Search results

No. If my experience of hotel food in Cuba in the nineties is anything to go by, they mean the chef does not suggest you actually eat any of it.

Blocked? Your "****" is there for all to see. :D

Self confessed spelling Nazi here. I can understand how people use their, there and they're incorrectly. At least they sound the same. How the hell so many people substitute "defiantly" for "definitely" is beyond me.

I'm guessing from your username that you might work for JerseyMet? That's my go-to weather forecast, except at hay-making time, when I need a more detailed 10-day forecast and use Weather Underground to look for "windows". It's been a funny year for growing most things except weeds...

Apple crop is way down here in Alderney, though the cookers seem to be less affected than the eaters. We might manage a small pressing of cookers and top up with shop bought juice, or we might just make pies and say sod the cider this year. :D

I racked the pear wine from the bucket into 2 demijohns this evening, a fortnight after starting it. A powerful alcohol blast hit we in the nose on opening the bucket and there was a thick yeast ring around the sides at liquid level. It's been in the DJs about an hour and no airlock action just...

Phew! I was worried I might have made a faux pas there. If anyone WOULD like to enlighten me privately on the subject, I'd be pleased to receive a PM.

Apologies if I've broken a forum rule. If so, admin please remove my post.

I had a call yesterday from someone who knew I had been looking for beer and wine making equipment, so today I went round there and got my hands on a whole load of stuff, for the princely sum of fifty quid. 8 demijohns, 2 brewing buckets, 3 large 4" cap fermenters, funnels hydrometers, syphon...

I'm tempted to try a batch of this. We know some people who have a rose hedge that produces huge numbers of massive hips. Won't be long till they are ready.......

First pint bottle of Woodforde's Wherry, the first beer I've brewed in over thirty years. Impatience got the better of me. It's only been in the bottle 3 weeks, but I'm pleased with the clarity and the taste. It's holding its head nice as it's going down. A few more weeks and it will be spot on.

Will do. Sorry I didn't get a picture or two of the latest stage. Your "Port" project sounds interesting. I can imagine those ingredients coming close to a Port after fermentation. Will you be fortifying with brandy when done?

I squeezed out the straining bag tonight, added another litre of boiled water and 3 kilos of sugar, bringing the starting gravity up to 1.110. added 2 heaped teaspoons of yeast nutrient and two teaspoons of general wine yeast. I've got about 2.5 gallons in total, so plenty of scope for letting...

I guess we'll find out in some months time what impact the lemon has on the finished wine. I'm aiming for something in the medium range, not too dry, not overly sweet, so a slight hint of citrus might not be a bad thing. It will be nice if some of the pear fragrance comes through too. I just...

I lied about the citric acid. My wife had used it in jam making. However, I found a full 250ml bottle of Morrisons lemon juice, which, by my rough calculation equals about 2 good teaspoons of citric acid or about 4-5 big lemons, so that went in instead.

Thanks John, for the heads-up on the need for acid in a hard water area. Our water is so hard you could slice it! Acid blend is recommended in the recipes I've found, so I assumed it was a taste-balancing thing. I have some citric acid in the cupboard, so I'll chuck half a teaspoon of that in...

I cracked on with it this morning. Rinsed the pears well in the sink, then spent an age removing stalks, removing cores and chopping hundreds of tiny pears into tinier pieces. To ensure I would be going fruit-heavy, I weighed them after processing, at 4.8 kilos, so decided a 2 demijohn batch...

These are ripe. Several are windfalls, so that's really helpful info about vinegar fly. I'm planning on doing an initial pulp fermentation in a straining bag in a beer bucket. Fruit quantity is not a problem, so I'll err on the side of more fruit, less water. adjusting the added sugar...

Hi All, I have access to several kilos of small, sweet pears, variety "Petit Poire". There are far too many to eat, so I'd like to make some pear wine with them. Anyone have a favourite recipe? Any pitfalls or tips to working with ripe pears? I've found this recipe Simple & Delicious Pear Wine...

Impatience got the better of me. After only a week in bottles and a day in the fridge, I had to have a taster. Good points: It was nice and clear, very dry and very well carbonated. Not so good point was that it was rather lacking in flavour. Short of apple-iness if you like. Maybe adding the...