homemade wine for beginners

Mr D and DD1 have become interested in making some wine after watching River Cottage. Hugh FW was making gorse wine - they don't want to do that particular recipe, but would appreciate some advice on a good wine recipe for beginners (or a book to help them.) We have no equipment yet, and little experience (apart from the ginger beer which exploded!)

Big apologies for putting this in the wrong place - in my defence I have just had a large glass of red!

We make wines of various sorts and cider, have made beer in the past but not now...

So...if you fancy a trip over here, I could show them how we do it and the sort of kit we use?


if that is any help?

C J Berry is THE book to use, IMO and there are some good websites around as well...I shall have a look at my bookmarks list and see what I can find, but again we have various books so you could have a look and see if they are helpful.

Thank you!

Just to add that CJJ Berry's books are very easy to come by and can often be bought for pence in charity shops or at bootfairs so keep your eyes peeled.

Coo. I remember reading my dad's copies of CJJ Berry's books, mostly because I liked the little cartoon jokes.

I have made a few things myself, mostly mead and the ilk - cyser (i.e., fermented apple juice and honey), metheglin, hippocras ... and the occasional blackberry wine, though the blackberries are a bit tannic for my taste. I've also once reduced two carrier bags full of plums down to a single rather potent bottle with the aid of some quickfit chemistry kit, but perhaps I'd best not go into too much detail

I hava always stuck to things with a fair amount of natural sugar in them, ie fruit and honey. I've never quite understood the point of some of the stranger concoptions that Berry (and my dad !) used to make. Can't see the point of drinking fermented granulated sugar flavoured with old boots (or whatever ).

I agree with you CH! CJB makes some pretty strange concoctions.....

We are fairly simple winemakers.

We make fruit ( or country) wines...and yes I know about the argument that only a drink made from grapes can be called a wine....

Fruit, mashed up,with water and then sugar and yeast....left to sit for a bit (depends of the fruit) in a fermentation bucket then filtered off, into DJ's, left to do its stuff...might get racked off into another DJ ( if we can remember) or maybe not.

When it has stopped "blooping" and has had a length of time to mature we try a bit, if it seems to have finished we bottle it.

Then at some point we drink it!

Cider is even easier. no yeast or anything, even

Juice the apples, put the juice in a DJ with an airlock, leave for 6 months....rack off at some point during that time and into another DJ with an airlock.

Drink.

So I hope that helps the Dandelion clan to see its not difficult, Dandelion. The only thing is the space the kit takes up....