Wine from your allotment

You will need some basic kit to make wine, if you do not have any wine making equipment e.g. demijohn's, yeast , yeast nutrient, corks, airlocks, camden tablets etc. these can be purchased from Wilkinsons or The Home Brew Shop in Hawley Lane Farnborough - The Home Brew Shop

Frozen fruit can also be used but adjust the recipe accordingly for any added sugar.

5 gallons of blackcurrent wine happily fermenting

Blackcurrent Wine

Winemaking Ingredients: Blackcurrant Wine - Wine Making Guides

3 lb / 1,350 grams blackcurrants

3 lb / 1,350 grams sugar

1 teaspoon citric acid

Water up to 1 gallon

Yeast nutrient

Wine yeast

Winemaking Method: Blackcurrant Wine - Wine Making Guides

Crush the blackcurrants and place in a fermentation bucket. Boil the sugar and pour all the liquid over the blackcurrants. When cool add the citric acid, yeast nutrient and wine yeast. Cover and leave to ferment for five days, stirring daily. Using a fine sieve strain the liquid into a demijohn and fit an airlock to seal the jar.

Store in a warm place and allow the fermentation to work. When fermentation has ceased, rack the wine into a clean jar and place in a cooler environment and leave for a further few months. When the wine is clear and stable siphon into bottles.

(Steve Hatfield)

Rhubarb Wine

Rhubarb Wine Making Recipe, only use the stalks, not the leaves.

1250g/ 3lb Rhubarb, yeast, 1250g /3lb Sugar, yeast nutrient, 4.5 litres / 1 gallon water

You may add 250ml wine concentrate in place of 125g or 1/4lb sugar

Chop the rhubarb into a fermenting bucket, sprinkle all the sugar on top and cover, leave for 24 hours

Strain off any juice into a demi john, add some warm water to the pulp, stir and strain juice into a demi john, with a little more water rinse out any remaining sugar add to rest of the juice, make up to 1 gallon mark with wine concentrate if using and water

Add yeast and yeast nutrient, fit an airlock and ferment in a warm place

When bubbling ceases or hydrometer readng is 1.000 or below, syphon into a clean demi john and move to a cool place leave wine to clear

When clear, bottle and store.

(Steve Hatfield)

For those who can't wait for the completed wine I would suggest 7 day wine on the website below. Highly recommended.