Wine making kits

[ilex]

How much would it cost roughly to start from scratch? I have a few old 1 gallon demijohns in the shed but that is it...do i need a fruit presser?
ilex

[Shortie]

Re the fruit presser, I thnk it depends on the fruit. If you're doing apple wine then I suppose a fruit presser would be really handy. If it's small quantities I don't think you need one.

I've made the following wines this year without a fruit press:

Rhubarb
Blackberry
Pineapple

[Squirrel]

I don't have a fruit presser and I have made orange wine, banana wine, berry wine and who knows what else - can't remember now! I know I tried Ribena wine, was not too bad but was too cool and didn't ferment properly!

You just need a large fermenting bucket with lid, the stoppers for the demijons that take the bubblers and you are away! Search the threads because I seem to recall that there are some good ideas and tips about wine making!

Let us know how you get on!

[brewer]

general wine making

Gorse flower wine is really nice but requires the flower heads to be immersed to release the animals. It will make a nice wine, although thin .
Andrew. Heather will only make a perfumed, light beer, Unless you add it to a malt first to give the beer body. so brew as normal but add heather flowers for perfume.

[Brewer-again]

andrewo, don't leave

You suggest that one should avoid rosemary as it can be halucinogenic, What quantity should I avoid!!. I have a very healthy plant in the garden that I use for roast chicken but I would be 'theoretically' interested in its other 'theoretical properties'. Are you aware of any back up information web sites. What have you been brewing lately??

[Birdie Wife]

Gorse flower wine is really nice but requires the flower heads to be immersed to release the animals. It will make a nice wine, although thin .

Mmm, I made a gorse flower and orange wine a couple of years ago, it was memorable for all the right reasons !

[yoanbob]

wilkinsons does good cheap kits andrew

[madderbat]

I got my first kit from Wilkinson in August, a Youngs brew, medium red, and was very excited. I bought a demijohn and airlock and went home.

Full instructions are on the back of the label and I discovered that you also need :

sterilising tablets (get the ones from the baby section, they work just as well
yeast, nutrient, sugar, stabiliser and finings,campden tablets, syphoning tube, bottles and corks, so had to go back for the rest (was a bit peed off!) However, altogether it cost under �20 and made 6 bottles.

I then bought the 'bible' - CJJ Berry First steps in Winemaking and once I started home brew using fruit/veg, I found I didn't need half the chemicals at all. Now I use sterilising tablets to get everything clean, yeast to start it off, sugar to feed the yeast and no campden tablets, finings, stabiliser or nutrient.
You don't actually need glass bottles, plastic water bottles will do just as well (and in fact are better in some respects as the dregs catch on the ridges)

Good luck and I hope you enjoy.

[madderbat]

The ingredients often came from the fruit and vegetable outdoor market at the end of the day when things were cheep..

Nowadays they clean up the market so you can't even get the left overs at the end of the day! I've seen council employees throwing good fruit and veg into skips (locked away from the poor) throughout the day.
When I first lived on my own scavenging was one way to survive. Not allowed to do that now, market traders no longer sell anything cheaply!
Aint capitalism wonderful?

[Brewer-again]

fruit for free

Hi! madderbat, Our council fruit market which is on 5 days a week does clean stuff away, they think they have to for health and safety reasons?? but you can still ask at the stalls for 'any over ripe produce' I find I do better at weekly farmers markets where it is not so organised

I use supermarket 'ordinary bleach' the thin stuff to clean my brew gear. and it is very cheap, 27p. You only need a splash to clean everything. Rinse well then wash your hands well afterwards and dont wear your best in case of splashes.

[madderbat]

"I use supermarket 'ordinary bleach' the thin stuff to clean my brew gear. "

good thinking Brewer-again. Thought I was doing well with the wilkinsons baby steriliser tablets! You win on this one!!

[madderbat]

How much would it cost roughly to start from scratch? I have a few old 1 gallon demijohns in the shed but that is it...do i need a fruit presser?
ilex

Please see my previous post, sorry I ignored you (not quite up to speed on this posting lark!)
Besides what i said before, you could use a bucket with a lid. I use one from Wilkinsons that I bought in the Summer.m Heretically it is red with a blue lid (definitely NOT kosher, but it works and cost �2.99 I think!) Total cost still under �20.
My "fruit presser" is a stainless steel potato masher, think I got it from the supermarket, but can't quite remember. Any kitchen tool will do, just pour boiling water over it and keep it clean.
I freeze all my fruit and then pour on boiling water to start, which breaks down the cells and it works well.

Recommend you get the 'bible' (CJJ Berry First Steps ...- see previous post)
take a deep breath, really believe, and give it a go!

(the most you can lose is 1 1/2 kg sugar when you get fruit/veg for free!)
Good luck!

[Brewer-again]

living close to the edge

I am really pleased that you seem to have the same outlook as me as far as reducing your costs in life goes.
I have not come across many others in the real world who wishes to collect the best for free and then use it for eating or brewing. Perhaps that is an advantage of virtual ideas.
I live in East sussex and most people here are in the 'rush about in 5ltr 4x4 vehicles with Chardonney in the evenings' mode. It is possible to brew for minimal cost and minimal outlay and make some really pleasent brews.
Just to recap I have posted before, I have seen brew vessals left at recycling sites and they can be retrieved from waste depots for pence. I also use a stainless steel masher, works a treat.

[madderbat]

Hi Andrewo
I take back everything I posted in my last post
I have just gone looking on the net and found the whole winemaking/hobby environment has changed.
Shows you how long ago, I last made wine. Where have all the people gone who want to make wine with out using grapes? It seems as though everyone wants his or her wine finished yesterday. When I made wine the process took years. The ingredients took anything from 48 hours to one week in a bucket before it ever got near a demijohn; now everything seems to be ...Have your own supermarket type wine in six weeks.
What ever happened to vegetable wines? The joys of picking your own ingredients from the hedgerows? I think I now feel as old as the first ever winemaker "Noah" I'm going to see if I can find an Ark and sulk.
Jax

Hi Jaxom,
Since I read your post I've given some thought to the whole thing. As a relative newcomer to homebrew (First Mr MB did it years ago, but this is my go) I realise from other threads I've posted on that I was a) lucky with the hot summer we had in that my first Blackberry went away at 98 mph and was ready within a month (tasted lovely too!) and also that nowadays we all have central heating, so the ambient temperature indoors is c.20 C which means wines will go quicker.
I did a parsnip in November, which cleared and was bottled by the second week in December - tastes fine too.
Maybe it's global warming and not impatience???
As far as the joys of picking go, we culled 40lb of blackberries from the canalside here, 20lb of windfall apples near the school and pears, plums and parsnips given to us from other lottie holders. So there