Does anyone else make wine? (Or at least try to - there's some carrot wine that's been on the go for several months now that I've still not dared try...) Does it tend to go as you plan?
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Home wine making?
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I've just been up to my elbows in elderflower blossoms (no fun when you have hayfever!) preparing a 2-gallon batch - and just discovered the kettle's sprung a leak. AAAGH! This is my first time making elderflower wine so I really hope it's worth it...
Does anyone else make wine? (Or at least try to - there's some carrot wine that's been on the go for several months now that I've still not dared try...) Does it tend to go as you plan?
Does anyone else make wine? (Or at least try to - there's some carrot wine that's been on the go for several months now that I've still not dared try...) Does it tend to go as you plan?
Good luck with that. I love wine but have never really fancied making my own. Let me know how you get on although I'm sure it'll be a long wait 
Elderflower wine is a pretty short wait - between two and four months. My favourite kind. 
It's fermenting along nicely in its bucket, so I'll be putting it in a glass demijohn in a day or two. It smells gorgeous. 
Very summery!
It's fermenting along nicely in its bucket, so I'll be putting it in a glass demijohn in a day or two. It smells gorgeous. Very summery!
Have you tasted homemade wine before? I have always had this idea that it must taste ropey. Did you buy a kit?
I've been doing it for a few years now, I've only ever had one frankly appalling batch and that wasn't technically wine. I was trying to make "turbo cider" and it's honestly the most disgusting thing I've ever made. The best was rose petal wine, it comes out as a really sweet dessert wine.
You can get kits, but it's easier to buy everything piecemeal when you need it, since you get through things at different rates. It's a bit of an outlay to start with - you need demijohns, rubber bungs, a large bucket, airlocks that tell you if your wine is fermenting and help keep bugs out, yeast and yeast nutrient (but you only use a teaspoon or two of each), and some people swear by grape concentrate but I've never used it. Everything else you just follow recipes for (or make up your own ). There are entire books of recipes for different 'country wines'.
It's good fun to try, especially when you make something by picking your own (like the elderflowers, and blackberries make a nice wine too) and... well, one gallon makes about six bottles and the cost per bottle is usually around 50p!
Not that that's what encouraged me to start doing it in the first place, nooo.
I was trying to make "turbo cider" and it's honestly the most disgusting thing I've ever made. The best was rose petal wine, it comes out as a really sweet dessert wine.You can get kits, but it's easier to buy everything piecemeal when you need it, since you get through things at different rates. It's a bit of an outlay to start with - you need demijohns, rubber bungs, a large bucket, airlocks that tell you if your wine is fermenting and help keep bugs out, yeast and yeast nutrient (but you only use a teaspoon or two of each), and some people swear by grape concentrate but I've never used it. Everything else you just follow recipes for (or make up your own
). There are entire books of recipes for different 'country wines'.It's good fun to try, especially when you make something by picking your own (like the elderflowers, and blackberries make a nice wine too) and... well, one gallon makes about six bottles and the cost per bottle is usually around 50p!
Not that that's what encouraged me to start doing it in the first place, nooo.
Well we've been quite lucky with our elderberry and blackberry wines, but I've got a book on it, and you can make the stuff out of almost everything (even pea pods and parsnip peelings). I never thought it that difficult, as long as you don't put too much yeast in, and leave everything in the bucket until it's stopped bubbling before you move it to the demijohns (my friend's banana wine exploded nicely and left a strange pattern on her ceiling when she added an extra batch of yeast as it didn't seem to be doing much...)
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