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If you want to get the starch in the rice to be the source of alcohol as in Saki then wine yeast alone as we know it can't do it. You will need (as per the Japanese techniques) a fungus to break it down before then fermenting with a yeast.

Oooh, tell me more. Sounds great. What recipe are you following? What questions might you have? I've made a cider or two and used a number of different berries in various fermentations. I try to apply scientific principles when appropriate and this allows one to move from one type of...

In many areas pickings of elderberries are poor due to the birds eating all the ripe (and semi-ripe) fruit. Best wild spots are where people walk often - so scaring off birds. On your own property you can do things like bird scarers or nets. Below is a picture of elderberries without bird...

I have tasted one or two commercial elderflower ciders. I don't know the methods they used, but I would guess it was the above method of adding the elderflower flavour after the cider was finished. I think this misses out on the potential magic of fermenting elderflowers in that they can...

Hi Cha, Judging by the lack of reply till now I guess the answer isn't generally known. When I was doing R&D on developing a commercial elderflower champagne I tried all manner of ways to make it. Freezing and freeze drying came into the mix. They were acceptable methods, yes. Indeed there...

Two options. 1) simply quickly turn it back the right way up and flick off the cap as the gas bubble gets to the top and before the yeast has a chance to move much. 2) - more commonly - freeze the neck, then turn up the right way and flick off the cap. the ice lump and the yeast come out...

Hi Parpot, Adding sugar this way assumes - the yeast is happy - with the amount of alcohol, the pressure, the amount of nutrition, the amount of oxygen it got along the way. Also, that the yeast hasn't died or gone into hibernation at the end of the primary fermentation. Can you tell me more...

Hi Mr S, Riddling is settling sediment to the bottom. With "in-bottle fermentation" you usually ferment them in the bottle on their sides. The dead yeast falls to the bottom side of the glass. Then you up-end them on their "points" with the bottle top down and change the angle frequently to...

Hi FlatFen, Gosh do I need a bit more info on your method to get to a priming stage. Can you give your full recipe? To directly answer your question "carbonation drops" are a standard dose of sugar - nothing more or less, so probably won't make any difference. A recipe I approximately...

Hi Cha, Any bottle you like as long as you respect its pressure tolerances. Therein is the challenge. Ideally you need a reliable method that delivers a predictable end point to the fermentation in the final bottle. However, when making your first batch it is unlikely you will have that...

Hi All, I am delighted to be with a group of fermenters and brewers. I want to say right off that I am not an amateur any more, but turned professional in 2016 when I and my now business partner threw ourselves seriously into craft sparkling wine making and formed a company in the process...