How to Brew Cheap Wine

Originally Posted by Bill Sikes

'K, what sort (or can't you tell[1])?







[1] I have produced "wine" from things that people could not guess!

It's cherry wine!
I also love weird stuff like potato, parsnip and birch wine.
Elderberry is my fave, but it does me in

[Bill Sikes]

Originally Posted by Pinky

(Dad's home-made wine) It's cherry wine!
I also love weird stuff like potato, parsnip and birch wine.
Elderberry is my fave, but it does me in

I haven't done cherry wine.... now the season's past, & I haven't time, anyway.
'Tater? Dunno. Sounds like a base for something to chuck through the still.
Parsnip, can be good. Birch wine, certainly, if it's plain and "natural", less so
if it's tarted up. Don't use the tree in the garden! Use some where it "doesn't
matter" (but plug the hole, anyway!). Elderberry is a great favourite. You can
also stick elderberries in with blackcurrant and apple to make pies, crumbles,
or even jam - elderberry jam or jelly is great (so is crab apple jelly, you've still
time to do this now)! Next year, drop a hint about elderflower - this is also a
sure-fire hit. It can be made sparkling, too. The elder bush is most useful, if
rather pungent in some applications. Anyway. I have to go to bed in a mo.
Hawthorn is good, but time-consuming to collect. Dandelion (from flowers) is
also very good. What else? *Beetroot*! Mature for at least two years. Lovely,
nothing *like* the taste of beetroot! Oh. Apple. Much stronger than cider,
which I'm drinkink now, and also easy to make. I wonder whether crab-apples
would do? Maybe a bit sharp.

Sounds good! I usually make elderflower cordial, but haven't attempted wine yet. Maybe next year eh? Apple sounds out of this world!

[Bill Sikes]

Originally Posted by Pinky

Sounds good! I usually make elderflower cordial, but haven't attempted wine yet. Maybe next year eh? Apple sounds out of this world!

I did some cordial the year before last. It went mouldy very fast. Knickers.
Elderflower sorbet is a wonderful thing, which is what I'd intended making.

Originally Posted by Bill Sikes

I did some cordial the year before last. It went mouldy very fast. Knickers.
Elderflower sorbet is a wonderful thing, which is what I'd intended making.

It lasts longer if you disinfect the bottle first. Milton or something similar works a treat! Lasts a couple of months like that.

[Bill Sikes]

Originally Posted by Pinky

It lasts longer if you disinfect the bottle first. Milton or something similar works a treat! Lasts a couple of months like that.

I used those bottles with a porcelain stopper, a rubber washer, and a wire lever
arrangement to close them (dead "Newquay Extra Stout" bottles). The washers
were bleached (a little "thin" bleach in water is excellent for this), the bottles
and stoppers were baked very hot in the oven (over "boiling point"). I expect it
was contamination of the cordial, &/or insufficient sugar... will have a go again
some time.

[Galbally]

How do you ferment expensive wine and sell it to rich people for £600 a bottle, thats what I want to know, oh yeah, thats a good earner.

[Okie]

Originally Posted by Bill Sikes

I have spent a few minutes looking into this. Interesting. Do you know of an
on-line resource giving a technical introduction, preferably with notes of an
international style?

No I dont. I think catawba grapes are named for the indian tribe who cultivated them. Locals here make wine from muskadynes(sp). wild grapes from the East part of Oklahoma. Very acidic grapes. Large as tame grapes. Some call it muskatel.

[Okie]

Originally Posted by Bill Sikes

I haven't done cherry wine.... now the season's past, & I haven't time, anyway.
'Tater? Dunno. Sounds like a base for something to chuck through the still.
Parsnip, can be good. Birch wine, certainly, if it's plain and "natural", less so
if it's tarted up. Don't use the tree in the garden! Use some where it "doesn't
matter" (but plug the hole, anyway!). Elderberry is a great favourite. You can
also stick elderberries in with blackcurrant and apple to make pies, crumbles,
or even jam - elderberry jam or jelly is great (so is crab apple jelly, you've still
time to do this now)! Next year, drop a hint about elderflower - this is also a
sure-fire hit. It can be made sparkling, too. The elder bush is most useful, if
rather pungent in some applications. Anyway. I have to go to bed in a mo.
Hawthorn is good, but time-consuming to collect. Dandelion (from flowers) is
also very good. What else? *Beetroot*! Mature for at least two years. Lovely,
nothing *like* the taste of beetroot! Oh. Apple. Much stronger than cider,
which I'm drinkink now, and also easy to make. I wonder whether crab-apples
would do? Maybe a bit sharp.

When I was a young man I had a friend a bit younger than I. He made some sort of concoction from pineapples. I told him to bring a gallon and a bunch of us took to to a drive in theater. I took one large gulp and it was more terrible than anything I had even drank. but of course I did take a second drink. When I took the third drink, ny lips were numb and I was starting to sweat. After that I lost track of everything.I sort of recall going into my friends little guest house and later my dad leading me into my house backdoor. I was sick for three days. I could not eat. I suppose I got poison. Not sure.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by Okie

When I was a young man I had a friend a bit younger than I. He made some sort of concoction from pineapples. I told him to bring a gallon and a bunch of us took to to a drive in theater. I took one large gulp and it was more terrible than anything I had even drank. but of course I did take a second drink. When I took the third drink, ny lips were numb and I was starting to sweat. After that I lost track of everything.I sort of recall going into my friends little guest house and later my dad leading me into my house backdoor. I was sick for three days. I could not eat. I suppose I got poison. Not sure.

Same here. Parents made saki and burgundy. Vomited for 2 days.