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Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing

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sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 2:54 pm Post subject: Progress report...

Right, today I have mostly been:
Racking the gorseflower. Looks almost ready to bottle, but a little more time can't hurt.
Racking the strawberry. Again, very bright. I'll give it a couple of weeks then bottle it since cab said it was for drinking young.
Not racking the birch sap which is continuing its slooooow fermentation.
Bottling the parsnip. Quite impressed with that one acherally.
Bottling the Seville orange and Candlemas. Both of these definitely need a long time in bottle. (And possibly giving away at the end of it, but we'll see.)

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 4:50 pm Post subject:
How do you know when things are ready to rack and bottle? I must have a look - there is definitely less bubbling coming frlom under the work table than there has been.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 4:52 pm Post subject:
I wait until they've definitely stopped fermenting before racking. If I remember I check the SG with a hydrometer too. I just wait until they're clear before bottling.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 5:03 pm Post subject:

Must be very satisfying moving your wines through to their 'next stage'.

That's a very long fermentation for the birch sap, Sean. Though some wines do go on and on for ages. Have you tested its SG ? If it's below 995, you might consider it done, and could put it in a cold place to discourage further bubbling. That, or autumn coolth will make it stop.

I just took some rhubarb wine out of the fermentation cupboard that still thinks it's fermenting, even though the SG is 982 (and no, I haven't tasted it). Put it in the cool pantry to make it stop.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 5:07 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

I wait until they've definitely stopped fermenting before racking. If I remember I check the SG with a hydrometer too.
I just wait until they're clear before bottling.

Ah - science even I can (probably!) manage!

Thanks

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 5:10 pm Post subject:

gil wrote:

That's a very long fermentation for the birch sap, Sean.

I'll leave it 'til we get back from holiday I think, then check and rack when we're dealing with the blackberries and sloes.

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35056
Location: Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 5:16 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

gil wrote:

That's a very long fermentation for the birch sap, Sean.

I'll leave it 'til we get back from holiday I think, then check and rack when we're dealing with the blackberries and sloes.

That will be the ones we haven't picked yet!

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 07 7:29 pm Post subject:

Today I
Got 3 demijohns of Nettle into the kitchen with the intention of racking them and starting a secondary fermentation for sparkling >>> bottling. Looked at them. Left them on the worktop.

Took the SGs of various brews in fermentation and decided that 4 of them (all rhubarb) had finished, so removed them to the cool pantry.

Started 2 more batches of Top Secret Wine (prepped, steeped, and have just added the yeast).

Went for a quick forage on the low ground, and came back with rowans and three carrier bags of apples from trees I'd never spotted before. Also found a plum tree, but it had no fruit on.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 07 10:51 am Post subject:
Five gallons of the mystery sloe/bullace/damson things in the fermenting bucket. Finally racked the birch sap. Didn't taste it but it smells pleasingly 'winey'. Going to bottle the blackberry whisky in a minute or two.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 07 1:31 pm Post subject:
Racked the gooseberry which, with a pleasing symmetry, smells of sauvignon blanc. Going to bottle the gorse flower tomorrow. Placed emergency interweb order with Arkwright's Homebrew for more bungs, fermentation locks, pectolase etc. Picked the apples from MIL's garden.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 07 1:54 pm Post subject:
Winebibbers! I've got 120 pints of beer bubbling away here.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 10:50 am Post subject:
Bottled the gorseflower which is deeeeelicious, coconutty and floral. Dunno whether to be really pleased at how well it's come out or really depressed at the thought of picking enough flowers to make a much larger batch next time.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 10:59 am Post subject:

Well we now have

7 Gallons of Mixed Berry bubbling away (mainly elderberry with blackberries, blackcurrants and jostaberries)

1 Gallon Harvest Mead
1 Gallon Plain Mead
1 Gallon Rose Petal sitting on raisins atm - needs to be put into the demi-john tonight
1 Gallon Damson - also sitting on raisins - the recipe I'm using from Brian Leverett needs it to steep on the raisins for a fortnight before being put in a demi-john to ferment out

1 Gallon Merlot (Kit Wine) - Needs bottling
1 Gallon Elderflower (Kit Wine) - Needs bottling
1 Gallon Spirit Base - Needs bottling and the flavourings added

Then we have another 15lb of Elderberry with a little blackberry added currently steeping from yesterday's forage - That will got to make another 5 Gallon Batch - Think we might be OK now for Elderberry wine for this year

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 11:01 am Post subject:
There's damn-all elderberries round here this year.

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 1:47 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

There's damn-all elderberries round here this year.

Come over to me then, and pick mine.

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