Re: By way of thanks...

In message , jmreiter writes

Ooooh, nice idea. But at the moment they're still nearly UKP2 each in the shops - think I'll wait a while...

But I did find some nice ripe greengages instead. Which is where my next problem begins ;). The recipe (from CJJ Berry's book) calls for 1/2 pound of barley per gallon, to give the wine a little more body. But I don't have any, and the nearest shop that would stock it is a long way off. What I do have is:

1. Raisins.
2. Rice
3. Both white and red concentrate.

Which would be my best bet, or should I grit my teeth and go shopping!

TIA, cheers, robin

Hi robin

Since you have his book in front of you, go to that greengage recipe. (page 182 in my copy). The very next thing after that recipe is .... "Bullace, damson and plum wines....Method and quantities as for Greengage". Or - conversely, any recipe for plum wine may be used to make greengage wine. Look up "plum wine" in that same book. (page 173 in my copy) It tells you there that wheat may be substituted for barley but that both are optional, and goes on to give a recipe that uses *neither*. To take this a step further, just about any plum wine recipe will do for greengages.

A word of caution about using Berry's recipes. If one of his recipes says that it will produce a "sweet" wine, you can bet the farm that that is exactly what you will end up with. Sweet !! If you want a dry, off dry, or medium wine, DO NOT use his "sweet" wine recipes !! The bane of the novice is to make wines that are too alcoholic or too sweet. (or both). Try to avoid learning this the hard way like most of the rest of us did. ;o) HTH

In message , frederick ploegman writes

... noted ...

:))) I'd begun to suspect that was the case; the recipe calls for 4 lbs/gallon of sugar, and the fruit itself (3lbs greengages + 1.5 lbs plums / gallon) is pretty sweet to start with. I'll probably use 2.5lbs in the first instance and see how the S.G. goes.

Thanks for the warning and advice; thanks to Bill F, also.

cheers, robin