Home Brewed Apple & Blackberry Wine

So.. Having successfully made rhubarb wine a few months back as can be seen here we decided to make some Apple and Blackberry wine. Here's how it went and how you can make your own.

Ingredients
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Apples : 7.8kg

Granulated Sugar : 7.8kg

Black berries : 7.8kg
Lemons: 3

Yeast : 2 sachets

Yeast Nutrient : 5 tsp

Pectolase
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Lesson 1: You may get funny looks when buying all the ingredients

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Process

-       Chop the apples and black berries (blending the apples releases more juice) and throw these into a tub along with the sugar, 27L of boiled water, lemon juice and sugar.

-       Once the mixture is cool add the Pectolase. This will "reduce the risk of pectin hazes and also increases the yield from the juice pulp".

-       After 24 hours add the yeast and yeast nutrient.

 

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Lesson 2: Fermentation can get messy. Catch back blow with a glass.

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-       Leave for 1 week before checking that fermentation is complete using the hydrometer from the wine making kit purchased here.

-       Once Fermentation is complete you will want to transfer the wine to its new tub to get out all the berries and apple. This can be fairly tricky and messy. You will want to set some time aside for doing this and you will need to squeeze the apples and berries to get all the juice goodness out of them!

-       Leave the mixture for a month before repeating the procedure again, remembering to filter the fine as it comes through. Repeat this until the colouring looks as you'd like and/or your patience runs out. 

-       Clean your bottles and sterilise before bottling.

-       Give to family and friends.

Home Brewed Rhubarb Wine

Having got an allotment back in June, Louise and I decided it was time to do something with one of the only things we had growing at the time – Rhubarb. During a casual conversation with her housemates we all decided we would all make Rhubarb Wine. This is a summary of the process we followed and the end result.

Home Brew Kit

First things first, we needed a home brew kit. After a little research we found a lovely little website called www.lovebrewing.co.uk. We needed a fermenting bucket, a sterelizer, thermometer, sterilizer, mixing paddle/spoon, yeast and a straining bag.
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Superior Wine Starter Pack (30 Bottle) + Free DVD - £37.96
2 5g yeast sachet - £2.80

Wine yeast nutrient - £3.65

Straining Bag (large/fine) - £5.30

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Total Cost – £49.71 :  £12.43 each (plus donated beer bottles and empty drank wine bottles)
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Ingredients
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Rhubarb : 7.5kg

Granulated Sugar : 7kg

Concentrated Grape Juice : 1.25L
Yeast Nutrient : 5 tsp

Yeast : 2 sachets
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Process

-       Chop the rhubarb into small pieces and add the correct amount of sugar at the ratio of 1.5:1.3 kg rhubarb:sugar for the tub they are being put in. Sterilise the tubs before adding the mushed rhubarb and sugar. These should be left three days

     

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Lesson 1: Reserve several hours for this process and get people involved.

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-       Place the rhubarb mixture into one of the fermentation tubs and add 15L of boiled but cooled water and leave for two days leaving. Remember to keep the airlock on the tub with water inside. This allows air to leave but stops bad things getting into the wine.

-       Filter the mixture into the second fermentation tub using the siphon provided. At this stage add the 1.25L of concentrated grape juice and make the tub up to 22.5L with boiled but cooled water. You should now add the yeast nutrient and the yeast. Leave this for a week remembering to keep the airlock on the tub.

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Lesson 2: Have a jug to hand, this won’t taste too good.

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-       Siphon the mixture into a second container and leave for a month. This will help the wine become clearer.

-       Time to taste. If the mixture is still bitter like ours was. You will want to add the rest of the sugar (about half a kilo) to the mixture and leave for another month.

-       Now it’s time to siphon the mixture into your sterelised bottles. We used a mixture of home brew bottles from wilkinsons that were donated by Alastair, and empty wine bottles we’d saved.

Now just to wonder what to brew next whilst enjoying the fridge chilled wine.