Tastings

[BackToBasics]

I bottled up both my first batch of wine (an apple and pear) and a TC a couple of weeks ago.

A bit of a mix up with bottle sizes meant that I ended up with 5 and a half bottles of wine. I was concerned about the amount of air in the half filled bottled so decided to drink it last night. Very nice it was too. The apple and pear was more of an after taste with (I'm assuming) the grape concentrate dominating and making it very "wine" like. It's dry and pretty strong (about 14.1% if my calcs are correct) just how I like my whites. Going to leave the rest for at least a couple of months.

Just opened a bottle of the TC and it obviously needs a bit longer to carbonate properly with only a very slight fizz on the tongue but the taste is good. I'm not a huge cider drinker but I doubt I'll be buying bottles of the stuff from Tesco any more. I'll definitely be buying more apple juice from them though. May have to do a larger batch next time though. 9 bottles won't take much drinking.

There may just be some merit to this home brewing lark...

 

[Grand gris]

There certainly is merit in this home brewing lark :grin:

I assume your relatively new? Hope so any way :? :pray:


I think, with experience you will find that the wine like notes are what happens during fermentation and ageing and not only grapes provide this.

If you think your brews are good now, give them time and you will be even more impressed.

Best advice is get some more going. When I started slowly it took months before I realised I needed a big stock which was well worth building in order to get to a stage where you can drink when you want and give the wine and beer time to mature :drunk: :drunk:

happy brewing :

 

[BackToBasics]

Yeah, I'm new to brewing. The wine was my first brew and the TC followed shortly after. Both are now being left to mature a bit. I'm thinking a couple of weeks for the TC and at least a couple of months for the wine.

I'm already trying to build up stock levels. Currently I've got (all 1 gallon) a gorse wine, a damson wine, another TC, a tropical punch (found the recipe on this forum) and 23l of Wherry brewing and a Wilko Golden Ale in the wings. Lots of empty DJs that I looking to fill as well (I've somehow acquired 10 of the things so far) at least two of which will have elderflower brews in them before the end of the week.

The only thing I'm struggling with at the moment is gathering enough bottles. Really need to keep reminding friends and family to pass their empties my way.

 

[oldbloke]

I suggest you dedicate 1 or 2 demijohns to TC, start a new batch as soon as you bottle one (maybe even straight onto the lees to keep the yeast going). That way you'll eventually be able to have some that's had time to mature properly - it gets better for quite a while after bottling, even if you don't do MLF.

 

[Grand gris]

To get some going on the cheep(or is this just me :? ) I recommend a wow type - Apple is great as a rose. :thumb:

For bottles screw top wine bottles are fine and plastic pop bottles are perfect for beer and TC

As time goes on you can slowly add to your collection of 'best bottles' for special occasions

Also agree with old bloke - get another TC on the go

Keep it up :

 

[Grand gris]

I suggest you dedicate 1 or 2 demijohns to TC, start a new batch as soon as you bottle one (maybe even straight onto the lees to keep the yeast going). That way you'll eventually be able to have some that's had time to mature properly - it gets better for quite a while after bottling, even if you don't do MLF.

I'd love to do the MLF ..........where do I find her? .................Oh, just realised I've misread this again on this forum. Why does this keep happening Freud :? :wha:

 

[BackToBasics]

Fresh tub of steriliser turned up today (no shop near by I'm afraid) so I can get the other beer kit I've got going. Really want to get a WOW going but WGJ is proving hard to find. None of the local supermarkets seem to stock it.

The elderflowers are starting to turn here. Need to get of my arse and collect some before they are gone.

Going to give the whole MLF thing a go when I can source some Old Rosie. It use to be readily available 'round here but I've not seen it for months. I might have to make a special trip to the big Sainsburys in town.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Fresh tub of steriliser turned up today (no shop near by I'm afraid) so I can get the other beer kit I've got going. Really want to get a WOW going but WGJ is proving hard to find. None of the local supermarkets seem to stock it.

The elderflowers are starting to turn here. Need to get of my arse and collect some before they are gone.

Going to give the whole MLF thing a go when I can source some Old Rosie. It use to be readily available 'round here but I've not seen it for months. I might have to make a special trip to the big Sainsburys in town.

Sainsburys don't stock Old Rosie. Tesco stock it, and they also have WGJ in some of their bigger stores.

 

[BackToBasics]

I might need to go further afield then. My local Tesco has neither at the moment. The lack of Old Rosie is particularly disappointing as their cider section is nearly as big as their ale section but full of Jacques and similar.

 

[bobsbeer]

I usually get my grape juice from Aldi, but Lidl also stock it. Asda also have it if you have one nearby. As for steriliser I use thin bleach, cheap and works a treat. Once you come up with a decent wine recipe move over to 25lt brews. Easier and you end up with 29 bottles per batch. I use the wide screw top fermenters for both wine and beer.