|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 14, 2006 10:22:04 GMT 12
LEMON WINE Started a lemon wine this morning: 12 lemons Juice and skin 150g sultanas (left in hot water then through food processor) 4 bananas (mashed in food processor) 1 gallon boiling water (poured over all) The must is left to infuse for 3 days in a foodproof bucket (which can be bought with bakeries)
After three days strain, add yeast and 1.3kg sugar (and nutrients). Ferment as usual with airlock, racking off as required.
At this course I took for wine making the tutor said that adding bananas to any fruit wine will give the wine "body". The sultanas are like nutrients for the yeast so I wont add any more nutrients.
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 14, 2006 10:53:18 GMT 12
Oh! Good one I will try this as I have a heap of lemons here and was wondering what I can do with them.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 14, 2006 19:14:48 GMT 12
Just a quick note: My daughter asked me if I could make her wedding wines. I have started making some. So far she hasn't found a partner yet but she knows a wine has to mature!!
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 15, 2006 9:27:46 GMT 12
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 15, 2006 9:33:53 GMT 12
Cheers meandog, I just had a look and saved it to my favourites. Yes, that's a good site it shows the theory and I have to learn first before I can decide what distill we should get.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 15, 2006 15:09:46 GMT 12
Just a quick tip for homebrewers! Our tutor said if the brew doesn't want to start ferminting --> Take it for a ride!! Put the fermenting bottle (secured) in the back of the car and go for a drive! I can tell you it works. ;D We had a 25liter bottle with plumwine and after a ride it started fermenting!
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 16, 2006 8:53:08 GMT 12
Put down a batch of Lion Lager on Sat, I was hoping to get it under way a lot earlier so it would be ready for drinking at Xmas but now due to my laziness it will now be in Feb. but it will go down well then, being the hottest month.
|
|
|
Post by OasisNZ on Oct 16, 2006 17:35:17 GMT 12
Puttin' down a brew.... Ingredients: 25L Water 45 grams of Hops Handful of dates 3kg sugar 800 grams malt 1 teabag earl grey 10grams of Bottom Fermenting Larger Yeast Method... Put the hops and dates in a large pot and boil for about an hour... Strain the hops off and put them in the next pot of boiling water to extract as much goodness out of the hops as possible. Pour the hop water into the 25L container... Keep boiling pots of water and begin disolving the sugar, about a kilo per large pot makes it easy to disolve the sugar. Do the same with the malt, and top up the container (in this case an old fashioned Swiss 25 litre jar) with boiling water... Leave to cool to about 25 oC, then add the yeast mixed in a little warm sugar water... Leave to brew for about eight days, then bottle. Ready to drink as soon as you get thirsty,
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 20, 2006 7:49:45 GMT 12
Meandog you mentioned that you would like to make a macadamia nut wine. I had a look in google and could find that kind of wine for sale. I think it must be a Hawaiin speciality. I asked then the tutor from our wine course and he said it's most likely a liqueur type and not really a wine and only called a "wine". I went back to google but couldn't find any recipe and nothing is mentioned in my books. Hope you find a recipe. I would be interested as usual too!
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 20, 2006 7:54:42 GMT 12
Absinthe liqueur recipe! Found this recipe in google. Till recently absinthe was prohibited in Switzerland. Mainly because it can cause abortion and even blindness. We also call absinthe the "green fairy". In the movie Moulin Rouge they mention absinthe and when you look closely there is a green fairy appearing. I love absinthe and it tasted better when it was prohibited! ABSINTHE LIQUEUR 1 pint vodka 2 tsp crumbled wormwood 2 tsp crumbled anise seeds 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 4 cardamom pods 1/2 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp chopped angelica root Direction: Steep wormwood in vodka for 48 hours. Remove, add the rest and steep for one week. Age.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 21, 2006 8:38:01 GMT 12
Oh! Good one I will try this as I have a heap of lemons here and was wondering what I can do with them. When I was at the wine tutors place yesterday he told me to freeze lemon juice or grapefruit juice and use it later for wine making. He also suggests to freeze any fruits which are not that easy to juice like plums, peaches, elderberries. It wont affect the wine making at all when they were frozen and they will be easier to juice. I am off into the garden now. Have heaps to do and it looks like rain in Nelson!
|
|
|
Post by twinkletwinkle on Oct 21, 2006 8:53:13 GMT 12
WoW....now let me see if I can "twist" Sir Twinkles arm to tell me his secrets....he's owned a few pubs here and globally...BUT he has a really dear friend who makes his OWN BREW....hmmm .... I can only ask .... hmm secrets huh....lol
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 21, 2006 9:08:28 GMT 12
Ivyplus if you ask your wine tutor about freezing fruit you may also find some fruits seem to increase their sugar content through freezing. Well thats what I have been told by an old hand at wine making. Worth getting a second opinion eh?
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 21, 2006 13:59:56 GMT 12
Ivyplus if you ask your wine tutor about freezing fruit you may also find some fruits seem to increase their sugar content through freezing. Well thats what I have been told by an old hand at wine making. Worth getting a second opinion eh? Do you think it would be a bad thing when the fruits increase their sugar content?
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 21, 2006 14:03:06 GMT 12
WoW....now let me see if I can "twist" Sir Twinkles arm to tell me his secrets....he's owned a few pubs here and globally...BUT he has a really dear friend who makes his OWN BREW....hmmm .... I can only ask .... hmm secrets huh....lol Yes, please as Sir Twinkles. I am very much interested in any suggestions for brewing!
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 21, 2006 14:23:28 GMT 12
By the way this chap was talking it seems to an advantage. He mentioned it to me when I asked him if it would be o.k. to freeze guauvas as to beat the birds until I had enough for some wine.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 21, 2006 15:17:56 GMT 12
By the way this chap was talking it seems to an advantage. He mentioned it to me when I asked him if it would be o.k. to freeze guauvas as to beat the birds until I had enough for some wine. I guess I will have to freeze future koninis to get enough for a brew!
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 21, 2006 15:34:17 GMT 12
ELDER FLOWER CHAMPAGNE I remember my mother made every year elder flower champagne. It is the time of the year now for this. Here is her recipe. Hope I translate it right. 7 liters water and 1kg sugar bring to the boil leave to cool to about 20oC Add 2 sliced lemons 8 - 12 elder flower bunches 150ml wine vinegar Leave in a warm spot. After a few days she sieved the drink and filled it into strong bottles. Or she let us drink some. It was not yet very alcoholic. I wonder if it would work to fill the drink into plastic bottles. Be careful when opening after a while, it will overflow (like champagne). It is an amazingly good drink! I think this recipe works with wild yeast.
|
|
|
Post by meandog on Oct 22, 2006 15:11:47 GMT 12
For ones in the cooler parts of our country, and up this way in the winter, it pays to use bottom heat to assist in fermentation. Well an excellent way of getting this, is to use the element and thermostat from a water bed. There is plenty of those floating around and one can pick them up cheap or a promise of a bottle or two of the good stuff. One element will fit two of the 23 litre plastic fermenters on easily.
|
|
|
Post by ivyplus on Oct 22, 2006 16:32:37 GMT 12
For ones in the cooler parts of our country, and up this way in the winter, it pays to use bottom heat to assist in fermentation. Well an excellent way of getting this, is to use the element and thermostat from a water bed. There is plenty of those floating around and one can pick them up cheap or a promise of a bottle or two of the good stuff. One element will fit two of the 23 litre plastic fermenters on easily. Thanks for that. Good idea. I wondered why the beer is not going off that well. It's probably too cold. We have all the brewing gear beside the stove but it's now the time of the year you don't use the heater all the time and it can get quite cold especially over night!
|
|