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cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 9:02 am Post subject:
Right... Any more guys? Gil, want to add some notes on whats ready up your way?

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 9:22 am Post subject:

I've got a recipe for Grape Prunings wine from Winemaking - Month by Month by Brian Leverett which I've been itching to try for years and we may actually have enough prunings this year from the next-door but one neighbour to try it :

Quote:

At this time of the year grapes should have a light pruning and unlike most green materials, these prunings can be used to make a most acceptable wine. Since most of the materials that will go to make the grapes will travel up the stems, its not suprising that such a good wine results

1 gallon (4.5 litres) lightly pressed vine leaves and soft wood prunings
3lb (1.5 kg) Sugar
1.5 tsp citric acid
yeast

Wash the prunings and make sure that they are free from insects.

To the prunings, which should measure one gallon(4.5 L) when lightly pressed, add 6 pints (3 L) of boiling water and cover the bucket. Leave standing with frequent stirring for 3 days. Strain the liquid into another bucket, containing the sugar and citric acid. Add the yeast and allow to ferment until the vigorous head has subsided, this usually takes a week to ten days. Transfer to a demijohn, top up, fit an air lock and ferment to dryness

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 10:50 am Post subject:
Cheers Jo! I've tasted that brew before, made with wild grape shoots from the banks of the River Team in Gateshead. Dunno if it was quite that recipe, but it won't have been far off. Very interesting wine, very tanniny, like a red wine but red. Nice. Keep us posted on how you get on with that!

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 11:09 am Post subject:

What about Honeysuckle blossom wine as well - again another from Brian Leverett's book that I've been meaning to try

Quote:

Honeysuckle berries are poisonous and under no circumstances should they be used for winemaking but the flowers can be used to make a wine with a delightful bouquet

2 pints (1L) Honeysuckle flowers
1 lb (0.5 Kg) Sultanas
2.5 lb (1.25 Kg) Sugar
2 tsp citric acid
pectic enzyme
yeast

Pick only fully opened flowers of the wild variety. Strip away any remaining green material and place in a bucket together with the sugar, minced sultanas and citric acid. Add six pints (3 litres) of boiling water and stir thoroughly. Add the pectic enzyme and yeast at 65 - 70F (18-21 C) and cover. Stir daily for 4 days and then strain into a demijohn. If necessary top-up and then fit an air lock. Fermentation may take up to 3 months when the medium sweet wine should be bottled. It may be drunk immediately, but like all sweet wines it will improve with keeping

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 11:13 am Post subject:
I've got another recipe for honeysuckle that I think my dad made... Its very, very like that one.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 07 8:55 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

Right... Any more guys?

Gil, want to add some notes on whats ready up your way?

added blurb. should look for recipes. Nothing that's not been covered in july, though.

gnasher

Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 332
Location: Dorset

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 07 8:45 pm Post subject:

gil wrote:

cab wrote:

You make your rowan with bletted fruit? Want to save that recipe for September/October for a later bletted recipe?

Mainly unbletted, but depends. They get a bit manky here if they're left too long on the trees. Rowan is my first main harvest of the autumn. First frost is early Sept, but I don't tend to harvest really squished berries.

scuse my ignorance but what are you guys on about? (bletted/unbletted?)

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 07 8:59 pm Post subject:

gnasher wrote:

scuse my ignorance but what are you guys on about? (bletted/unbletted?)

Not in any way an ignorant question, and never hold back on asking when you don't know, else you'll never find out

Some fruit aren't very sweet, or they aren't very tender. You're actually waiting for them to be a bit over-ripe, or even going a bit mushy before they are at their best. The most extreme example I can think of is the medlar, which never really ripens here in the UK but is gorgeous when its bletted (brown and mushy, like stewed pears).

Some wild fruit like rowan, whitebeam and rose hips are better bletted, they're sweeter, they give you a more rounded wine. You can still use them un-bletted, but the wine takes longer to mature to its best, its harsher, a little bit 'wilder' I think.

gnasher

Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 332
Location: Dorset

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 07 9:08 pm Post subject:
thanks Cab that's very interesting ... I am planning on making some Haw berry wine once we have moved - hopefully in the next month or two - are haw berries better bletted? or will this be too late? - I can't face moving a fermenting wine - I can see a disaster happening! thankfully the two I have on at the mo have just finished and I can rack them off before we move.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 07 9:13 pm Post subject:
With haws you don't need them bletted, but being really ripe certainly helps. Try sampling from lots of different trees before you pick them, some are fleshier than others.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 07 4:29 pm Post subject:
Bletting can also be achieved (to some extent) by putting the ripe (but not really really bletted ripe) fruit into the freezer.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 07 6:44 am Post subject:
Oops. Anyone got any pics for this or shall I whack it up as it is?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 07 8:09 am Post subject:
Oops... I forgot too! Bung it up, hope no one notices.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 07 8:58 am Post subject:
Good oh, Do you want me to introduce it as i have some blacbkerry wine questions.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 07 9:02 am Post subject:
Blaze away.

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