Stackmonkey's Homebrew thread..

[stackmonkey 10]

Following on from the home brew thread, and one or two other 'what can i make with this spare fruit?' threads.

 

I will shortly be acquiring quantities of a friend's spare eating apples in return for some wine already made.

Over the next few days/weeks/months I will share the recipe and processes of turning said apples into apple wine and will try to record all the details on here, including how it eventually tastes. I already have the necessary equipment and will start properly once I have the actual apples.

[Jabberwocky 46]

This is going to be good. Do we get to see a few pics of you blasted out of your mind on the end product too?

[Tracie 10]

This is going to be good.

 

I agree! Great idea stackmonkey - I'm really looking forward to hearing how you get on

[stackmonkey 10]

Apples have been acquired - they appear to be Cox's, which is good because they shouldn't need lots of sugar and the wine should finish with a taste distinguishable from any other apple.

 

Processing will start at the week end.

[stackmonkey 10]

OK, Part 1 is now done.

take 4lbs of fresh, washed apples.

roughly chop, discarding the cores and stalks

put into large pan, add about 3 litres of cold water and heat to boiling point.

remove from heat and pour everything into 2 gallon sterilised bucket.

add a small amount (less then 1/2 tsp) of powdered yeast, seal the lid on the bucket.

leave for 7-10 days to allow fermentation to start.

[Tracie 10]

How's the apple wine coming along stackmonkey? I was just having a read through this thread again and noticed that it had been over a week - has the fermentation process kicked in?

[jennycakes 11]

cut out the middle man and go to

http://www.winesathome.net:thumbsup:

[stackmonkey 10]

How's the apple wine coming along stackmonkey? I was just having a read through this thread again and noticed that it had been over a week - has the fermentation process kicked in?

 

I'll be transferring it to a demijon this week - I was going to do it this weekend but got a bit 'distracted'.

[stackmonkey 10]

cut out the middle man and go to

http://www.winesathome.net:thumbsup:

 

I already use a different winemaking forum, but you tend not to have any start-to-finish accounts, unless the whole process has been completed and the author knows it has been a success.

 

This one is real-time, so

a) there may be considerable delays during fermenting and ageing,

b) it is somewhat experimental as I've not done apple wine before and am using a slightly different technique to what i've previously used.

c) it's warts and all, so you'll get to read the bad and good bits, and what i actually do, rather than a recipe for what you should do.

[Tracie 10]

I'm really intrigued by the whole process.. I've never attempted any sort of home-brewing myself but it's interesting to be able to 'tag along' on here Where are you keeping the fermenting mixture now stackmonkey? Does it need to be kept in particular conditions? *generates plans for the cellar*

[stackmonkey 10]

The mixture has thus far been kept under a kitchen cupboard (cos it's out of the way).

In order to try and minimise sediment, I've strained the fruit through a colander into a pressure cooker and then filtered it through muslin cloth (of the sort used for cheap curtains) into a sterilised demijon.

I've then added 1 teaspoon of wine yeast and 2.5 lbs of white sugar until the liquid was at the base of the shoulder of the demijon. Given it a stir and then sealed with a rubber bung and airlock; which has cold water in with a small amount of steriliser to prevent contamination.

Ideally it would go under the stairs for a consistent temperature (helps with clearing the wine) but I've run out of space so it's gone on a shelf in my dining room. This isn't perfect, but is better than the varying temps in the kitchen for this stage.

It's already bubbling away as I write, next to some damson already on the go, and will remain there until I rack it to clear sediment in about a month.

It smells OK at the moment, definitely apple-y, but quite frankly looks like cloudy urine....

[mc55 10]

ooo Stackmonkey, I'm having flashbacks to my pre-teen years ! Mum used to make loads of home made wine and I remember we had demi-johns all over the house, gently bubbling away - with various degrees of cloudiness !