Anybody involved in Winemaking?

[madderbat]

Hi Peafailure, welcome to the vine. you sound like a grape after my own heart.

I'm interested that you say parsnip is the strongest, I've had some very strong blackberry wines this autumn, and my parsnip became almost like champagne, lovely sparkle, very clear and dry. The apple has gone to about 15%abv (so far) and my plum is at 14.2% at the moment. Neither are clear yet, but we can wait. Looking forward to rhubarb and carrot next year. Happy brewing.

Brewer-again, do I get the feeling that you disparage uncontrolled brewing?
So far all my brews have been drinkable; the parsnip was wonderful and the blackberry more ravishing than any French Burgundy. They have certainly been tastier than sulphited commercial wines and we have not been violently ill
(yet ) Long live the old ways!

[Brewer-again]

uncontrolled brewing!!

I think this is how my oh described my hobby. I brew anything and everthing, I am amazed at the simplicity of the process to turn excess produce or free pickings into a great evening, I absolutely love it.

But I have noticed how often people post bad experiences with homebrew, this concerns me, so I would like to ensure that all the brews work. It is a science on many levels, at its most basic, most wines come out OK but they can be stunning with a bit of basic chemistry and cleanliness.

Brewing is a skill that anyone can have from reading these pages.
Brew on

[madderbat]

guess my grammar school education stands me in good stead then!
(either that, or i've had beginners luck) but yes, keeping things clean is most of the battle. Thank heavens for sterilising tablets (haven't tried your bleach idea yet).

I started my first batch of pear the other day and it seemed very slow to get away, but is now bubbling at about 50mph. Had a moment of panic when I realised that we are coming to the end of the freezer contents (have still got some blackberries, marrow and pears to do). Hope the rhubarb grows by the time this lot finishes other wise I might have to buy fruit/veg (shock horror!!!)

Realise I might sound like a complete alcofrolic, but we've still got blackberry, apple and plum in demijohns yet!

Keep brewing.

[pigletwillie]

I have some demijohns spare and 4l of smirnoff export 50% brought back from Egypt just for this so will be converting the frozen rhubarb into the dreaded.

"Rhubarb Schnapps"

Oh likes it and it keeps her quiet so I am doing the whole lot. Happy days!

[Brewer-again]

hi! piglet

try drinking it as the maker intended, It is good straight from the freezer.

[madderbat]

try drinking it as the maker intended, It is good straigth from the freezer.

You surely don't mean double distilled??? We brought some village raki back from Crete last year and when it came out of the freezer not all of it was liquid. We threw it away as we had been warned! True raki will not freeze. Don't know about 40% vodka though.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Madderbat,

No extra distilling involved, rhubarb schapps is a simple infusion. THe juice of the rhubarb comes out when you bottle the schnapps so if you use two bottles of vodka you'll get more than two bottles of schnapps, the vodka being diluted in the process. For this reason it's important to use a high strength vodka and don't use a good one, Brewer's right, good vodka is best drunk neat from the freezer.

[pigletwillie]

Some of the proper polish vodkas really are beautiful to drink, smirnoff is fit for mixing or converting into schnapps.

[madderbat]

Thanks Piglet, I know that now!

[Brewer-again]

Not allowed to discuss double distillation here

Hi Madderbat,
I was not actually considering the process that you were describing, although I have tried it and it does mean that you can make these 'fruits soaked in alchohol' drinks for a minimal outlay. As I have said before I thought that these pages were supposed to point people in the way to self sufficiency, or at least in that direction. If you were to combine the process you are thinking of with soaking fruit or rhubarb (is it a fruit ?) in the spirit, you could save about £8 a bottle.
To me, £8 a bottle makes the difference between soaking rhubarb in Vodka or using the rhubarb to make a 14% wine instead.

[madderbat]

less alcohol, not more

Think I'll stick with the wines - need less chemistry and just as satisfying, although I tasted PW's rhubarb schnapps today which was good, but I was going to ask about lessening the alcohol levels of my brews as it seems a little excessive to keep hitting the 15%+ mark.

Do I add less sugar, or more water? if more water, it will leave me with 2 demijohns from CJJ's recipes. Haven't got the confidence yet to add sugar spoonful by spoonful as CJJ talks about.
Can you advise please Brewer Again?

[Brewer-again]

spoon by spoon

Hi! madderbat,
When making home made wine the advice used to be add sugar by the spoonful towards the end of fermentation. This allowed the yeast to become conditioned to the strength of the alchohol it was living and working in.
using this method you could work your way towards 20%.
Add less sugar not water as this will ensure the flavour is concentrated making a more pleasent wine.
Happy brewing

[madderbat]

work your way towards 20%.

Definitely wrong direction!
Will try with less sugar, then if it gets too sharp, add a bit after fermentation stops?

[Birdie Wife]

Think I'll stick with the wines - need less chemistry and just as satisfying

Hi Madderbat,

Agree with the less is more principle. But there may be some confusion over methods, rhubarb schnapps is much simpler to do than wine and no chemistry involved to speak of - chop fruit, put in jar, add sugar, top up with vodka, cork tightly. Shake regularly and decant in about three months. Enjoy! There's no distilling/fermenting involved in the process, it's only flavouring the commercial product. Sorry if you know this already, just thought it should be cleared up to save any confusion. There's other threads around with the more accurate recipe.

Mind you, if vodka-based drinks aren't your thing then by all means stick to wine! I like variety so I make both!

[madderbat]

thanks Birdie wife, it was the freezing bit that confused me. Not sure I'll try it soon as am having plenty variety with the wines. SG'd my plum today - 15% and not finished yet eek!