Remembering the discussion last Sat, and now reading this thread, I've looked in my CJJ Berry books. I've got the originals published 19 cough, cough predecimal and the revised versions 1978 and todays 2006.
Right so earliest ones don't have Celery Wine. 1978 has the following:-
Ingredients
3 lb celery (inc. green parts)
3 lb cooking apples (or 1 quart cider)
1/2 pint grape juice concentrate
3 lb sugar
1/4 oz tartaric acid
1/4 oz ammonium phosphate
Water to make it up to 1 gal.
Yeast.
Method
Thinly slice celery and grate cooking apples, including core and skins. Put in fermentation vessel together with sugar. Pour over boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar. When cool add grape concentrate (and cider if apples not used) and the rest of the ingredients. Ferment for 10 days stirring every day. Strain into fermentation vessel, fit lock and ferment out and rack in the usual way.
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So I would say that you could use a variation of this theme and add grape concentrate and/or cider adding up to 3/4 pint to improve the must.
Just my 2p worth.
Janie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flummery  Don't want to put a downer but don't expect veg wines to taste like wine! They'll get you pie-eyed alright but I just don't like them!
CJJ Berry was writing in the 60s I think. People didn't drink wine then. I used to make wine with my Dad in those days. It was alcohol. It was cheap. |
They are called "country wines" and even the veg ones can taste like fruit wines.
Some "proper" wines are revolting as are some country wines. It takes time and experimentation to find which ones you like and which you don't. I've chucked home-made wines in the past as I didn't like them and found an odd bottle later that I've missed that has tasted glorious having been kept a few years
. (That was Elderberry by the way, and Barley can be a bit like that as well).
You also have to experiment with the main ingredient, water, sugar combination as some people prefer fuller bodied or sweeter wines than others.
My favourite home-made wine is an Elderflower recipe I have which should be called Elderflower and Rosepetal. It tastes remarkably like a Piersporter and is light and refreshing.
When I first started making my own wines, the recipes called for too much sugar and very heavy sweet results. I learnt to cut back on the amount of sugar until I had a result (nearly wrote "got") that I liked.
Janie