June 2010
19 posts
2 tags
Wild Cherry Wine
Picked many varieties of cherries from seven different trees. Mostly the small ‘bird cherries’ that are too sour or bitter to eat. Took a couple of hours and much neck and arm straining to gather 3lbs of cherries. Should be just enough to make a gallon of wine.
Crushed and soaked over night. Removed many stones and added pectin destroying enzyme, citric acid and a Campden tablet...
Is That a Cat I Smell?
Due to the warm weather we’re having I decided to let some gas out of the two batches… Batch 2 imparted the room with the luscious smell of a crisp new summers day.
Batch 1 i’m afraid to say emitted the scent of pure evil. If the RSPCA had been in the neighbourhood they would have assumed I was a cat abuser.
I assume the smell is perhaps generated from one of the wild yeasts that live on the...
1 tag
Elderflower Champagne
Scooped out the flowers and peel from the bucket last night. Brew still bubbling. Cloudy and a little syrupy to taste. The liquor was bubbling again this morning. Will look up when to bottle soon.
UPDATE:
Bottled last night. Pressure building in the plastic bottles this morning… SG 1.026
Dylski
Even more elderflower champagne
Here lying in the leaves of the Elder is a lovely bevvy of edlerflower brews.
At first glance they appear to be the same, however the tasty number on the left is an example of the Elderflower Champagne I started 2 weeks ago.
General recipe was:-
10 Ltr water
10 heads ederflower
3 lemons
1Kg sugar
3 Tbs white wine vinegar
Left to ferment with natural yeast for 4 days.
The cheeky number...
Elderflower Champagne 2010
Tested the 1st Batch and it is very fizzy. I released the pressure on all the bottles. It still has a tart taste to it, but is mellowing out nicely.
At this stage the SG is 1014 original was 1030
difference being 16 / 7.36 = 2.17% alcohol Marcus
Elderflower Champagne 2010 Batch 2
Bottled the 2nd Batch of Elderflower Champagne. This tastes more like last years. However, it is still very sweet. I now have 22 litres of Champagne!
At this stage the SG is 1020 original was 1030
difference being 10 / 7.36 = 1.36% alcohol Marcus
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Elderflower Champagne 2010 Batch 2
Started another batch similar to Jason’s recipe last year.
270g of flowers (approx 40 medium size heads or half a carrier bag) 1kg of sugar 4 Lemons grated zest and Juice. 2 Limes grated zest and juice 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar 2 gallons of hot water 0.5 gallons of cold. sprinkling of yeast.
trimmed the flowers and weighed them. added yeast at the start this time just to make sure it...
1 tag
White Wine Le Paddocks Bottled
I bottled the White Wine and unfortunately it is still very sharp. It is not very palatable. I was it two minds whether or not to throw it away! However, this was the demijohn that had the sediment in it. So hopefully the 2nd Demijohn that had no sediment in, will be better.
I will test the alcohol content later.
If anyone has any clues on how I could improve this wine. Please let me know.
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Elderflower Champagne 2010
Bottled the Elderflower Champagne.
Unfortunately, it looks as though it has stopped fermenting and is looking a bit cloudy. It tastes similar to Dylan’s Elderflower champagne last year, still sweet, slightly sour and tiny bit bitter. I think this is due to the lemon zest sitting in the brew for too long.
I have added two teaspoons of sugar to each 2 litre bottle, to try and kick start the...
7 tags
Elderflower Champagne 2010
A strange mucus has appeared on top. But no bubbles have appeared. I think it is due to the lack of hot weather. The Yeast has not kick started. So I have decided to give it a kick start (Thanks Dylan for giving me some yeast)
1 hour on. The lid is starting to bulge. Yippee! Brew safely on the way!
Marcus
Elderflower Champagne 2010
Removed flowers from the top as mould was starting to appear. The lid was bulged so fermenting has started! Marcus
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V Vessel One-Step →
Interesting system that collects the sediment so no racking required. As they say:
The ultimate one-stage fermenter! The fastest and easiest way to make a batch of wine or beer!
However, it’s not cheap. Available in the UK from Hop and Grape it’s ~£130. I’m trying to figure out how to make one for less!
2 tags
Nettle Ale is Bottled
Bottled the Nettle Ale. It has a light fizz to it and the SG has dropped to 0.996, indicating a ABV ~6.4%. It was still a bit cloudy but not milky, sort of like a Hoegaarden beer. A good nettle flavour and with a sour-zesty lemon dimension. I added a half teaspoon of sugar to each bottle but they have not been put somewhere warm and, with the weather like it currently is, this might not be ...