What have you got brewing?

I have:

Pineapple
Red grape (from an unidentified grape vine gift)
White grape ( as above)
Ginger and lemon
Mixed berry
Parsnip
Apple
Orange mead.

The grapes and mixed berry are from a freezer clear out. I froze them as I harvested last year. The ginger and lemon I just make at any time of year and can be drunk young so is popular at gatherings.
The parsnips haven't really been frosted enough but I'm not going to eat them so I am fermenting them.
The apple is nice mulled for visitors.

Everything else has been bottled now.

 

Ginger & Lemon ? Yum ! any chance of a recipie ?

Currently on the go, fermentation is mostly done & Im waiting for them to clear for bottling:
Apple
Apple & Ruhbarb
Quince

Grape batch 1
Grape batch 3

.. No idea what types of grapes people give me, they have just started turning up with carrier bags full on of them, but you can tell when you get a good wine grape, 'cos batch 2 has made a really rather nice rose which cleared in a couple of weeks. Batch 1 can probably be bottled this weekend if I have the time, its a mixture of two white grapes & its a bit sharp. Actually its really face puckeringly sharp but will probably mellow a bit in the bottle. If not I can use it to strip paint or something :-)

Quite fancy trying some nettle wine if I get around too it.

 

10 gallons of Blackcurrant & just started drinking the Apple & Pineapple, it's a bit strong though

 

@OxfordNick Batch 1 can probably be bottled this weekend if I have the time, its a mixture of two white grapes & its a bit sharp. Actually its really face puckeringly sharp but will probably mellow a bit in the bottle. If not I can use it to strip paint or something :-)

Do you not back sweeten if it is a bit sharp? I know some people don't like to for some reason but I find it really helps.

 

I probably will add a bit more sugar - I try not to as a rule 'cos I tend to ferment things dry with a high alchohol yeast & dont bother to use anything to kill it off - which means it can start a secondary fermentation if you add sugar when bottling.. with explosive results.

 

Most things can be found on the internet or I can recommend something if you have an idea of what raw materials you have - but I did just buy a second hand copy of this book Drink your own Garden - Judith Glover which is pretty good if you can get it cheap & you dont already have a reference book (Ive got 2 or 3 & they are mostly the same).

 

There's basically 3 types of homebrewed wine:

1) Kits
2) 'Country' wines made from fruit, flowers & vegetables but these can take a long time to mature.
3) Carton Juice wines (that are drinkable in a couple of months) such as Wine#1 AKA Easy White http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/...er-1-Dry-Table-wine-(As-featured-on-the-BBC!) (need to sign up to view images) which is very inexpensive to make and a £1 sachet of finings from Wilkos will clear 6 gallons ready for drinking 24 hours after fermentation has ceased. Then make some more and experiment by substituting pineapple, peach, etc. for some of the apple juice.

 

Well, I had several gallons on the go (mainly carton wines) but there ell ruined. Air locks ran dry so the wine has become contaminated :-(

 

Nothing fermenting at the moment, but just about to bottle up my latest batch of Hefeweissen - (55% Wheat, 45% Pilsner Malt, Hallertauer Hersbrucker hops).

 

Got 5 gallon of pineapple and apple wine on the go in the greenhouse, plants benefit from the extra CO2 and the brew likes the heat

 

Bit of a surplus at the moment & its taking over the living room:

--
Nice day today so I might pop out & collect some nettles for a new batch. Then again, I might just sit out in the garden & drink.

 

Brewday today.... A light pale ale with lowish OG, Amarillo and Cascade hops including some of my home grown Cascade..... Now in the fermenter at 18C
I'll be calling this one Essex Blonde