This year we have made sloe gin and it has turned out amazing.
1/3 of a demijohn of sloes, pricked with the end of a knife to break the skin.
an inch of sugar in demijohn
gin to fill the demijohn (or it was until a friend or 2 got a taste for it)
shake every day 2 times a day for 2 weeks then a couple of times a week after that.
leave as long as you can resist, but a minimum of 3 months, then drink.
Hello again
just a quick post to upload cherry brandy recipe we are trying currently
1.5 kg Cherries
cup of sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
Brandy to make up remainder of demijohn.
leave for as long as you can resist but at least 3 months.
i have had a incredably crazy 6 months at my new job so havent been able to blog for a while. i recently made a mead and was asked to produce some for a friends wedding.
i therefor want it to be as good as possible.
my initial mead was an elderflower mead, which although nice, diguised the taste of the honey. (a bit missing the point). i bottled the following a few weeks ago that allows the delicat honey taste to come through
3 jars of basics honey
Youngs Champagne yeast
i have now done a lot of reading up on the subject as i wanted to find out the following:
what yeasts are best
what honey is best
on the yeast front it seems to be lalvin yeasts that are recommended specifically D47 and 71B-1122
on the honey front it recomends different blossom honeys and is all down to individual taste.
so no pure science in this then.
so i have purchased the two yeast types and the following honey
set blossom honey LIDL
runny blossom honey LIDL
Set Honey ALDI
organised the new brews as such
1 of each type of honey plus one mixed for each type of yeast
i have started the first batches (2 of d47 and 2 of 71B-1122) and will be starting the remainder just after christmas.
the total quantity will be 48 bottles of mead so i need to develop a taste for it or i will be swamped with the excess for a while as i only know a couple of other mead drinkers. (i only need 24 for the wedding).
after i have completed the first 2 batches i will be experimenting with flavoured meads so watch this space.
We have just bottled the lady batch of liquors and they are the best yet.pear drop is just silly nice. Rhubarb wine is being bottled this evening and fruit season is almost upon US. Will be posting a full list off proposed wines and brews shortly.
having used the magnum elderflower cider kit to much success and it being elderflower season, i decided to make an elderflower cider from scratch.
ingredients
1/2 pint elderflowers
sweet apples – enough for 3.5l of juice
sultanas – 1/5 pint chopped
800g sugar
champagne yeast.
method
juice the apples
steep elderflower and sultanas in 2 pints of boiling water for 30 mins. mix in sugar untill dissolved.
combine liquids in fermentation vessel and leave to go tepid. add yeast and ferment for 4-5 days.
strain into demijohn and top up with water.
let ferment till end.
clear, bottle and drink.
i have been toying with the idea of a mead for a while but having not tried it was dubious.
i found a recipe for elderflower mead and have modified it to suit my taste.
ingredients
1/2 pint of elderflower
a handful of chopped sultanas
half of a lemon rind
lemon juice
1.2kg of honey
champagne yeast
method
add elderflower, sultanas, lemon ring and lemon juice to 2 pints of water and boil for 30 mins. dissolve honey in a further 2 pints. mix liquids and leave to go tepid.
add all contents to fermentation vessel.
add yeast and let ferment for 4-5 days.
strain into demijon and let fermentation finish.
add clearing angents, bottle and age.
chill and drink
Ok time for a brew update.
currently brewing
rocks 5 berry wine 5l
elderflower wine 25l – found a great recipie
ribena Wine 5l
rose wine 5l
blueberry wine 5l
crazy horse mk. V 50l
elderflower cider Kit 50l
finlandia apple and pear kit 20l – attempting a sparkling cider.
just bottled
Dandelion wine – love it!!
pineapple wine – at bottling stage tastes like beer???? will leave 6 months and try again
mango wine – at bottling stage tastes like a liquer will leave 6 months and try again.
Belvoir mixed Winter Berry Wine – tastes like a spiced port – very high ABV% – very palettable
liquers – all gone nearly - loved by all so will be reproducing shortly
some natural wine recipies i will be trying some of below
http://www.zen37219.zen.co.uk/recipes.htm
I Have been brewing for a while now and the results are improving dramatically.
have looked into several options for selling the final products and this is what i have come up with:
1. i am permitted to produce 7000L of cider and sell it without paying duty. this would require buying an IBC container and brewing all the fruit i can get my hands on this season. I then have the problem of selling. Do i try to sell to garden centre or local pub??? doubtful.
only other option I can think of is selling from home, this would either mean advertising and delivering or having ppl come to our house. so delivery is the only likely option.
2. wine baskets – i have thought of selling a wine of a particular type with the matching jam and a pack of home made biscuits at the local carboot etc. along woth cider, jams and homemade cheese biscuits.
3. selling the liquers – have had amazing feedback on this lot so will be looking into selling to friends to cover cost plus a minimal margin and possibly offering a bottle depoosit system.
would love feedback on this along with any suggestions
also looking into the possibility of selling a dandelion and burdock beer!!
just bottled batch 2 of liquers and am much happier with this batch.
lovely. used asda double strength squash to flavour this time, equating to a much less sweet product. is a lot more paletable
currently on the brew list is below
| C | BREW | Quant (L) | 2l | 70cl |
| Y | belvoir cordial wine | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | ribena Wine | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | rocks wine | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | blueberry | 4.5 | 6 | |
| y | mango | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | elderflower Cider MK3 | 22 | 11 | |
| Y | MK4 Crazy Horse | 22 | 11 | |
| Y | pineapple wine | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | dandelion wine | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Y | spiced apple and saltana cider | 4.5 | 6 | |
| 80 | 22 | 48 |
i have another wine to start this week – rose petal wine. then i will have to stop untill elderflower season as i am running out of bottles to put it all in.
this is a recipie i am using currently from and thought worth sharing. recipie obtained from Jack Keller
PINEAPPLE JUICE WINE
Dissolve sugar in water. Add remaining ingredients except yeast, stirring well. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add activated yeast and ferment 7-10 days, stirring daily. When specific gravity falls to 1.010, rack into secondary and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 30 days until wine clears and no new sediments form over 30-day period. Stabilize and sweeten to taste if desired. Wait 10 days and, if stable, rack into bottles. May taste after 6 months.
