So, what's everybody made this season, and whaddya sipping?

I'm sugar feeding a mixed berry port I made from red and black raspberries, frozen blueberries, mulberries frim the tree in my yard, elderberries from a long hike I went on, and blackberries from a pick your own farm. Its on the basement at around 62 deg F, but Lavin EC-1118 can slowly work on it over the winter ...

I have a hard cider I meade from 4 gallons of unpasturized cider I bought at the end of September. I'm using White Labs Cider Yeast, and I'm not impressed. It must be kept over 63 deg F, or it will stop fermenting. It said it would preserve apple flavor, but there didn't seem to be much there. Could have been the juice's fault 'tho. Also, the early apples must have be very low in sugar I didn't take S.G reading, just decided to trust the label, I won't do that again. So at first rack, I added 5 cans of seneca frozen apple juice. It chugs along slowly. Just before Thanksgiving, I'll rack again, prime with corn syrup (to add body with non-fermentable sugars -- vanilla flavoring be dammed), and put in champagene bottles. It should have a faint sparkle in time for Christmas and New Years.

I have added too much sugar to my rose petal wine, the EC-1118 has done most of what it can, so it bubbles only slowly, and it tastes like everclear and sugar. Yet, when I rack, and wash out the jug, I get a whiff of the scent of roses. There's something there ... maybe when bottle aged it will all erupt forth with flavor.

My one year old rose hip wine has thrown a lot of sediment in the bottles. I'll make another gallon over the winter. Then next summer when its done, I'll decant the botlles, and rebottle for another 2 years of aging. This better be worth it.

My Welches white grape juice wine has spent 4 months in the bottle. Its as good as any 5 dollar white you'd buy. Perfectly adequete for a marinade, flavor is a little bold for a light meat, but good in a beef stew, or sipping with a stron flavored chicken. My friends wives will gladly drink it. I wonder if they're being polite, or are just accustomed to 5 buck rotgut.

In message , spud writes

If I'm lucky, there's another 4 gallons of sloe yet to make, plus 2 - 3 litres of sloe gin, and about the same of damson gin.

As for sippin', I've just poured down the sink 2/3 of a bottle of Stoneleigh New Zealand Pinot Noir, which had no redeeming features beyond a slightly spicy shiraz-y finish. Horribly thin, flabby and acid, and not worth drinking, let alone the asking price. Ditched it in favour of a bottle of Leifmans Kreikbier, and one of my own sloes from 2004.

cheers, robin

Steve

I hope to make some more wine before the years out.

Sipping? Well, you know how there is always an odd couple of bottles? I have a few bottles of the Blackberry that I'm enjoying. Other than that, I have been sipping a red raspberry I made in 2001.

John

Well, I only started this hobby (passion/obsession) in August.

sigh. I'm sipping store bought. At least I'm collecting bottles. Is it wrong to buy wines based on the pretty bottles? :*)

DAve

spud wrote:

All from local gapes

Joe Niagara Region

Hi folks

This year I made 2 gallons of blueberry, a gallon of each chokecherry, plum, oregano, sage, Thai basil, hard cider, maple (made from maple sap that I reduced to a SG of 1090), banana, pomegranate-cranberries. I also made a 5 gallons batch of garlic wine because it's so exquisite in cooking, my wife can't live without it anymore. We have lotsa cooks and restaurants chefs in our entourage and they simply love it. Marc Québec

"spud" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

All quantities in gallons, all from fresh fruit:

The zin will get about 10% petite blended in. Mourvedre, syrah, grenache and petite will be blended in various proportions to be determined. Everything is doing its malolactic thing now except for the mourvedre which just came in on Wednesday and is still in primary.

Sipp> In message , spud

Made:

• 15 gal. Frontenac (Local Minnesota grapes)
• 6 gal. kit Pinot Noir (Winexpert Oregon Yamhill)
• 5 gal. Pineapple Wine
• 3 gal. St. Croix (Local Minnesota grapes). Probably use for blending w/ the Frontenac

Sipping:

• Last year's homebrews: Frontenac (quite good), a kit Syrah, crabapple wine.
• Lately, a lot of off-the-shelf domestic pinot - California and Oregon mostly (Beringer, Archery Summit, Sanford, King Estate)

--KitchenDude

And a totally boring string! This NG gets worse!

Gee Pinky, is someone keeping you from start an interesting thread?

Steve noobie Oreg>And a totally boring string!

Opps should be >starting<

Joe, mind telling us where you got the grapes? I tried to get some from Niagara this year, but wasn't able to get too much at all!

What recipe did you use? I've got about 8 lbs of blackberries in the freezer, waiting to be made into wine :)

Pinky wants us to read his mind and only post topics that are of interest to him. If you don't he's going to whine about taking his (lack of) group contributions elsewhere.

An interesting list - great variety. For our season, in various stages of aging right now;

All straight from the vines, picked by us.

Robin,

Please send me your resipete for the blackberry.

I fell in love with some home made blackberry wine while recently in UK.

Thanks in advance.

Bill

poston[@]comcast.net