succesfully:
    second section is must preparation:
    third section is late fermentation additions:
    fourth section is finishing touches (tweaks):
    Section 5 is generic recipes, for adjusting to your own tastes, but an idea or starting point for your own experimentation.
    Last edited by lockwood1956; 22-12-2009, 03:54 PM.
    N.G.W.B.J.
    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
    Wine, mead and beer maker

  • #2
    Basic Tools

    basic tools
    Yeast:
    always use a good quality yeast, to be sure we get the flavour profile we want, see here for yeast selection, they are a little more expensive than a GP (general purpose) yeast, but well worth the money.
    http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=945

    if you really are on a tight budget, you can make one packet ferment a whole seasons wines by making a yeast starter and keep regenerating it
    see here
    http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=908

    Nutrient:
    next we need to add fuel for the yeasties, in the form of a good yeast nutrient, sometimes the nutrients dont contain all that we need to have so we supplement them with vitamin B1 and diammonium Phosphate. always use a good nutrient like Fermaid, minavit ultr or tronozymol, they are a little more expensive but produce great results without failures which can be frustrating, and wine making should be fun.

    Pectolase:
    Not always needed, it is generally added to prevent pectic hazes, but I always add it as it also helps in the extraction of colours and flavours.

    Bentonite:
    another addtion i almost always make, 1 tsp per gallon at the beginning, saves a lot of trouble later on.

    Tannin:
    not always required, depending on the type of wine you are making, for example white wine doesn't need it, red wine does. You may or may not need to add any, for example fresh winemaking grapes likely contain enough, whereas flower and vegetable wines do not, so tannin would need to be added (follow manufactures dosage rates) in powder or liquid form, (older recipes recommend adding a cup of strong tea per gallon, but we also used to think the world was flat!) remember always that good ingredients make good wine.

    Acid:
    additions may be required, depending on your ingredients, if adding acid try to compliment the acid already in your must, for example if your must contained citric acid fruits, then any additions would be better being tartaric/malic, Tartaric is always my favoured acid addition, because you can actually get some back out if you need to. One of the most important things in producing top quality wines is acidity control, invest in an acid test kit, they are available through all good home brew stores for around 5 to 6 pounds (the best money i ever spent on winemaking gear)

    Sugar:
    It is my firm belief that your sugar level should put you at an SG of 1.080 to start fermentation, (if you haven't already got a hydrometer, then this tutorial will not help you at all) and this ensures we fire up readily and healthily. too much sugar causes osmotic shock to the yeasties, and makes them sluggish. So we start at 1.080 and if we need higher alcohol levels, we achieve that by additions of sugar later in the fermentation.

    Ingredients:
    Depending on what we hope to achieve will dictate what this list is. I gallon of good quality varietal grape juice will produce 1 gallon of balanced wine, with little addition.

    We however make wine from all manner of things, and so need to supplement this ingredient list accordingly. For example if you are making a flower or vegetable wine, then there is no vinosity contained in flowers and vegetables, so they need this added to them by way of grape concentrate or juice. we will look in more detail at this area in following section on must preparation.
    Last edited by lockwood1956; 06-02-2010, 07:21 PM.
    N.G.W.B.J.
    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
    Wine, mead and beer maker

    Comment


    • #3
      Must Preparation

      There are a great many winemaking books available, and the recipes and method vary enormously, I hope to give you some basics here that will ensure you don't have troublesome fermentations, or clearing issues afterwards.

      It is important if we wish to have trouble free ferments to have a well balanced must, that contains all that is necessary to produce what we are setting out to achieve, the yeasties need food to get off to a good start, the must should contain the right amount in terms of winemaking ingredient, acid, tannins etc. to produce the end result.

      Rule 1
      Always use good quality ingredients, poor ingredients make poor wine.

      preparing your fruit/flowers/and if you really have to....vegetables

      basic techniques are
      Pulp fermentation
      Juice fermentation

      We have lots of differing ingredients:
      fresh fruit
      fresh fruit juiced
      dried fruits/flowers
      (and if you really have to...vegetables)

      FRESH FRUIT
      I prefer wherever possible to use a juice fermentation, this however cannot be done for things like red grape wine, where we need to macerate the wine on the skins to extract colour and tannins.

      So if we cannot easily turn the fruit into usable juice we will need to carry out a pulp ferment.We also sometimes need to pulp ferment because pure juice alone wont build the body into the wine that we seek (Dessert style wines)

      Always ensure the ingredients are of the best quality, NEVER use hot or boiling water in the process as this cause no end of problems later by releasing pectin (the stuff that makes jam set) you do not need to use hot water to sanitise the fruit, you can add 1 campden tablet per gallon and let the must sit for 24 hours before adding the yeast, this works perfectly well. Sometimes we do a "cold soak" where we keep the must sanitised and cool so that ferment doesnt fire up when we dont want it, and allow the flavours and colours to be extracted in this way for up to 5 days, but be careful as we have produced a must that is the perfect place for spoilage organisms to live, so cold soaks i would venture are for the experienced among you.

      Always try to contain the fruit in a straining bag. so during ferment we can dunk it in and out, thus aiding extraction, making the fruit pulp easy to remove, and always remove the fruit pulp when ferment reaches 1.020 to 1.010.

      DRIED FRUIT/FLOWERS
      When using dried fruit think in terms of 1/4, so if your recipe calls for 4lbs fresh fruit the 1 lb dried fruit is about right. Fresh flowers you need about 1 litre per gallon, dried flowers about 1 oz (50g) per gallon, be carefl with dried flowers as some can add bitterness, and i feel that if using dried flowers, it is much better as a late addition to a wine. You may wish to consider holding back some of the initial dried ingredients as late addirtions anyway to preserve as much flavour as possible. Dried fruits and flowers dried or fresh contain little or no acid or sugar so you will need to be adjusting both accordingly.

      JUICING FRUIT
      Many ethods and tools are available for the processing of fresh fruit, from electric juicers to Steam juice extractors. I use a steam juicer and find it a fabulous tool, I get 1.5 to 2 litres of juice from 6 lbs of fresh blackberries and elderberries, and I would use 1 litre of this per gallon to produce a dry table wine and 2 litres to produce a big bold Red wine. if using and electric juicer then use 1 litre of the processed juice per gallon. You will need to add sugar or grape concentrate to get the SG to 1.080, my favoured option is grape concentrate for the vinosity it adds.
      Last edited by lockwood1956; 06-02-2010, 07:25 PM.
      N.G.W.B.J.
      Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
      Wine, mead and beer maker

      Comment


      • #4
        Late Fermentation Additions

        Adding things late in the fermentation can produce spectacular results, the initial vigorous ferment has subsided, (during this initial ferment flavour and aroma compounds can be blown out along with the CO2)

        adding things later in the ferment adds the freshness of the initial ingredients back in, because they arent blown out, and we have the alcohol now present in the almost finished wine, gently extracting colours and flavours too.
        To demonstrate this to yourself, add around 100g rasperries to a juice wine once it reaches SG 1.010, the results are spectacular. This also produces dramatic result with fresh elderflowers, adding around 1 teaspoon of elderflowers to a juice wine at around SG 1.010 produces fantastic aromas.

        The beer makers call this technique "dry hopping"

        I have had great results by holding back some of the initial ingredients and adding them later on (adjusting initial SG as neccessary)

        Good effects can be had by adding complimentary ingredients late on, for example adding some fresh strawberries late on in the ferment of a banana wine produces very tasty results.

        Experiment yourself, and see. Be careful not to overpower the initial wine, and be super careful when adding herbs and spices, as once they are in you cant get them out. Wrap them in a little muslin bag and suspend them by some fising line in the DJ, they are then easy to remove when the particular flavour profile is reached (cheers to NorthernWiner for that tip...cheque is in the post!)
        Last edited by lockwood1956; 22-12-2009, 04:38 PM.
        N.G.W.B.J.
        Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
        Wine, mead and beer maker

        Comment


        • #5
          Finishing Touches

          A great many things can be done to a wine after ferment is over, it is however preferable to have it correct after ferment, but this is not always the case. By finishing touches I am not talking about barel ageing, fining, filtering etc, but fixes to the wine.

          adding acid to an over sweet wine can help balance it out
          adding sugar to an over acid wine can have the balancing effect too.
          A wine that is light in body can be frozen, and 3/4 of it thawed into a new container, all the goodies are in the new liquid, and all we have left behind is mostly water, concentrating everything else. (note it is illegal to produce spirit in this manner....the first stuff out of suspension is the alcohol)
          blending wines can have a very beneficial effect, but note you cannot blend a good wine and a poor wine to make more good wine, it simply makes more bad wine (FACT!)
          a wine with little mouthfeel can have some added via glycerine, this will also give a little sweetness to the wine.
          A wine that is slightly "rough" can have the edge taken from it by adding 1 tsp sorbitol per gallon
          Last edited by lockwood1956; 22-12-2009, 05:25 PM.
          N.G.W.B.J.
          Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
          Wine, mead and beer maker

          Comment


          • #6
            Generic Recipes

            DRY TABLE WINES


            Tinned Fruit wine
            this will make a fairly good dry white/rose can be sweetened to medium, but it is never going to be full bodied enough for a dry red or a sweet or dessert style

            2 X 411 gram tin of Fruit (in syrup or in juice doesnt matter...I prefer syrup)
            sugar to S.G. 1.080 (approx 1 kilo)
            3 teaspoons citric acid (or adjust to personal taste...strawberries need 3 tsp mandarins need none)
            1/2 teaspoon tannin
            1 tsp Pectolase
            1 tsp Bentonite
            Good quality Yeast Nutrient
            Good quality yeast
            Water to 4 litres (top up to 4.54 litres after initial vigorous ferment subsides)

            FLOWER WINES
            Can make very flavourful and fragrant wines and again dry to medium, very seldom can make big wines, just not enough body.

            1 litre loosely packed flowers (perhaps hold a couple of tablespoonfuls back for late ferment additions)
            1 litre white grape concentrate
            sugar to S.G. 1.080 (if needed)
            1 teaspoons tartaric acid (or adjust to personal taste.)
            1/2 teaspoon tannin
            1 tsp Pectolase
            1 tsp Bentonite
            Good quality Yeast Nutrient
            Good quality yeast
            Water to 4 litres (top up to 4.54 litres after initial vigorous ferment subsides)

            FRUIT WINES
            Can make good solid table wines

            4lbs of good quality fresh fruit/berries (or alternative...see must preparation)
            sugar to S.G. 1.080
            1 teaspoons tartaric acid (dependent on fruit.)
            1/2 teaspoon tannin
            1 tsp Pectolase
            1 tsp Bentonite
            Good quality Yeast Nutrient
            Good quality yeast
            Water to 4 litres (top up to 4.54 litres after initial vigorous ferment subsides)


            JUICE WINES
            another good stock wine, full of grace and flavour, depending on ingredients, you can use more juice, but it doesn't really add anything, less is sometimes more.

            1 Litre white grape juice (or whatever juice takes your fancy)
            1 Litre Apple Juice
            sugar to S.G. 1.080
            1 teaspoons tartaric acid
            1/2 teaspoon tannin (optional, I prefer it without)
            1 tsp Pectolase
            1 tsp Bentonite (rarely needed with pure juice ferments, however if using juice with a lot of suspended matter, like pineapple mango etc, use it, i use it as standard nowadays)
            Good quality Yeast Nutrient
            Good quality yeast
            Water to 4 litres (top up to 4.54 litres after initial vigorous ferment subsides)

            MEDIUM TABLE WINES
            All of the above wines can be sweetened to medium (max SG 1.015) by stabilising with sorbate and campden and then sweetening with grape juice/sugar/grape concentrate. If this is your intention from the start, then you need to add probaly 1/2 tsp acid extra to balance the extra sweetness, experimentation will yield you the perfect results for you. You can also use stuff like mango juice, pineapple juice and honey to sweeten, but they will likely cloud your wine, and need to be allowed more time afterwards to clear. Grape concemtrate or sugar is the safer option. You can also use artificial sweeteners, but many feel they impart an artificail taste to the wine.

            You can of course also sweeten in the glass, by adding sugar and mixing it in ?(you do it in tea and coffee, why not in wine) it also allows you to share a bottle of your favourite dry wine with someone who prefers medium wines....go on...it isn't herecy.....honest


            SWEET AND DESSERT WINES
            It is almost impossible to take the above recipes and turn them into sweet or dessert wines, these wines need to be created. they require much more vinosity and flavour and body, so this needs to be built in at the start. we need extra alcohol, and we do this by adding sugar late in the fermentation (SG 1.010) to take the SG up 0.010 points to 1.020, allow it to ferment back to 1.010 and add again as many times as we need to to get the alcohol level we require.
            A social wine, would need alcohol levels of around 14%
            A dessert wine around 18-21%
            A Port 16- 22%
            but to carry this level of alcohol the wine needs more OOMPH!
            we get this by increasing the sweetness level after ferment is over, which then requires more acid to balance it, and we need more body in terms of fruit added.
            A dry wine can be made from 4lbs of fruit, a wine of this style would need 6-8lbs of fruit (sometimes more) per gallon to reach the desired result. again experimentation is key.



            6-8lbs of good quality fresh fruit/berries (or alternative...see must preparation)
            sugar to S.G. 1.080
            2 teaspoons tartaric acid (dependent on fruit.)
            1 teaspoon tannin
            1 tsp Pectolase
            1 tsp Bentonite
            Good quality Yeast Nutrient
            Good quality yeast
            Water to 4 litres (top up to 4.54 litres after initial vigorous ferment subsides)

            ferment to 1.010, add sugar to 1.020 (use sugar syrup and watch for volcanos, always add in the sink) ferment to 1.010, add sugar to 1.020 ferment out, should give around 14-16%

            stabilise and sweeten to 1.030 min (or keep sugar feeding till the yeast dies, you will need to know the alcohol tolerance of your yeast, and the last sugar addition is the sweetening dose.)

            the same effect can be produced by adding alcohol to the ferneting must to take alcohol levels above the alc tolerance of the yeast, thus leaving residual sugar in place, or enabling you to sweeten after the event, experience is required for these toype of wines, so until you make good dry wines, they are best avoided.
            Last edited by lockwood1956; 15-01-2011, 10:47 PM.
            N.G.W.B.J.
            Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
            Wine, mead and beer maker

            Comment


            • #7
              This is still very much a work in progress, but I thought I would post it in open forum to invite any questions
              N.G.W.B.J.
              Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
              Wine, mead and beer maker

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              • #8
                very good
                http://www.iecomputing.co.uk
                http://www.volksfling.co.uk

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                • #9
                  one question when does a red become rose or the other way round. ie how dark is the lightest red. I dont have any country wines that i would call red that dont have elderberries in them. i.e. is blackberry a red as its a very dark rose (to me).
                  http://www.iecomputing.co.uk
                  http://www.volksfling.co.uk

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                  • #10
                    Agreed, colour wise blackberry will only achieve dark rose, to be honest the only natural fruit other than grapes that will give the colour and tannin needed in a good red is elderberries.
                    Discount Home Brew Supplies
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                    • #11
                      big thumbs up for this thread from me. i want to get to the stage of formulating my own brews, rather than modifying other's recipes. So i'd better get meself an acid testing kit and improve my yeast knowledge. Then i'll be ready to make good use of this, so whats the schedule? ... about 6 months minimum? ... allowing for lag time in getting to sample some brews started with yeasts that are new to me.

                      i can't helping thinking that deep down inside of every homebrewer is someone who wants to be able to formulate their own peculiar alchemical brews.
                      To most people solutions mean answers. To chemists solutions are things that are mixed up.
                      A fine wine is a fine wine, 1st time may be by accident, 2nd time is by design - that's why you keep notes.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thanks for the feedback so far guys, what i am after is to find out if it answers your questions on the subject, and what other info would you like to see added to the thread.

                        It is sometimes easy to overlook something because you know it.

                        I believe every non grape red wine needs elderberries (or other really dark fruit like blackcurrants) to achieve the colour necessary, but every Red wine I make without grapes contains some elderberry juice nowadays.

                        Martina has found a source of 100% elderberry juice in 1 litre tetra paks, so i will be bringing some home with me, to test it out against my steamed ederberry juice for acidity and SG etc. I will also try to source a supplier while I am here. Elderberry juice is also really good for you as a drink (its packed full of antioxidants and stuff that is good fr you)
                        Next to grapes elderberries are the most perfect winemaking ingredient, if they had higher sugar content they would i feel be better than grapes (reaches for tin hat)

                        ms67 in terms of ageing, the supermarket juice wines are ready to drink almost immediately, but better at 3 months, fruit wines are at their best normally between 1 and 2 years, except Elderberry which just gets better and better with age. If ageing long term you need to attend to sulphite levels, they need to be around 50ppm to help the wine keep. When you add sulphite initially, it is free sulphite, which is effective, but over time some of it becomes bound, and so your free sulphite levels drop, and need to be supplemented with sulphite additions. Unfortunately sulphite ttest kits are not readily available at home brew stores in the UK, but i have sourced some that I'm sure our friends at hobbywinesupplies would stock if there was a desire for them. (they arent cheap, I reckon about 10 pounds + postage, maybe if you are interested you could PM Karl, and if the interest is there i will persue it.)

                        regards
                        Bob
                        N.G.W.B.J.
                        Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                        Wine, mead and beer maker

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                        • #13
                          hmmmm it appears Brouwland have stopped stocking the SO2 test stuff, that leaves titrets available from the USA but they run around $20 for 10, and i don't think they are very accurate, and not easy to use on red wines. Vigo do a test kit (I have one) it is really great and very acurate, but it costs around 70 pounds (its still difficult to use on red wines too) mine is the Dr Nilles sulfoquick test

                          Last edited by lockwood1956; 23-12-2009, 12:29 PM.
                          N.G.W.B.J.
                          Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                          Wine, mead and beer maker

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Elderberries in Red wines

                            Hi Bob, I don't know how I missed this thread before but how was the Elderberry juice in Tetra pacs?
                            Have you found a supplier?
                            I also use Elderberries for all my non Grape red wines.

                            Thanks Silverfox

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                            • #15
                              The juice in tetra pas is totally fabulous, I can buy it in the supermarket when I'm in Germany visiting M, but as yet no supplier in the Uk and cant find one who will ship.

                              occasionally I drive to Germany, and next time i do i will pick up some for those who want it, it isn't cheap though (around 2.60 for 1 litre)

                              regards
                              bob
                              N.G.W.B.J.
                              Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                              Wine, mead and beer maker

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