New to this Forum

[fotobites]

Hi,
I've not joined a forum before!!
I've been into home-brew since my grandma used to get me to help her make tea wine, now I'm almost 50 and determined to resurrect some of her old recipes.....
I have one question at the moment, I use as few additives as possible and just keep yeast and citric acid in the house as stock additives - is there another product that does the same as pectolase?
I'm about to set off some tea wine and some blackberry wine next :smile:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :
I have had a look round and there doesn't seem to be an alternative is there a reason you are looking for an alternative?

.

 

[marlon]

Welcome to the forum fotobites. I don't use any 'additives' at all. Just plain ingredients and yeast.

 

[fotobites]

I prefer to use 'kitchen' ingredients, I don't keep pectolase in and I know the blackberry may need something.
just impatience to start!! but I suppose I could add it later if needed...
(also so many 'specialist' ingredients are overpriced, and theres usually something cheap in the pantry that will do just as well :) )

 

[goodolpete]

Hi,
I've not joined a forum before!!
I've been into home-brew since my grandma used to get me to help her make tea wine, now I'm almost 50 and determined to resurrect some of her old recipes..... :smile:

For some reason, old recipes almost always use too much sugar if
you resurrect then today, leaving them too sweet to many. Maybe
sugar has got sweeter!? There was a guy called Berry who drove
winemaking in the sixties, a real pioneer. Yet you look at his recipies
and vastly reduce the amount of sugar he gives.
The hydrometer is your friend 😉
Pete

 

[fotobites]

Yes I tend to reduce the sugar, sometimes by half... I think they used to have the wine much much stronger than we prefer these days. I dread to think how strong some of Grandma's were!! She liked to keep at least one bottle back, after she died we found some 13 year old beetroot wine that was more like port!!

I've been reading some of the forums and made me laugh to read about WOW!! I had to look it up as it's nearly always abbreviated but its exactly what I used to make as a student in the 80's, cheap cheerful and very effective for pre party (raves) drinks. I've experimented with almost anything over the years!!!

 

[HLA91]

Without pectolase fruit wines will struggle to clear. You might also want to pick up some grape tannin.
Essentials: Campden Tablets (Or Sodium Metabisulphite Solution) /Citric Acid/Tannin/Pectolase (and/or Amylase if using grains or starchy ingredients)/Yeast/Potasium Sorbate.
All of the above are available in Wilko for less than £10 and will suffice for around 6 gallons, if not more.

 

[Manxnorton]

welcome pal.
bri :thumb:

 

[fotobites]

Without pectolase fruit wines will struggle to clear. You might also want to pick up some grape tannin.
Essentials: Campden Tablets (Or Sodium Metabisulphite Solution) /Citric Acid/Tannin/Pectolase (and/or Amylase if using grains or starchy ingredients)/Yeast/Potasium Sorbate.
All of the above are available in Wilko for less than �£10 and will suffice for around 6 gallons, if not more.

Thanks, I know these are all beneficial and Wilko is really useful.

I'm just keen to reduce chemical additives where possible.

Loving this forum, lots of really interesting information !