Wine And Beermaking

[Chubbs]

I'm wondering whether any forum members make their own homemade wine or beer. I have been making my own on and off since I was 15, so thats about 25 years. During this time I have made a lot of c**p but I have also made some really cracking brews. If anybody is interested in giving it a go, it really isn't that difficult to make a decent wine with an ABV of around 12%.

Give me a shout if you are interested.

Cheers Neil

[paulthefish2009]

Could you make something from hawthorn berries? there's masses of them round my way. Paul

[Chubbs]

Hi there Paul.

I have never made hawthorn berry wine but I know of others that have. I found this recipe and it seems to be a nice basic one.

0.5 Gallon Freshly collected hawthorn berries
0.5 Pint White grape juice concentrate
2.5lb White sugar
1 tsp Pectolase
1 tbs Citric Acid
1 Gallon Water
1 Campden Tablet
Yeast
Yeast Nutrient

Rinse the freshly collected Hawthorn Berries (ideally september onwards) then place them
in a large bowl and pour over 6 pints of boiling water. When they have cooled, mash them well and
stir in the pectolase, crushed campden tablet and citric acid.

Leave this for 24 hours then add the grape juice, sugar, yeast & nutrient. Now leave covered in the
bowl for 5 days (in a warm place) and strain the lquid into a 1 gallon demijohn, top up to the base of
the neck with cold water and fit an airlock.

If you are not keen on using citric acid, use the juice of a lemon instead. The pectolase is a must because this will help in the clearing process. If you can't get hold of the grape juice concentrate, just substitute it for a litre of white grape juice from the supermarket. It is better using the concentrate because it is made out of wine grapes but the juice that we drink is made from dessert grapes.

Just wondering whether you have made wine before and if you have the kit needed. If you haven't, don't bother spending around eight quid on a new demijohn, just buy one of those five litre bottles of water from any supermarket which are usually around a pound. You can then drill a hole in the top and add an airlock.

[paulthefish2009]

Thanks for that Chubbs,no never tried wine making before but the reason I asked was because as well as all the berries I saw I also found 8 demijohns up the charity shop for 2 quid each! there is a home brew shop round my way somewhere so I should be able to pick up the other bits quite easliy. Oh well back up the woods sunday for a bit of gatheringT^. cheers Paul

[Chubbs]

Good luck with the gathering mate. If you need any advice, give me a shout, I am usually on a couple of times a day.

Cheers Neil

[paulthefish2009]

Nice one Neil,many thanks. Paul

[JonnyP]

Chubbs.. If you have info.. I would love to hear about anything you know about wine n beer making.
I would love to know what equipment/tools/ingredients are needed to make alcoholic drinks. We have 2 orchards on the farm here, and nearly all the apples go to the wildlife/waste every year. I would love to do something with the apples, as well as all the other wild ingredients around here..

[Chubbs]

Hi there Jonny

Like anything, wine and beermaking can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. For somebody who has never made either it is always advisable to start with a nice and easy wine using the most basic of equipment. Doing it this way can save you a lot of money in the long run if you find that making your own is not really for you. Don't get me wrong, I have made some right drain cleaner over the years but have made some beauties which have cost less than 50p a bottle.

If anybody else is interested in giving it a go I will start with a basic wine using the most basic equipment, so here we go !!.

Equipment Required

2 x 1 Gallon demijohns or 2 x 5 litre of spring water from any supermarket.
Airlock and bung (bung needed if using a demijohn).
A couple of metres of clear tubing.
Thermometer.
Some form of sterilising liquid or tablets. To start off you could use baby bottle sterilising tablets from a supermarket.

The wine we are going to make is called 'Wurzels Orange Wine'. Wurzel is a forum member on a wine and beermaking site that I have been a member of for a few years. He adapted a recipe from a book that was published by a winemaker named BCA Turner quite a few years ago. Don't be fooled by the lack of ingredients that go into this, if made properly you can produce a wine which is sometimes better than you would buy in a shop for around a fiver.


Ingredients



1 litre carton Del Monte 100% pure orange juice.
1 litre carton Tesco’s pure pressed white grape juice.
1½ lb sugar.
1 tsp nutrient
G.P. yeast
½ tsp tannin
1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp glycerine
Water to 1 gallon

Don't worry if you can't get Del Monte orange juice, any will do but not one of those with bits in it.

Method


Place sugar in a pan with a pint or so of boiling water and place over a heat source and stir until dissolved. Bring it to the boil and boil rapidly for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat. Once you have done this and if your pan is big enough, add the orange and grape juices along with the rest of your ingredients, except the yeast. Add another pint and a half of water and stir until well mixed and aerated.

Place all this lovely stuff into your sterilised demijohn or water bottle, top up to a gallon if needed with water and now add your yeast. Give this another gentle shake and then add your airlock and bung. Fill the airlock half full with either cold water or sterilising solution and place in a warm place for at least a month. If you are using a water bottle you will first need to drill a hole in the top so you can push in the airlock and seal around it with some form of sealant to make it airtight. If its not completely airtight you won't see it fermenting because the carbon dioxide produced from the fermenting process will escape from around the hole and not from the airlock as required.

Using these ingredients will produce a white wine of around 12% once the processes of racking, stabilising, clearing and bottling have been carried out. Make sure that the juices you use are at room temperature and that they contain no artificial additives, otherwise it probably won't ferment. Most of the juices are made from concentrate so you will be ok but don't get them confused with juice drinks as they contain a large proportion of water along with added chemical rubbish.

I could go on about using a hydrometer but I will leave this until another day. The hydrometer is a great piece of kit which is fairly simple to use and it basically shows you how much sugar you have left in your wine while it is fermenting. Don't bother adding any more sugar to your wine as 12% is strong enough and it can sometimes make the end product taste really awful. This wine can go off like a rocket when it starts to ferment, so be warned !!. It is advisable to keep it on a tray until the initial fermentation dies down a bit.

I will stop babbling on now and will add the other processes at a later date if anybody is interested. But like I said, this is a good wine if made right and can knock spots of anything similar that you can buy.

Cheers Neil

[NeedABrew]

Good thread!

I too have made country wines for MANY years. Some awful but many have been amazing.

I remember a damson wine from several years ago winning more than its fair share of 1st's when my exes parents took it to various competitions.

I've never made birch sap though which is a constant niggle to me and must be put right starting next spring.

[Chubbs]

Good thread!

I too have made country wines for MANY years. Some awful but many have been amazing.

I remember a damson wine from several years ago winning more than its fair share of 1st's when my exes parents took it to various competitions.


I've never made birch sap though which is a constant niggle to me and must be put right starting next spring.


I have also never tried making birch sap wine either. There are plenty of recipes out there for it, but I think that with a few additions including a carton of white grape juice, a decent wine could be made from it. I know that the basic recipe doesn't contain this but I think it will improve the vinosity and taste of the end product.

[paulthefish2009]

Chubbs,you are here by elected to resident head brewer ! Paul

[JonnyP]

Hi there Jonny

Like anything, wine and beermaking can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. For somebody who has never made either it is always advisable to start with a nice and easy wine using the most basic of equipment. Doing it this way can save you a lot of money in the long run if you find that making your own is not really for you. Don't get me wrong, I have made some right drain cleaner over the years but have made some beauties which have cost less than 50p a bottle.

If anybody else is interested in giving it a go I will start with a basic wine using the most basic equipment, so here we go !!.

Equipment Required

2 x 1 Gallon demijohns or 2 x 5 litre of spring water from any supermarket.
Airlock and bung (bung needed if using a demijohn).
A couple of metres of clear tubing.
Thermometer.
Some form of sterilising liquid or tablets. To start off you could use baby bottle sterilising tablets from a supermarket.

The wine we are going to make is called 'Wurzels Orange Wine'. Wurzel is a forum member on a wine and beermaking site that I have been a member of for a few years. He adapted a recipe from a book that was published by a winemaker named BCA Turner quite a few years ago. Don't be fooled by the lack of ingredients that go into this, if made properly you can produce a wine which is sometimes better than you would buy in a shop for around a fiver.


Ingredients



1 litre carton Del Monte 100% pure orange juice.
1 litre carton Tesco’s pure pressed white grape juice.
1½ lb sugar.
1 tsp nutrient
G.P. yeast
½ tsp tannin
1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp glycerine
Water to 1 gallon

Don't worry if you can't get Del Monte orange juice, any will do but not one of those with bits in it.

Method


Place sugar in a pan with a pint or so of boiling water and place over a heat source and stir until dissolved. Bring it to the boil and boil rapidly for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat. Once you have done this and if your pan is big enough, add the orange and grape juices along with the rest of your ingredients, except the yeast. Add another pint and a half of water and stir until well mixed and aerated.

Place all this lovely stuff into your sterilised demijohn or water bottle, top up to a gallon if needed with water and now add your yeast. Give this another gentle shake and then add your airlock and bung. Fill the airlock half full with either cold water or sterilising solution and place in a warm place for at least a month. If you are using a water bottle you will first need to drill a hole in the top so you can push in the airlock and seal around it with some form of sealant to make it airtight. If its not completely airtight you won't see it fermenting because the carbon dioxide produced from the fermenting process will escape from around the hole and not from the airlock as required.

Using these ingredients will produce a white wine of around 12% once the processes of racking, stabilising, clearing and bottling have been carried out. Make sure that the juices you use are at room temperature and that they contain no artificial additives, otherwise it probably won't ferment. Most of the juices are made from concentrate so you will be ok but don't get them confused with juice drinks as they contain a large proportion of water along with added chemical rubbish.

I could go on about using a hydrometer but I will leave this until another day. The hydrometer is a great piece of kit which is fairly simple to use and it basically shows you how much sugar you have left in your wine while it is fermenting. Don't bother adding any more sugar to your wine as 12% is strong enough and it can sometimes make the end product taste really awful. This wine can go off like a rocket when it starts to ferment, so be warned !!. It is advisable to keep it on a tray until the initial fermentation dies down a bit.

I will stop babbling on now and will add the other processes at a later date if anybody is interested. But like I said, this is a good wine if made right and can knock spots of anything similar that you can buy.

Cheers Neil

Thats superb info.. Thank you for that.. I am gonna keep an eye open for any old brewing equipment for sale around here and give that orange wine a try :0)

[Chubbs]

HaHaHa Thanks Paul for the vote of confidence but if I can do it, anybody can.

A couple of years ago My wife was constantly moaning about all my brewing gear in every corner of the house. One day I stood back and realised that I had been getting away with it for far too long and mentioned about building a brewing shed in the garden. Money as always was tight so I said that I would try and use as much recycled material as possible. On the housing estate where my wonderful mother in law lived (now very sadly not with us) the local housing association were replacing all the old coal house doors with nice new PVC ones. I approached one of the workers and asked what they were doing with the old doors and frames. He told me that they were all going to be skipped so we came to an agreement that he would leave them outside my mother in laws each evening for me to pick up. The frames were chopped up and used on the open fire and the doors were saved for my new brewshed build. Over the months I picked up loads of free stuff from places such as freecycle and most of the wood came from a local skip hire company who are always pleased to see me as it costs them each time to get rid of old wood. Even though it was supposed to be made as cheap as possible, I ended up spending around £400 on building the base, a new garden fence at the bottom and extras including posts and roofing felt.

Even now the inside is still not completely finished. I have yet to install a worktop and sink but a decent soakaway is already in place and hidden by a huge rubbish bin at the back of the shed.

Anyway, here are a few pictures showing the build of the 'Camel Toe Brewery !!'

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed004.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed006.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed008.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed009.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed012.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed013.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/My%20Brewery/brewingshed014.jpg

The inside now has a full working kitchen with extraction system which once again all came from freecycle. I even have a nice pot belly burner which I picked up from a farmer on fleabay for forty quid. A four ring gas hob has been fitted and I even have a telly and freeview !!.

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/PIC_1037-1.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/brewingshed023.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx103/aneray/brewingshed024.jpg

I haven't brewed for a while as I have a huge leak in the roof. I 'should' be sticking up a new agriclad type roof up early next week so production can continue.

Cheers Neil

[AL...]

Fantastic work there Chubb ... SOOOOOO when ye throwin the NB party? :jumping-joy:

Cheers
AL

[JonnyP]

Superb wombling.. Love it

[paulthefish2009]

Neil(or anyone else) can I use honey instead of sugar(ratio?) as a guy I work with has just harvested 100lb of it and I thought it would be great to use locally produced honey along with my locally harvested fruit.paul

[Chubbs]

You can use honey in wine recipes but as you would be substituting it weight for weight compared with sugar, it would just overpower the finished wine. Why not consider a recipe using just honey itself with the addition of fruit and make Mead. Mead is one of the best and you can use all sorts of fruits in the recipe. Blackberry Mead is great, but like all Mead recipes, these are not a quick fermenting wine. If made right and matured for at least a year you can expect a absolute belter with an abv of up to 18 %.

Cheers Neil

[Metal mug]

I've recently become interested in the ol' home brew and have a couple demijohns of mead on the go. I was looking at making birch beer - although I'd have to be patient and wait till March.

[paulthefish2009]

Got all the bits and pieces together yesterday,spent £20. in the homebrew shop,got enough chemicals,yeast etc to make 35 gallons of wine!anyway mashed my haw berries last night so tonight I will be adding the yeast etc then fingers crossed. Neil once it's stopped fermenting and I bottle it how long before I can drink it? Paul

[Broon01]

I make nettle beer and recently made 25 litres of elderflower champagne for my brother in laws wedding. Once you've got the equipment its a really cheap hobby especially when youre foraging for your ingredients (and bottles) and means you can keep your beer money for shiny sharp things.

[Chubbs]

Paul

What you need to do at the beginning is to 'ferment on the pulp' before doing anything else. If you haven't already bought a hydrometer and trial jar, buy one. The is one of the homebrewers best pieces of equipment and it will help you work out how much sugar is in the wine at the start, and how dry it has fermented at the end. Using some basic calculations, you can work out how strong your wine is.

First you need to soak the berries for 10 minutes or so in some sulphite solution and then rinse and transfer to a food grade bucket. Mash them up, trying to avoid cracking any stones or seeds and then pour over a kettleful of water that has boiled a few minutes earlier. Give the lot a stir and use a tatty masher to give them another quick mush up. If you are using a litre of grape juice or a little can of grape juice concentrate with your recipe, add this to the bucket when it has cooled to about 22 degrees C and then also add your yeast and nutrient. Mix it all up together again and then add a lid which is secured all the way around and then crack it open slightly just so that carbon dioxide can escape. Stir a couple or three times a day and make sure that the fruit that has risen to the surface is well mixed in. Three days after you need to strain it into a steralised and rinsed demijohn and add your sugar which has been dissolved in boiling water. Top the demi up to a gallon and then fit an airlock and ferment away.

Cheers Neil

[Chubbs]

I've recently become interested in the ol' home brew and have a couple demijohns of mead on the go. I was looking at making birch beer - although I'd have to be patient and wait till March.

Another beer that I have never tried. Might try that one next year T^

[paulthefish2009]

Bit late mate,I followed your original recipe that called for the sugar to be added at the start! It's all bubbling away in the airing cupboard as I type,think you said to leave it 5 days before straining into a demi john? oh well whats the worst that can happen? Paul

[Chubbs]

It will be fine mate. One word of caution though. Airing cupboards can be too warm if the heating is on. This can either stop the fermentation or ferment right out really quickly, leaving the finished wine with a 'hot' taste. Normal room temperature at around 20/22 degrees is fine.