Hello and welcome to the monthly series from
your Home Wine and Beer Maker--Graham
JULY
The month of July - favoured by good weather,
light evenings and good company.
A customer recently reminded me of a favourite
wine I made some years ago, so with them in mind I will reprint it.
ROSE- ROSÉ
PETAL WINE
During June and July the garden rose gives us a
beautiful display, but then her petals drop leaving us with a lost reminder of
beauty. What better thing to remember her by but to make a Rosé
of the petals.
Ingredients
1lt/6pt loosely packed
rose petals
1kg/2½lb Tate and Lyle
granulated sugar
1 small tin white wine
concentrate
1tsp yeast nutrient
1½tsp tartaric acid
¼tsp wine tannin
1pkt Youngs general
purpose white wine yeast
1 Campden Tablet
1tsp fermentation stopper
Method
Dissolve the sugar in
500ml of warm water and, once clear, allow to cool.
Sprinkle the packet of
yeast in ½ cup of lukewarm water, cover, and leave alone for 10 minutes
Pour the sugar water into
a 10lt/2gal bucket and add the yeast, small tin of concentrate, 1tsp yeast
nutrient and ¼tsp wine tannin.
Leave the mixture loosely
covered for 2 days.
Now add the well rinsed
rose petals and stir very gently, cover again loosely and leave for 3 days.
Strain out the petals and
pour the liquid into a Demi-john. Top up to the shoulder with slightly warm
water. Fit a bung and bubbler (airlock).
Leave in a warm place,
inside the house, for 2 weeks.
At the end of this time,
taste and if to your taste (dry or sweet) stop the wine with the crushed Campden
Tablet and the fermentation stopper.
Now bottle up, good
quality corks, tasty labels, sleeving on the corks and chill well.
Serve to your friends and
loved ones in August. the roses will last in your taste buds for several hours.
Finally for this pleasant
month with the PYO signs appearing on the Island
SWEET STRAWBERRY
WINE
Ingredients
3lb/1.5kg Strawberries
2lb/1kg Tate and Lyle granulated sugar
1tsp yeast nutrient
1tsp pectic enzyme (Pectolase)
1pkt Youngs Burgundy yeast
2 Campden tablets
Method
Prepare the yeast as per packet instructions and
leave, covered for 20 minutes.
Dissolve the sugar in 1½ pints of boiling water. Stir
until the water becomes clear again then leave to cool.
Rinse the strawberries in a solution of 1 Campden
tablet in water then crush them in a 2 or 3 gallon (10 or 15 litre) clean,
sterilized bucket. Add the cooled sugar solution and a further 4 pints of
cold water. Stir well and add the pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and yeast
culture.
Loosely cover the bucket with a clean tea towel and
stir daily for 5 days. Strain the liquid through a muslin bag into a
sterilized Demi-john. Fit an airlock and keep in a warm place (not an airing
cupboard, just a room in the house) for 10 days and then top up the
Demi-john to the shoulder with tepid water.
Leave alone for the fermentation to finish and the
wine to clear. You can speed up this process with “Vin Clear” or, like me;
you just move it somewhere cool-i.e. A concrete garage floor.
When the wine is sufficiently clear taste it. It will
taste sweet but this is strawberry wine and should be sweet.
Rack off into a second sterilized Demi-john, leaving
behind any yeast or particles.
After a further 2 days, inspect the wine and bottle.
Good quality corks and stylish labels will improve the presentation (and
taste!) It can be drunk immediately for that summer taste or left to mature
for a couple of months.
Whilst I always give a wine recipe each month you can
produce some spectacular beers’ in a matter of 3 weeks. They work out about 25p
per pint and taste magnificent. Just give some beer a try.
If you would like to suggest a personal
wine recipe that we could try, please e-mail me. I would love to know what
anyone thinks of my monthly attempts
Cheers
Graham
I hope you enjoy my page. Please, if you want any advice or help don’t
hesitate to drop me an
e-mail.
