Grow Your Own Magazine

Ok, perhaps I'll just put my head round the door at Wilko at lunch time then.....

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/03/2008...parsnips a-plenty...

Shame that - I did have a whole load of voile net curtain, but chucked it out. I bet a metre of that would be dead cheap. When I'm only-looking-at-jelly-bags in Wilko, I could pop into Rosebys too.

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/03/2008...parsnips a-plenty...

'chea right

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A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! (Thomas Edward Brown)

As long as your strainer gets the big crud out it'll be great. The finer stuff will drop out as the dead yeast cells fall to the bottom of the demijohn. Panic not!

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Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination. Mrs C W Earle

vegheaven.blogspot.com updated May 18th 2008

Hazel and/or Shirl - I had a look at these 7 day kits in Wilko this morning (just happened to be passing, you understand ). There was a 6 bottle 'starter pack' or a 30 bottle pack which (I presume) just had the mixture in. They were both the same price! So, is it worth getting the starter pack? I'm guessing from it's size that it contains a bucket but I don't know what else. 5 times more bottles for the money is very appealing but then again, I don't want to find I need to spend £20 on equipment if I just buy the 30 bottle pack.

The starter pack contains a brew bucket and all ingredients and equipment (bar the sugar) to make 6 bottles of wine. It is what I started with. If you buy the 30 bottle kit (the one I now do) you will need to buy a big fermenting bucket (around £7.50 I think) a hydrometer and a siphon tube. You need to add the cost of sugar to whichever size kit you do - think it is 4 and a quarter bags of sugar for the big kit. A big plastic spoon is also very useful if you decide to do the big kit - that way you can actually make the wine in just one bucket (stirring vigorously does the degassing without pouring wine from one container to another).

I can recommend the Chardonnay kit, have done a small red kit but didn't taste it as I really don't like red wine. Madmax enjoyed it though.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

In the 6 bottle starter kit you get 2 buckets, a siphon hose, a hydrometer, 6 bottle caps, a long spoon and the various pouches. I also bought separately a long testing tube - long enough to let the hydrometer bob up and down.

In the 30 bottle kit, I guess you just get all the pouches for 30 bottles.

So if you buy the refill kit it will be cheaper per bottle, but you'll have to buy the kit - e.g. a bucket, (I'd get a demijohn and a bubbler thing - seems more hygenic than it bubbling away in a bucket), hydrometer, siphoning pipe.

By having the 6 bottle kit with all the guff, you know that you have everything in, tho' the equipment is a bit cheap, and there's no sterilising tablets in - it just suggests boiling water.

I'm happy that I bought the kit as it had everything all in and has got me familiar with the processes involved, and now I can move on to making my own!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/03/2008...parsnips a-plenty...

Thanks ladies. So, am I right in understanding that the 30 bottle packs can't be made bit by bit in the six bottle kit?

I've got demi johns, a syphon and a hydrometer thing but I'm tempted by the bucket cos it sounds less faff.

Do the wines store well? I like a tipple but it'd take me a while to get through 30 bottles, I think!

Oh dear, they don't store well in our house

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A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! (Thomas Edward Brown)

You wouldn't want to try sharing out the ingredients believe me!!

I would say that since you have lots of the bits, just buy a big brew bucket (with a lid) and the 30 bottle kit.

As far as I can tell the wine stores fine. I haven't kept it for any length of time though as you tend to give a bottle to friends for the promise of some empties!!

It is easy to scrub out the plastic buckets and then I soak them with Milton (or Asda's own) steriliser. I use the same to sterilise bottles to re-use.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Ooh, great idea Shirl, I can't get any of the specialist wine making kit here - do you think the baby sterilising type thing would work?

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A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! (Thomas Edward Brown)

Thanks Shirl, think I'll dive right in with the 30 bottles then!

Do you mean for cleaning? If so, yes. I hate the smell of the stuff they sell in the brew store for cleaning and sterilising, but love the smell of milton - that's why I use it. In my view if it was good enough to clean bottles for my son's to drink from, it is plenty good enough for cleaning bottles for me to drink from If you want me to post you some of the tablets over, let me know.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Oh, supplementary question! Would I have to bottle it all as soon as it was done? I don't have 30 empties!

Just watch out for the sugar instructions. There is a small error in the quantity on the Chardonnay kit. If that's the one you go for, give me a shout when you are putting it together and I will check the correct measurements for you.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

You could siphon it into clean, sterilised demijohns and put water-filled bubblers on the tops to keep it good (or of course just seal with solid rubber or cork bungs)

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Aww fanx, that's very kind I'll have a look at my local supermarker first.

Would that work on the demijohns etc. rather than using Chempro?

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A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! (Thomas Edward Brown)