Recipes for Winemaking
Recipes provided by our winemaking shop,
Please free to use these but if you print them off please add
to the page!
Free Winemaking Recipes
Homebrew from thebrewshop Trading in homebrew since 1968
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A to Z of Free Wine Making Recipes
You're welcome to print these or give them away but please put the line below in your recipe
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Feb 2006 If you want a recipe that isn't here, just mail me! sales@thebrewshop.com
Apple Apricot Angelica liquer Baileys style Irish Cream Banana Barley Bilberry Birch Sap Blackberry Blackcurrant Broadbean Carrot Whiskey Cherry Cider Coffee Coltsfoot Cranberry Damson Damson Gin Dandelion Date Dewberry Elderberry Elderflower Elderflower and Gooseberry Fig Ginger Gooseberry Grape Greengage Hawthorn Blossom Loganberry Marrow Mead Nectarine Orange Parsley Parsnip Passion Fruit Peach Pear
Sparkling Pear juice wine(Perry) Pineapple Plum Potato Prune Raspberry Redcurrant Rhubarb Ribena Rosehip Rose petal Sloe Sloe Gin Strawberry Tea Wheat
Zebra Tonic wine
You're welcome to print these or give them away but please put the line below in
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
We have a kit called a hedgegrow wine kit- It's instructions, yeast, pectolase etc. to make one gallon of any country wine. It saves buying all the bits if you're just making one gallon.You supply the demi johns and equipment. They're £7. 95 including post and packing. Just phone us with your credit card and we'll pop one in the post for you.
A gallon of peach wine fermenting well!! Syphoning off a gallon of nice clear gooseberry wine
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A to Z of Free Wine Making Recipes. If there's a homemade wine recipe you need, please ask!
Apple Wine
3kg Apples
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Crush, chop, grate or find some way of pulping the apples into small bits. Throw it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
Top up to shoulders of demi-john
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
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Apricot Wine
1.5 kg Apricots
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the apricots and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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hydrometer in test jar, take the reading from the top of the liquid. This wine is just in the blue area and med dry.
Angelica Liquer
We've never made this and don't know anyone who has. Try at your own risk.
25gram angelica stem
25gram boiled bitter almonds
1 pint brandy
1 pint of sugar syrup
Steep the angelica and almonds in the brandy for a week. Then strain off and add the syrup to the liquer. Apparently it improves with keeping!
Baileys Irish Cream Style
4oz sugar
2 1/2 fluid oz water
8 fluid oz whiskey
1 5oz can evaporated milk
5 fluid oz single cream thin fresh, not tinned
10 ml cacao essence(we have this)
Mix everything together and allow the sugar to dissolve..
Leave in fridge for 2 hours
It's now ready to drink.
It should now be kept in the fridge until drunk.(you or the drink!)
A customer gave us this recipe, we've not tried it yet . Let us know if you give a go!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Banana Wine
2Kg bananas- not too over ripe
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Slice the bananas and boil for 20 mins.
Strain carefully into a clean food grade plastic bucket
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and top up with cold water to seven pints total water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock top up to the shoulders with cold water and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Barley Wine
1/2 kg Barley
1/2kg Raisins
2 lemons
1.5kg sugar
High alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast nutrient
Pour two pints of boiling water over the barley and chopped raisins and
leave overnight .
Use a good clean food grade bucket and cover with a cloth or rest the lid on.
Add the juice and zest of the lemons but not the pith.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
Leave 4 days and stir daily.
Strain off into a demi john and leave to ferment out.
When all the bubbles stop, syphon off into a demi john and add a campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Best left for 12 months to mature
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Bilberry
1.5kg bilberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Birch Sap Wine
4.0 Litres birch sap
1 tsp citric acid
250 ml grape conc
1kg sugar
Yeast
Nutrient
First find a birch tree!
Get some 5/8th or 16mm plastic tubing, B and Q have it. You'll need a couple of foot.
Drill a 5/8th hole in the tre trunk. You need to get just below the bark and drill upwards so the sap runs better down the tube. It's important that you don't go too deep. Just under the bark is right. In the soft woody bit.
The plastic tube should be a snug fit in the hole, make sure by practicing on a bit of old wood before you set to work on the tree.
Run the tube into a plastic 5 litre container, sealed with a plastic bag or cork to keep flies etc out.
It won't take long to get enough sap, you need to pick the days when the sap is rising in March. It may take a couple of days or a couple of hours so keep an eye on it.
When you've got enough sap put it into a clean sterilised dem-john. Add rest of igredients and ferment out as normal.
Don't forget to plug the hole in the tree afterwards!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Blackcurrant Wine
1.5 kg Blackcurrants
1kg Sugar
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash the blackcurrants as much as you can
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Broad Bean
We've never made this one either, but it sounds interesting!
Broad beans, shelled 2 Kg
1.5 Kg sugar
250 ml grape conc.
1 tsp acid blend
yeast
Nutrient
Boil the beans for one hour in a large pan, strain off and dissolve the sugar in the hot liquor.
when cool add rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right, syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
This wine is best sweet.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Carrot Whiskey
We keep getting asked for this. It does work but isn't a real whiskey of course!It tastes like, well, you'll have to make it yourself!
2Kg Carrots
1Kg wheat
2 Kg sugar
1tsp acid blend/citric acid
High alcohol yeast
Yeast Nutrient
Wash and scrub carrots, boil in water for about 20 mins.
Strain off water and put the water in a bucket.
Dissolve sugar in hot water.
Make up to a gall with cold water and when cool to 25c add rest of ingredients.
Ferment in the bucket for 4 days.
Strain off into demi john fit airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take ages.
When it stops bubbling add a campden and pot. sorbate and leave to clear.
Bottle when clear and try to leave for 12 months before drinking
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Cherry Wine
2 Kg Cherries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the cherries and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john withy cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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CIDER
Pick nice fresh apples, no bruised or damaged ones.
Crush them, use a hammer, a commercial crusher(we sell them) or a pulpmaster( 14.25 from stock at time of writing). The pulpmaster is a blade that you attach to an electric drill, it's a bit Heath Robinson but works well.
Then press the apples to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
Then add yeast and ferment out as you would beer. Leave about a week and then syphon into bottles or a plastic beer barrel. You can use plastic beer bottles. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per pint of cider and leave for about a month and drink carefully.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Coffee Wine
1Tablespoon coffee
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Use Nescafe or a simalar brand, make the coffee in 2 pints of water and add the sugar
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right,syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
This wine is best a bit sweet--I hated it, but then I don't like coffee sweets either.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Coltsfoot Wine
Colts foot are a lot rarer than they used to be and Iwould not recommend that you use wild flowers.
If you can get dried follow the recipe for elder flowers
Cranberry Wine
1.5kg Cranberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson--Easy Peasy
Method 1
Pour 2 pints boiling water over 21b of damsons and leave 24 hours, strain off and add to a Beaverdale 1gall wine Shiraz kit with a teaspoon of pectolase and 8oz sugar.
Yummy!!!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson 2 Full Bodied
4lb Damsons
1.5kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast nutrient
Yeast- Gervin no 2 is ideal.
These fruits have a great flavour but
don't boil or soak them too long or they get bitter.
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything else.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet and a potassium sorbate tablet. .
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear- it can taste a bit strong but gets better!!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson Gin
I make sloe gin most years and you make damson gin the same way.
Here's how. Prick each damson with a fork, I tried without doing this one year and the flavour doesn't come out as well. I've been told that if you freeze the damsons first for 24 hours you get more juice and you don't need to prick them.
Put the damsons into an empty bottle or jar until it's a quarter full. It doesn't matter what size! As long as it's a quarter full, I usually use a 2 litre kilner jar
Add sugar until the bottle is half full, including the damsons. Don't shake or stir, just pour the sugar gently on top of the damsons.
Now pour gin in the bottle, what kind of gin you ask? Any gin, I use the really cheap stuff from Aldi.
As the sugar dissolves add more gin, after 24 hours just top it up with a bit more gin if needed.
Leave until Xmas...Hooray!
But what about the damsons in the bottle ? Unlike sloes damsons taste nice after they've been in the gin. Strain off the damsons from the gin, The gin might go cloudy but it will settle again. Try the damsons with ice cream-yummy! Or with custard.
The damson gin will have a bit of sediment inthe bottom, stop worrying about it! It's harmless. If you want to ,you can gently pour off and bottle the clear stuff. Filter the rest using coffee filter papers.
Repeat the process next year.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Date Wine
1kg Stoned Dates
500g raisins
1.5kg sugar
High Alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast Nutrient
This wine is a medium to sweet wine, a rather old fashioned sort of wine that your granny used to make!
It's closer to a sweet sherry than anything else!
Chop up the figs and raisins and put into a clean food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
Leave overnight covered with a clean cloth
Next day add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours.
Stir and mash about a couple of times a day
After 5 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won'tusually get much more in!
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Loganberry
The same recipe as Dewberry, Raspberry and Blackberry
2kg ripe washed fruit
1kg Sugar
No2 Gervin Yeast
Nutrient
Pectolase
Citric Acid
Place fruit in a clean and sterilised bucket with the sugar. Pour 2 kettles (4 Pints) of boiling water over the fruit and add the sugar. Stir well and leave overnight.
Add the pectolase citric acid and yeast and leave a further 24 hours.
Strain into a demijohn, don't squeeze too much! Top up to a gallon with cold water.
Leave in a warm place until fermentation stops.
Add a campden and finings, we recommend Kwik Cleer.
Drink when it tastes good- it does improve and it's best left a couple of months.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Dandelion Wine Dry White
1 Litre of Petals
1. kg Sugar
250grm grape concentrate
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Strip most of the petals off the heads, a few bits don't matter,and pour 2 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight and add the rest of the ingredients and 4 pints cold water
Leave 2 days and strain into a demi-john.
Top up to one gall with cold water and leave to ferment out as normal
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
The Northern name for dandelions is 'wet-the beds' - Brewing Supplies wish to point out that they can accept no responsibilty for any unwanted after effects from drinking this wine!
Cheers
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderflowers -
Try to use flowers that are in full sun as these seem to give the best flavour and bouquet.
1/2 Litre of Petals,stripped off the stalks and packed loosely
1. kg Sugar
250grm grape concentrate or a Litre of apple juice
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Strip most of the petals off the stalks, a few bits don't matter,and pour 2 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight and add the rest of the ingredients and 4 pints cold water
Leave 2 days and strain into a demi-john.
When the vigourous bubbling slows down,top up to one gall with cold water and leave to ferment out as normal
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
Using apple juice instead of grape concentrate gives a different wine that tends to mature quicker.
Cheers
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderflower and Gooseberry Wine
I made this years ago, it made a very pleasant Rhine type wine. Here's the recipe as far as I can remember!
Use about 1/2 pint fresh elderflowers. This is just the flowers taken off the stalks and packed loosley in a jug. Or about 25g of dried elderflowers.
Then about 1.5kg of gooseberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash all the goosberries and put it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour the Elderflowers on the top.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to a cold room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out.
Top up the demi john to the shoulders once the vigourous ferment slows down.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or tastes right. Syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
You may need to add finings, you can buy these from any homebrew shop.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderberry--Also Blackcurrant
3lb Elderberries
250 ml grape concentrate
1kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast and nutrient
Both these fruits are strongly flavoured and I would strongly recommend
that you do not boil or soak them too long. Don't overdo the amount of the elderberries.
Pull the elderberries off the stalks, it doesn't matter if a bit of stalk gets in. Then put into a clean
sterilised food grade bucket
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything but the grape concentrate.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john with an airlock and add the grape concentrate.
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet .
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear- it can taste a bit strong but gets better!!
If you want to drink it quick add only 2lb of fruit and cut the sugar down by about a tenth.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Fig Wine
1kg Dried Figs
500g raisins
1.5kg sugar
High Alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast Nutrient
This wine is a medium to sweet wine, a rather old fashioned sort of wine that your granny used to make!
It's closer to a sweet sherry than anything else!
Chop up the figs and raisins and put into a clean food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
Leave overnight covered with a clean cloth
Next day add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours.
Stir and mash about a couple of times a day
After 5 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won'tusually get much more in!
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Ginger Wine
You can mess about with sugar bruised ginger stem, lemons and stuff if you want
.But, the easiest way is just buy a white wine kit, add an extra 250 gram of sugar and
25 gram powdered ginger.
Make the kit as normal but add the extra sugar and the ginger straight to the demi john.
Then just follow the instructions, except: when it stops fermenting syphon off into a clean demi john before you add the finings etc.
It's best if you sweeten it a bit, usually between 55 to 100 gram sugar
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Gooseberry Wine
2kg of gooseberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash all the goosberries and put it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to a cold room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out.
Top up the demi john to the shoulders with cold water once the vigourous ferment slows down.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or tastes right, syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
You may need to add finings, you can buy these from any homebrew shop.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
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Wine From Grapes
Grape Wine!
Use only the ripe undamaged grapes, bad grapes make bad wine.
Crush them, either get your shoes off or use a masher or squash them by hand. Or,we have pulpers for sale, see cider above. When every grape is squashed add a yeast-a Gervin Yeast is best. Leave in the bucket for about 2 days then press the grapes to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
When you've pressed all the grapes, put them into a fermenter with an airlock to ferment out.
You'll probably need to add 8oz of sugar a gallon for most grapes grown in England, add this to the container after pressing.
About 7kg of grapes will produce a gallon of juice.
When the wine stops fermenting add campden tablets and stabiliser. You might need to sweeten the wine a bit as it can go incredibly dry(sour). Remember---only ripe uindamaged grapes!!! No mouldy ones!! Have fun...
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Hawthorn Blossom--as for Dandelion but use 2 litres of flowers
Mead or Honey Wine
There's lots of ways of making mead. I've seen it for sale on Lindesfarne and saw them make it in the shop. They just took an
Australian white wine and added 8oz of honey to the bottle!
This recipe works and ferments well, you can make it with just honey but it's a bit bland.
1kg of Honey
250 ml grape concentrate
Juice of a medium lemon
yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
1/2 tsp tannin or a cup of cold tea
Gervin High Alcohol yeast
Variations
Try adding another 500g honey for a stronger sweeter wine
Add a litre of fruit juice instead of the grape concentrate-any type but make sure it's the short date code stuff and not loaded with preservatives.
Vary the type of honey-Try acacia or heather honey
Use just 2kg of honey and just add yeast and nutrient.
Method
Dissolve the honey in hot water, about 2 pints. When cool add to a sterilised demi john.
Add rest of ingredients except yeast.
Make up to about 7 pints with cold water,
when cool to room temp. add yeast.
Let the vigourous fermenting slow down
Top up to the shoulders with cold water. Leave to ferment out
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it.(Hydrometer reading below1000) If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or, just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear. Or add finings if you're in a hurry.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with honey but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Mead is best a bit sweet and remember, for a more honey taste sweeten with honey!
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Pear Wine
To Make a gallon 4.5litres
2 Kg Pears
250 ml grape concentrate
1kg sugar
pectolase
tannin-or use a cup of cold tea
1tsp acid blend or citric acid(you could use the juice of lemon)
Yeast- Gervin No3 is good
Nutrient.
Ok, pick the pears-don't use any over ripe bruised or bad ones!
Chop up the pears, put into a clean bucket and pour 4 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight, add the sugar the yeast, pectolase acid and nutrient.
Leave three days and stir well every day. It should be bubbling like a boiling volcanoe!
Strain off into a clean demi john, don't squueze the pears too much but make sure you get plenty of juice out.
Top up to the shoulders with cold water. Leave to ferment out
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it.(Hydrometer reading below1000) If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or, just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear. Or add finings if you're in a hurry.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Pear juice wine(Perry)
Quantity- Every pint of juice makes a pint of perry!
If you've got plenty of pears you can make Perry.
It's superb, dry as a bone and a sort of pear cider.
The french drink it a lot, it's nothing like babycham, it's a real toper's tipple!
Pick nice fresh pears, no bruised or damaged ones.
Crush them, use a hammer, a commercial crusher(we sell them) or a pulpmaster( 15.79 from stock at time of writing). The pulpmaster is a blade that you attach to an electric drill, it's a bit Heath Robinson but works well.
Then press the pears to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
You can freeze the pears and when they defrost the juice will run easier.
Then add yeast and ferment out as you would beer.
Ferment it in a bucket or in a fermenter with an airlock is best, if you make just a gallon use a demi john.
Leave about a week and then syphon into bottles or a plastic beer barrel. You can use plastic beer bottles. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per pint of perry and leave for about a month and drink carefully.
Enjoy the taste of a real old traditional drink!
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Parsnip Wine
2 Kg Parsnips
250ml grape concentrate
1.5kg sugar
1tsp citric acid or acid blend
1tsp yeast nutrient
Tannin
Yeast - Gervin no 3
Scrub the parsnips, chop them into small chunks then boil in 3 pints of water for about 20 mins.
Strain into a clean bucket and add sugar.
Leave to cool, pour into a clean sterilised demi john.
Top up to seven pints with cold water.
Add rest of ingredients and leave to ferment.
After the vigourous fermenting slows down top up with cold water to the shoulders of the demi john.
Leave to ferment out for about 3 weeks.
Taste or check the gravity with a hydrometer, it should be dry , under 1000 sg on the hydrometer.
If it's too sweet leave longer,
Add a campden tablet and a stabiliser tablet and leave to clear.
This wine is a bit sherry like in flavour and is best left to mature for a while.
But who wants to wait? Just drink it!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Peach Wine
2 kg Peaches
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the peaches and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Plum Wine
4lb Plums
250 ml red grape concentrate
1.5kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast nutrient
These fruits don't have much flavour but
don't boil or soak them too long or they can release too much pectin and the wine will be cloudy.
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything else.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john add another 1/2 teaspoon of pectolase--
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet and a potassium sorbate tablet.
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear-
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Potato Wine
I've got to admit it's not one of my favourites, but it does have a tendency
to very strong tasting.
1.5 kg Potatoes
1.5 Kg sugar
250 ml grape conc or 500g raisins
A mug of cold tea, no milk or sugar.
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Amylase--optional
High Alcohol yeast , Gervin no 3 is fine
Wash and scrub potatoes, cut out any eyes, green bits and black bits.
If they look really rough just peel them but it's said that the flavour is better
with the skin on.
Grate them or chop them up finely, cover with water as you do so or they go brown.
Then, boil for about 15 minutes. Skim off any scum that comes to the top.
Strain through a bag or sieve into a clean bucket.
Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
Top up to about seven pints total of water and leave overnight, add amylase now if you want.
It's an enzyme that gets rid of starch, if there's too much starch in the wine it can be cloudy.
Usually it's perfectly clear, but if you want to make sure...
Add rest of ingredients and stir well.
If you used the raisins(You did chop them up didn't you?) leave in the bucket for 5 days stirring daily,then strain into a demijohn.
If you used the grape concentrate pour into a demi john add an airlock.
Leave until the vigorous frothing subsides then top up to the shoulders with cold water.
The more brave of you might like to add a further 500g of sugar at this point.
Sometimes it will ferment out and you get a very strong wine, sometimes it just stops and it leaves a very sweet wine!
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won't usually get much more in!
When the wine stops fermenting-
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
I usually use Kwik Cleer finings if it doesn't clear naturally after a week or two.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Raspberry Wine
I'm going to cheat a bit here and say follow the recipe for strawberry.
But, I do find that too many rasberries can give a bit of an overpowering flavour to a wine.
I like to use about a pound of raspberries and add it to a Beaverdale Shiraz kit with an extra 8 oz of sugar. This gives an exceptionally nice wine!
Rhubarb Wine - The easy way -Dry white
2kg Rhubarb
1.2kg Sugar
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Chop the rhubarb into chunks and put into a bucket.
Pour the sugar over the top of the rhubarb and leave for 48 hours.
All the juice will drop out of the rhubarb, you may have to stir it a couple of times.
Strain the juice into a demijohn, top up to about seven pints with cold water add the rest of the ingredients and leave in a warm place to ferment out.
After a few days when the vigourous frothing subsides, top up to the shoulders of the demi john with cold water.
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
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Saskatoon Berry
1.5kg Saskatoon Berries
1Kg Sugar
Gervin No2 Yeast
Nutrient
1tsp Pectolase
250ml Grape Concentrate
Crush fruit and put all other ingredients except Water, Pectic Enzyme and Wine Yeast in a bucket. Add 1/2 quantity of Water hot, stir to dissolve sugar. Add balance of Water cold and then Pectic Enzyme. Cover with plastic sheet. When must is 2l° - 23° C (70° - 75° F) add yeast. Stir must daily. Ferment 4 -5 days or until S.G. is 1.030. Strain out pulp through nylon straining bag and press. Syphon into gallon jar and attach fermentation locks. Rack in 10 days and again in one month. If necessary, fine with recommended Finings. When wine is clear and stable, bottle.
Sloe Gin
I make sloe gin most years and just mix a few sloes with sugar and gin. I've just made a new batch and I've made a note of exactly how I did it.
Here's how. Prick each sloe with a fork, I tried without doing this one year and the flavour doesn't come out as well.
Put the sloes into an empty wine bottle until it's a quarter full. It doesn't matter what size! As long as it's a quarter full, I usually use the standard 700 ml wine bottle.
Add sugar until the bottle is half full, including the sloes. Don't shake or stir, just pour the sugar gently on top of the sloes.
Now pour gin in the bottle, what kind of gin you ask? Any gin, I use the really cheap stuff from Aldi.
As the sugar dissolves add more gin, after 24 hours just top it up with a bit more gin if needed.
Leave until Xmas...Hooray!
But what about the sloes in the bottle ? They don't do you any harm! Try drinking it with a sloe in the glass like an
olive. It looks the part. Don't mess about filtering or straining the sloe gin. You pour it with the sloes in the bottle and
the bits etc are part of the gin. If other people don't like it there's more for you!!
Repeat the process next year.
Strawberry Wine
To make one gall/4.5litres
1 to 2 Kg Strawberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml red grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Strawberry wine is nicer a touch sweet. The flavour of the fruit comes through better
with the sweetness. I'd recommend that you add about 4 to 8oz of sugar at the end.
As strawberries can be expensive use less fruit if you want to but it does lose a bit of the intensity of the fruit.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature usually overnight add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Tea Wine
2 Pints Tea
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Use different tea's for more exotic flavours. Pg tips works ok, but be brave and try Earl Grey, Blackcurrrant or passion fruit! Make the tea in big jug or bowl leave to brew for about half an hour
Strain off and add the sugar,
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john.
Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right,syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Rosehip Wine
1kg Rosehips
1tsp Citric Acid
1kg Sugar
Pectolase
Yeast and Nutrient
Put the rosehips and the sugar into a bucket and pour over boiling water to dissolve the sugar.
Allow to cool, preferably overnight.
Then add all the other ingredients and ferment for about a week.
Strain off the pulp into a clean demi john and carry on the fermentation until finished.
When clear, bottle and store.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Baileys Irish Cream Style
4oz sugar
2 1/2 fluid oz water
8 fluid oz whiskey
1 5oz can evaporated milk
5 fluid oz single cream thin fresh, not tinned
10 ml cacao essence(we have this)
Mix everything together and allow the sugar to dissolve..
Leave in fridge for 2 hours
It's now ready to drink.
It should now be kept in the fridge until drunk.(you or the drink!)
A customer gave us this recipe, we've not tried it yet . Let us know if you give a go!
Zebra TonicWine
Of course there's no such thing as zebra wine! But if you fancy a go here's one.
The prunes and the pears are the black and white of the zebra and the ginger is the kick!
Small tin prunes
Small tin pears
1 oz dried ginger
1/2tsp allspice
1kg Sugar
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Chop the fruit up and remove the stones from the prunes. Tip the fruit and syrup into a bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains. Don't worry if the ginger gets through the muslin, it all drops out in the demi john.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. This wine should be sweet!
Syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate. This wine is best sweet!!Add sugar to sweeten if needed-about 8 oz
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Please let us know how you found our Zebra Wine!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Homebrew from thebrewshop Trading in homebrew since 1968
The Brew Shop UK 48 Buxton Rd. Stockport SK2-6NB
Contact Peter or Mark on 0161 4804880 Or mail sales@thebrewshop.comwww.thebrewshop.com
A to Z of Free Wine Making Recipes
You're welcome to print these or give them away but please put the line below in your recipe
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Feb 2006 If you want a recipe that isn't here, just mail me! sales@thebrewshop.com
Apple Apricot Angelica liquer Baileys style Irish Cream Banana Barley Bilberry Birch Sap Blackberry Blackcurrant Broadbean Carrot Whiskey Cherry Cider Coffee Coltsfoot Cranberry Damson Damson Gin Dandelion Date Dewberry Elderberry Elderflower Elderflower and Gooseberry Fig Ginger Gooseberry Grape Greengage Hawthorn Blossom Loganberry Marrow Mead Nectarine Orange Parsley Parsnip Passion Fruit Peach Pear
Sparkling Pear juice wine(Perry) Pineapple Plum Potato Prune Raspberry Redcurrant Rhubarb Ribena Rosehip Rose petal Sloe Sloe Gin Strawberry Tea Wheat
Zebra Tonic wine
You're welcome to print these or give them away but please put the line below in
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
We have a kit called a hedgegrow wine kit- It's instructions, yeast, pectolase etc. to make one gallon of any country wine. It saves buying all the bits if you're just making one gallon.You supply the demi johns and equipment. They're £7. 95 including post and packing. Just phone us with your credit card and we'll pop one in the post for you.
A gallon of peach wine fermenting well!! Syphoning off a gallon of nice clear gooseberry wine
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A to Z of Free Wine Making Recipes. If there's a homemade wine recipe you need, please ask!
Apple Wine
3kg Apples
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Crush, chop, grate or find some way of pulping the apples into small bits. Throw it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
Top up to shoulders of demi-john
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
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WINE PRESSES FOR SALE CLICK HERE
Apricot Wine
1.5 kg Apricots
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the apricots and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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hydrometer in test jar, take the reading from the top of the liquid. This wine is just in the blue area and med dry.Angelica Liquer
We've never made this and don't know anyone who has. Try at your own risk.
25gram angelica stem
25gram boiled bitter almonds
1 pint brandy
1 pint of sugar syrup
Steep the angelica and almonds in the brandy for a week. Then strain off and add the syrup to the liquer. Apparently it improves with keeping!
Baileys Irish Cream Style
4oz sugar
2 1/2 fluid oz water
8 fluid oz whiskey
1 5oz can evaporated milk
5 fluid oz single cream thin fresh, not tinned
10 ml cacao essence(we have this)
Mix everything together and allow the sugar to dissolve..
Leave in fridge for 2 hours
It's now ready to drink.
It should now be kept in the fridge until drunk.(you or the drink!)
A customer gave us this recipe, we've not tried it yet . Let us know if you give a go!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Banana Wine
2Kg bananas- not too over ripe
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Slice the bananas and boil for 20 mins.
Strain carefully into a clean food grade plastic bucket
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and top up with cold water to seven pints total water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock top up to the shoulders with cold water and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Barley Wine
1/2 kg Barley
1/2kg Raisins
2 lemons
1.5kg sugar
High alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast nutrient
Pour two pints of boiling water over the barley and chopped raisins and
leave overnight .
Use a good clean food grade bucket and cover with a cloth or rest the lid on.
Add the juice and zest of the lemons but not the pith.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
Leave 4 days and stir daily.
Strain off into a demi john and leave to ferment out.
When all the bubbles stop, syphon off into a demi john and add a campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Best left for 12 months to mature
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Bilberry
1.5kg bilberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Birch Sap Wine
4.0 Litres birch sap
1 tsp citric acid
250 ml grape conc
1kg sugar
Yeast
Nutrient
First find a birch tree!
Get some 5/8th or 16mm plastic tubing, B and Q have it. You'll need a couple of foot.
Drill a 5/8th hole in the tre trunk. You need to get just below the bark and drill upwards so the sap runs better down the tube. It's important that you don't go too deep. Just under the bark is right. In the soft woody bit.
The plastic tube should be a snug fit in the hole, make sure by practicing on a bit of old wood before you set to work on the tree.
Run the tube into a plastic 5 litre container, sealed with a plastic bag or cork to keep flies etc out.
It won't take long to get enough sap, you need to pick the days when the sap is rising in March. It may take a couple of days or a couple of hours so keep an eye on it.
When you've got enough sap put it into a clean sterilised dem-john. Add rest of igredients and ferment out as normal.
Don't forget to plug the hole in the tree afterwards!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Blackcurrant Wine
1.5 kg Blackcurrants
1kg Sugar
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash the blackcurrants as much as you can
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
www.thebrewshop.com
Broad Bean
We've never made this one either, but it sounds interesting!
Broad beans, shelled 2 Kg
1.5 Kg sugar
250 ml grape conc.
1 tsp acid blend
yeast
Nutrient
Boil the beans for one hour in a large pan, strain off and dissolve the sugar in the hot liquor.
when cool add rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right, syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
This wine is best sweet.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Carrot Whiskey
We keep getting asked for this. It does work but isn't a real whiskey of course!It tastes like, well, you'll have to make it yourself!
2Kg Carrots
1Kg wheat
2 Kg sugar
1tsp acid blend/citric acid
High alcohol yeast
Yeast Nutrient
Wash and scrub carrots, boil in water for about 20 mins.
Strain off water and put the water in a bucket.
Dissolve sugar in hot water.
Make up to a gall with cold water and when cool to 25c add rest of ingredients.
Ferment in the bucket for 4 days.
Strain off into demi john fit airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take ages.
When it stops bubbling add a campden and pot. sorbate and leave to clear.
Bottle when clear and try to leave for 12 months before drinking
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Cherry Wine
2 Kg Cherries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the cherries and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john withy cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
www.thebrewshop.com
CIDER
Pick nice fresh apples, no bruised or damaged ones.
Crush them, use a hammer, a commercial crusher(we sell them) or a pulpmaster( 14.25 from stock at time of writing). The pulpmaster is a blade that you attach to an electric drill, it's a bit Heath Robinson but works well.
Then press the apples to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
Then add yeast and ferment out as you would beer. Leave about a week and then syphon into bottles or a plastic beer barrel. You can use plastic beer bottles. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per pint of cider and leave for about a month and drink carefully.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Coffee Wine
1Tablespoon coffee
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Use Nescafe or a simalar brand, make the coffee in 2 pints of water and add the sugar
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right,syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
This wine is best a bit sweet--I hated it, but then I don't like coffee sweets either.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Coltsfoot Wine
Colts foot are a lot rarer than they used to be and Iwould not recommend that you use wild flowers.
If you can get dried follow the recipe for elder flowers
Cranberry Wine
1.5kg Cranberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson--Easy Peasy
Method 1
Pour 2 pints boiling water over 21b of damsons and leave 24 hours, strain off and add to a Beaverdale 1gall wine Shiraz kit with a teaspoon of pectolase and 8oz sugar.
Yummy!!!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson 2 Full Bodied
4lb Damsons
1.5kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast nutrient
Yeast- Gervin no 2 is ideal.
These fruits have a great flavour but
don't boil or soak them too long or they get bitter.
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything else.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet and a potassium sorbate tablet. .
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear- it can taste a bit strong but gets better!!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Damson Gin
I make sloe gin most years and you make damson gin the same way.
Here's how. Prick each damson with a fork, I tried without doing this one year and the flavour doesn't come out as well. I've been told that if you freeze the damsons first for 24 hours you get more juice and you don't need to prick them.
Put the damsons into an empty bottle or jar until it's a quarter full. It doesn't matter what size! As long as it's a quarter full, I usually use a 2 litre kilner jar
Add sugar until the bottle is half full, including the damsons. Don't shake or stir, just pour the sugar gently on top of the damsons.
Now pour gin in the bottle, what kind of gin you ask? Any gin, I use the really cheap stuff from Aldi.
As the sugar dissolves add more gin, after 24 hours just top it up with a bit more gin if needed.
Leave until Xmas...Hooray!
But what about the damsons in the bottle ? Unlike sloes damsons taste nice after they've been in the gin. Strain off the damsons from the gin, The gin might go cloudy but it will settle again. Try the damsons with ice cream-yummy! Or with custard.
The damson gin will have a bit of sediment inthe bottom, stop worrying about it! It's harmless. If you want to ,you can gently pour off and bottle the clear stuff. Filter the rest using coffee filter papers.
Repeat the process next year.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Date Wine
1kg Stoned Dates
500g raisins
1.5kg sugar
High Alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast Nutrient
This wine is a medium to sweet wine, a rather old fashioned sort of wine that your granny used to make!
It's closer to a sweet sherry than anything else!
Chop up the figs and raisins and put into a clean food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
Leave overnight covered with a clean cloth
Next day add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours.
Stir and mash about a couple of times a day
After 5 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won'tusually get much more in!
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Loganberry
The same recipe as Dewberry, Raspberry and Blackberry
2kg ripe washed fruit
1kg Sugar
No2 Gervin Yeast
Nutrient
Pectolase
Citric Acid
Place fruit in a clean and sterilised bucket with the sugar. Pour 2 kettles (4 Pints) of boiling water over the fruit and add the sugar. Stir well and leave overnight.
Add the pectolase citric acid and yeast and leave a further 24 hours.
Strain into a demijohn, don't squeeze too much! Top up to a gallon with cold water.
Leave in a warm place until fermentation stops.
Add a campden and finings, we recommend Kwik Cleer.
Drink when it tastes good- it does improve and it's best left a couple of months.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Dandelion Wine Dry White
1 Litre of Petals
1. kg Sugar
250grm grape concentrate
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Strip most of the petals off the heads, a few bits don't matter,and pour 2 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight and add the rest of the ingredients and 4 pints cold water
Leave 2 days and strain into a demi-john.
Top up to one gall with cold water and leave to ferment out as normal
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
The Northern name for dandelions is 'wet-the beds' - Brewing Supplies wish to point out that they can accept no responsibilty for any unwanted after effects from drinking this wine!
Cheers
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderflowers -
Try to use flowers that are in full sun as these seem to give the best flavour and bouquet.
1/2 Litre of Petals,stripped off the stalks and packed loosely
1. kg Sugar
250grm grape concentrate or a Litre of apple juice
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Strip most of the petals off the stalks, a few bits don't matter,and pour 2 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight and add the rest of the ingredients and 4 pints cold water
Leave 2 days and strain into a demi-john.
When the vigourous bubbling slows down,top up to one gall with cold water and leave to ferment out as normal
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
Using apple juice instead of grape concentrate gives a different wine that tends to mature quicker.
Cheers
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderflower and Gooseberry Wine
I made this years ago, it made a very pleasant Rhine type wine. Here's the recipe as far as I can remember!
Use about 1/2 pint fresh elderflowers. This is just the flowers taken off the stalks and packed loosley in a jug. Or about 25g of dried elderflowers.
Then about 1.5kg of gooseberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash all the goosberries and put it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour the Elderflowers on the top.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to a cold room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out.
Top up the demi john to the shoulders once the vigourous ferment slows down.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or tastes right. Syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
You may need to add finings, you can buy these from any homebrew shop.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Elderberry--Also Blackcurrant
3lb Elderberries
250 ml grape concentrate
1kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast and nutrient
Both these fruits are strongly flavoured and I would strongly recommend
that you do not boil or soak them too long. Don't overdo the amount of the elderberries.
Pull the elderberries off the stalks, it doesn't matter if a bit of stalk gets in. Then put into a clean
sterilised food grade bucket
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything but the grape concentrate.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john with an airlock and add the grape concentrate.
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet .
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear- it can taste a bit strong but gets better!!
If you want to drink it quick add only 2lb of fruit and cut the sugar down by about a tenth.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Fig Wine
1kg Dried Figs
500g raisins
1.5kg sugar
High Alcohol yeast
Pectolase
Yeast Nutrient
This wine is a medium to sweet wine, a rather old fashioned sort of wine that your granny used to make!
It's closer to a sweet sherry than anything else!
Chop up the figs and raisins and put into a clean food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
Leave overnight covered with a clean cloth
Next day add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours.
Stir and mash about a couple of times a day
After 5 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin
or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john and fill to the shoulders with cold water.Fit an airlock and leave to ferment out at room temperature.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won'tusually get much more in!
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Ginger Wine
You can mess about with sugar bruised ginger stem, lemons and stuff if you want
.But, the easiest way is just buy a white wine kit, add an extra 250 gram of sugar and
25 gram powdered ginger.
Make the kit as normal but add the extra sugar and the ginger straight to the demi john.
Then just follow the instructions, except: when it stops fermenting syphon off into a clean demi john before you add the finings etc.
It's best if you sweeten it a bit, usually between 55 to 100 gram sugar
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Gooseberry Wine
2kg of gooseberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Squash all the goosberries and put it all into a clean sterilised food grade bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to a cold room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out.
Top up the demi john to the shoulders with cold water once the vigourous ferment slows down.
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or tastes right, syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
You may need to add finings, you can buy these from any homebrew shop.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again.
www.thebrewshop.com
Wine From Grapes
Grape Wine!
Use only the ripe undamaged grapes, bad grapes make bad wine.
Crush them, either get your shoes off or use a masher or squash them by hand. Or,we have pulpers for sale, see cider above. When every grape is squashed add a yeast-a Gervin Yeast is best. Leave in the bucket for about 2 days then press the grapes to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
When you've pressed all the grapes, put them into a fermenter with an airlock to ferment out.
You'll probably need to add 8oz of sugar a gallon for most grapes grown in England, add this to the container after pressing.
About 7kg of grapes will produce a gallon of juice.
When the wine stops fermenting add campden tablets and stabiliser. You might need to sweeten the wine a bit as it can go incredibly dry(sour). Remember---only ripe uindamaged grapes!!! No mouldy ones!! Have fun...
www.thebrewshop.com
Hawthorn Blossom--as for Dandelion but use 2 litres of flowers
Mead or Honey Wine
There's lots of ways of making mead. I've seen it for sale on Lindesfarne and saw them make it in the shop. They just took an
Australian white wine and added 8oz of honey to the bottle!
This recipe works and ferments well, you can make it with just honey but it's a bit bland.
1kg of Honey
250 ml grape concentrate
Juice of a medium lemon
yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
1/2 tsp tannin or a cup of cold tea
Gervin High Alcohol yeast
Variations
Try adding another 500g honey for a stronger sweeter wine
Add a litre of fruit juice instead of the grape concentrate-any type but make sure it's the short date code stuff and not loaded with preservatives.
Vary the type of honey-Try acacia or heather honey
Use just 2kg of honey and just add yeast and nutrient.
Method
Dissolve the honey in hot water, about 2 pints. When cool add to a sterilised demi john.
Add rest of ingredients except yeast.
Make up to about 7 pints with cold water,
when cool to room temp. add yeast.
Let the vigourous fermenting slow down
Top up to the shoulders with cold water. Leave to ferment out
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it.(Hydrometer reading below1000) If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or, just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear. Or add finings if you're in a hurry.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with honey but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Mead is best a bit sweet and remember, for a more honey taste sweeten with honey!
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Pear Wine
To Make a gallon 4.5litres
2 Kg Pears
250 ml grape concentrate
1kg sugar
pectolase
tannin-or use a cup of cold tea
1tsp acid blend or citric acid(you could use the juice of lemon)
Yeast- Gervin No3 is good
Nutrient.
Ok, pick the pears-don't use any over ripe bruised or bad ones!
Chop up the pears, put into a clean bucket and pour 4 pints boiling water over them.
Leave overnight, add the sugar the yeast, pectolase acid and nutrient.
Leave three days and stir well every day. It should be bubbling like a boiling volcanoe!
Strain off into a clean demi john, don't squueze the pears too much but make sure you get plenty of juice out.
Top up to the shoulders with cold water. Leave to ferment out
This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it.(Hydrometer reading below1000) If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or, just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear. Or add finings if you're in a hurry.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Pear juice wine(Perry)
Quantity- Every pint of juice makes a pint of perry!
If you've got plenty of pears you can make Perry.
It's superb, dry as a bone and a sort of pear cider.
The french drink it a lot, it's nothing like babycham, it's a real toper's tipple!
Pick nice fresh pears, no bruised or damaged ones.
Crush them, use a hammer, a commercial crusher(we sell them) or a pulpmaster( 15.79 from stock at time of writing). The pulpmaster is a blade that you attach to an electric drill, it's a bit Heath Robinson but works well.
Then press the pears to get the juice out--you'll need a lot of muscle or a press off us(between 60 to 300 pounds depending on size or you'll have to make one. We do hire a small press for £5.00 a week, £50.00 deposit.
You can freeze the pears and when they defrost the juice will run easier.
Then add yeast and ferment out as you would beer.
Ferment it in a bucket or in a fermenter with an airlock is best, if you make just a gallon use a demi john.
Leave about a week and then syphon into bottles or a plastic beer barrel. You can use plastic beer bottles. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per pint of perry and leave for about a month and drink carefully.
Enjoy the taste of a real old traditional drink!
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Parsnip Wine
2 Kg Parsnips
250ml grape concentrate
1.5kg sugar
1tsp citric acid or acid blend
1tsp yeast nutrient
Tannin
Yeast - Gervin no 3
Scrub the parsnips, chop them into small chunks then boil in 3 pints of water for about 20 mins.
Strain into a clean bucket and add sugar.
Leave to cool, pour into a clean sterilised demi john.
Top up to seven pints with cold water.
Add rest of ingredients and leave to ferment.
After the vigourous fermenting slows down top up with cold water to the shoulders of the demi john.
Leave to ferment out for about 3 weeks.
Taste or check the gravity with a hydrometer, it should be dry , under 1000 sg on the hydrometer.
If it's too sweet leave longer,
Add a campden tablet and a stabiliser tablet and leave to clear.
This wine is a bit sherry like in flavour and is best left to mature for a while.
But who wants to wait? Just drink it!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Peach Wine
2 kg Peaches
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Stone the peaches and squash them into a pulp.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Plum Wine
4lb Plums
250 ml red grape concentrate
1.5kg sugar
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp pectolase
yeast nutrient
These fruits don't have much flavour but
don't boil or soak them too long or they can release too much pectin and the wine will be cloudy.
Pour 2 pints boiling water over the fruit and leave overnight.
Next day add 4 pints cold water, and everything else.
Leave 24 hours and strain off. Do not squeeze too much!
Pour into a demi john add another 1/2 teaspoon of pectolase--
Leave until it stops frothing(about 2 days) and fill up with cold water to the shoulder of the demi john.
Ferment out as normal, when it stops fermenting( bubbles stop) syphon off into a clean dem-john and add a campden tablet and a potassium sorbate tablet.
Leave about a month if it doesn't clear, add finings and another campden tablet.
Bottle when clear-
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Potato Wine
I've got to admit it's not one of my favourites, but it does have a tendency
to very strong tasting.
1.5 kg Potatoes
1.5 Kg sugar
250 ml grape conc or 500g raisins
A mug of cold tea, no milk or sugar.
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Amylase--optional
High Alcohol yeast , Gervin no 3 is fine
Wash and scrub potatoes, cut out any eyes, green bits and black bits.
If they look really rough just peel them but it's said that the flavour is better
with the skin on.
Grate them or chop them up finely, cover with water as you do so or they go brown.
Then, boil for about 15 minutes. Skim off any scum that comes to the top.
Strain through a bag or sieve into a clean bucket.
Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
Top up to about seven pints total of water and leave overnight, add amylase now if you want.
It's an enzyme that gets rid of starch, if there's too much starch in the wine it can be cloudy.
Usually it's perfectly clear, but if you want to make sure...
Add rest of ingredients and stir well.
If you used the raisins(You did chop them up didn't you?) leave in the bucket for 5 days stirring daily,then strain into a demijohn.
If you used the grape concentrate pour into a demi john add an airlock.
Leave until the vigorous frothing subsides then top up to the shoulders with cold water.
The more brave of you might like to add a further 500g of sugar at this point.
Sometimes it will ferment out and you get a very strong wine, sometimes it just stops and it leaves a very sweet wine!
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
You can use a hydrometer or just taste it, if you like the taste go on to the next step. If you think it's too sweet, hard luck because we warned you before you started! If too dry you could add more sugar and go for even more alcohol. Just add 50grams of sugar at a time until it really stops fermenting. But you won't usually get much more in!
When the wine stops fermenting-
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
I usually use Kwik Cleer finings if it doesn't clear naturally after a week or two.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of
weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Raspberry Wine
I'm going to cheat a bit here and say follow the recipe for strawberry.
But, I do find that too many rasberries can give a bit of an overpowering flavour to a wine.
I like to use about a pound of raspberries and add it to a Beaverdale Shiraz kit with an extra 8 oz of sugar. This gives an exceptionally nice wine!
Rhubarb Wine - The easy way -Dry white
2kg Rhubarb
1.2kg Sugar
Pectloase
Tannin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Acid Blend or citric acid
Gervin N0 3 or all purpose yeast.
Chop the rhubarb into chunks and put into a bucket.
Pour the sugar over the top of the rhubarb and leave for 48 hours.
All the juice will drop out of the rhubarb, you may have to stir it a couple of times.
Strain the juice into a demijohn, top up to about seven pints with cold water add the rest of the ingredients and leave in a warm place to ferment out.
After a few days when the vigourous frothing subsides, top up to the shoulders of the demi john with cold water.
After about two weeks all the bubbling will have stopped, syphon into a clean demi john and add:
one campden tablet and 1 potassium sorbate tablet.
I usually add Kwik Cleer finings at this point.
It's better to taste the wine before you add the campden tablet, if it's too sweet leave it a bit longer, if it's too dry{sour} you can always sweeten it later.
Drink when clear!
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
WINE PRESSES FOR SALE CLICK HERE
Saskatoon Berry
1.5kg Saskatoon Berries
1Kg Sugar
Gervin No2 Yeast
Nutrient
1tsp Pectolase
250ml Grape Concentrate
Crush fruit and put all other ingredients except Water, Pectic Enzyme and Wine Yeast in a bucket. Add 1/2 quantity of Water hot, stir to dissolve sugar. Add balance of Water cold and then Pectic Enzyme. Cover with plastic sheet. When must is 2l° - 23° C (70° - 75° F) add yeast. Stir must daily. Ferment 4 -5 days or until S.G. is 1.030. Strain out pulp through nylon straining bag and press. Syphon into gallon jar and attach fermentation locks. Rack in 10 days and again in one month. If necessary, fine with recommended Finings. When wine is clear and stable, bottle.
Sloe Gin
I make sloe gin most years and just mix a few sloes with sugar and gin. I've just made a new batch and I've made a note of exactly how I did it.
Here's how. Prick each sloe with a fork, I tried without doing this one year and the flavour doesn't come out as well.
Put the sloes into an empty wine bottle until it's a quarter full. It doesn't matter what size! As long as it's a quarter full, I usually use the standard 700 ml wine bottle.
Add sugar until the bottle is half full, including the sloes. Don't shake or stir, just pour the sugar gently on top of the sloes.
Now pour gin in the bottle, what kind of gin you ask? Any gin, I use the really cheap stuff from Aldi.
As the sugar dissolves add more gin, after 24 hours just top it up with a bit more gin if needed.
Leave until Xmas...Hooray!
But what about the sloes in the bottle ? They don't do you any harm! Try drinking it with a sloe in the glass like an
olive. It looks the part. Don't mess about filtering or straining the sloe gin. You pour it with the sloes in the bottle and
the bits etc are part of the gin. If other people don't like it there's more for you!!
Repeat the process next year.
Strawberry Wine
To make one gall/4.5litres
1 to 2 Kg Strawberries
1kg Sugar
250 ml red grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Strawberry wine is nicer a touch sweet. The flavour of the fruit comes through better
with the sweetness. I'd recommend that you add about 4 to 8oz of sugar at the end.
As strawberries can be expensive use less fruit if you want to but it does lose a bit of the intensity of the fruit.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature usually overnight add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains.
Put into a clean demi john. Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Tea Wine
2 Pints Tea
1kg Sugar
250 ml grape concentrate
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Use different tea's for more exotic flavours. Pg tips works ok, but be brave and try Earl Grey, Blackcurrrant or passion fruit! Make the tea in big jug or bowl leave to brew for about half an hour
Strain off and add the sugar,
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients
Put into a clean demi john.
Top up to shoulders of demi john with cold water. Add an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. If it's too sweet leave it longer.
If it's dry(sour taste) or just right,syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate.
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
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Rosehip Wine
1kg Rosehips
1tsp Citric Acid
1kg Sugar
Pectolase
Yeast and Nutrient
Put the rosehips and the sugar into a bucket and pour over boiling water to dissolve the sugar.
Allow to cool, preferably overnight.
Then add all the other ingredients and ferment for about a week.
Strain off the pulp into a clean demi john and carry on the fermentation until finished.
When clear, bottle and store.
Brewing supplies--www.thebrewshop.com
Baileys Irish Cream Style
4oz sugar
2 1/2 fluid oz water
8 fluid oz whiskey
1 5oz can evaporated milk
5 fluid oz single cream thin fresh, not tinned
10 ml cacao essence(we have this)
Mix everything together and allow the sugar to dissolve..
Leave in fridge for 2 hours
It's now ready to drink.
It should now be kept in the fridge until drunk.(you or the drink!)
A customer gave us this recipe, we've not tried it yet . Let us know if you give a go!
Zebra TonicWine
Of course there's no such thing as zebra wine! But if you fancy a go here's one.
The prunes and the pears are the black and white of the zebra and the ginger is the kick!
Small tin prunes
Small tin pears
1 oz dried ginger
1/2tsp allspice
1kg Sugar
1 tsp pectolase
Tannin
Nutrient
1 tsp acid blend or citric acid
Yeast
Chop the fruit up and remove the stones from the prunes. Tip the fruit and syrup into a bucket.
Pour 4 pints of boiling water(two kettles full is about right) over the fruit and add the sugar.
When cool to room temperature add the rest of ingredients and 2 pints of cold water.
It should start bubbling within 24 hours. If it doesn't, add more yeast because you killed the first lot!
After 3 days strain off, use a coarse straining bag that you can buy off us. Or, improvise if you must with muslin or the net curtains. Don't worry if the ginger gets through the muslin, it all drops out in the demi john.
Put into a clean demi john with an airlock and leave to ferment out. This may take a few days or a couple of weeks depending on the temperature.
When the bubbles stop coming through the airlock, or slow down to about one every 2 minutes test the wine.
Either use a hydrometer or taste it. This wine should be sweet!
Syphon off into a clean demi john.
Add 1 campden tablet and potassium sorbate. This wine is best sweet!!Add sugar to sweeten if needed-about 8 oz
Leave to clear.
When clear, syphon into a clean demi john or bottle.
If it's too dry you can sweeten with sugar but keep a check that it doesn't start fermenting again. Leave it a couple of weeks then add a campden before bottling.
Please let us know how you found our Zebra Wine!
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