Johns Beer and Wine

This country wine makes 5 gallons (30 bottles) of plum wine. I have friends with gluts of plums: so I always seem to have enough to do at least a dozen bottles a year.

It produces a nice light coloured wine like a Rose and I find chilling it makes it very palatable.

Sometimes the plums can be quite sweet so you get an almost sherry taste, so on the version I have backed off on the Sugar to make it slightly less sweet and slightly drier.

Ingredients

25lb (10.5 Kg) Plums

10lb (5 Kg) of Sugar

5 Tspn of lemon juice or Citrix acid (available from all good home brew shops)

5 Gallons (27 litres) Water

Yeast

 

Method

Wash, chop in half and remove the stones from the plums into a 5 gallon brewing bucket, add some Lemon juice/Citric acid now it helps preserve the colour.

Cover the plums with boiled water.

Leave  for about 4 days, stir daily.

Add the sugar and mix well (until disolved).

Add the rest of the lemon juice.

Add the yeast.

Stir daily.

After a week, syphon into 2 clear demijohns, try and leave the sediment. Top up to a gallon in each. Put the airlocks in again.

You will need to wait a while, it may continue to ferment.

Once the wine has cleared bottle it and keep for at least 6 months to mature.

This is possibly one of the easiest wines to make.

2lb or 1kg of Edlerberries

1 Lemon, sliced

3lb Sugar

Yeast

 

Put the Edlderberries, Lemon and Sugar into a bucket. Add 1 gallon of boiling water. Mash up the fruit.

When cooled (below 25C) add the yeast.

After about a week, strain the fruit and put the liquor into a demijohn, fit an airlock and leave to ferment.

 

This may seem a strange wine to make, but is quite enjoyable.

It is also cheap to make just use old tea and or used tea bags. If you want you can use new tea made just for the purpose. I’ll assume you are making from scratch for this receipe.

I have just made three lots of this wine a gallon of wine at a time.

I’ve also produced a short video so you can see making one of the team wines.

It produces a nice full flavoured wine and depending on how much raisins are added the colour can appear quite dark.

Ingredients

1 Gallon of tea. That is approx 20 tea bags. I have done this with PG Tips, Lapsang Shoosong and Red Bush. I suggest trying it with any tea you fancy though. You could of course use old tea kept from the pot.

Juice of 2 lemons

2lb of Sugar (I actually use 1Kg)

100 grams of Raisins

Yeast

Process

Slice the lemons and add to the hot tea

Add the sugar and stir

Once the tea has cooled to around 20 degree’s centigrade and the yeast

Leave in a bucket for a week. Covered with a tea towel. Stir daily

After a week transfer the liquid to a demijohn and put in an airlock.

Allow to continue to ferment.

Once fermentation has stopped out cad add a Camden table to stop any further fermentation. I prefer not to.

Once cleared you can bottle and drink but it will improve with age.

This country wine makes about 2 gallons (12 bottles) of plum wine. I have friends with gluts of plums; so I always seem to have enough to do at least a dozen bottles a year.

It produces a nice light coloured wine like a Rose and I find chilling it makes it very palatable.

 

 

 

Ingredients

10lb (4.5 Kg) Plums

6lb (2.7 Kg) of Sugar (I actually use 4Kg or 8.8lb)

2 Tspn of lemon juice

2 Gallons (10 litres) Boiled Water

Yeast

 

Method

Wash, chop in half and remove the stones from the plums into a 5-gallon brewing bucket.

Cover the plums with boiled water.

Leave  for about 4 days, stir daily.

Add the sugar and mix well (until dissolved).

Add the lemon juice.

Add the yeast.

Stir daily.

After a week, syphon into 2 clear demijohns, try and leave the sediment. Top up to a gallon in each. Put the airlocks in again.

You will need to wait a while, it may continue to ferment.

Once the wine has cleared bottle it and keep for at least 6 months to mature.

This simple country wine makes about 5 gallons (30 bottles) of pear wine. I have a pear tree in my garden and we always have lots left. Pick them before they fall (just).

It produces a nice full flavoured wine and depending on how much raisins are added the colour appears quite dark.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

25lb Pears

Juice of 6 lemons

10lb of Sugar (I actually use 4Kg or 8.8lb)

100 grames of Raisins

Yeast

Boiled Water

 

Method

Wash and remove the stalks of the pears. Chop or slice them up into a 5 gallon brewing bucket.

Cover the pears with boiled water (up to 5 gallons), this will probable be all the water you need.

Leave  for about 2 days.

Add the juice of the lemons and the raisins.

Leave for a week, it may start to ferment on its own.

Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth into a fermenter, including all the juice from the pulped pears and raisins. Top up with cold water to 25 litres,

Add the sugar and mix.

Add the yeast.

Fit the airlock.

This should now be left to brew for around 4 weeks or when it has stopped.

 

Once the fermentation has stopped you can filter the liquid to another vessel or leave it to clear.

Add a Camden table and leave a few days.

Once it has cleared bottle the wine in clear bottles and leave for at least a month.