Diving in a little deeper...

Well I still haven't actually tasted any of the stuff I'm brewing, but it all seems to be going according to plan, so I thought I'd try something a little bit more adventurous than the very basic marmite and sugar thing I've done so far.

So I went out and bought yet another demijohn. Up to 4 now. I think that should be enough for the present. Also a sachet of yeast, a sachet of yeast nutrient, and this time, a packet of dark brown mollasses sugar.

The bottom shelf of our freezer is full of plastic boxes full of raspberries and blackberries that came from our allotment. Bren was going to make jam out of them, but they've been there now for about 18 months, so I decided to use them to make a wine.

Firstly, I got the frozen raspberries and stuffed them through the neck of the demijohn. I could have defrosted them and squeezed the juice out, but they go off very quickly, and I really don't want any mouldy fruit in the mix.

Ditto the blackberries. The raspberries outnumber the blackberries about 2-1 by both weight and volume.

Added the molasses sugar. I went for this, and in much smaller quantity than in the previous brews, because, a) the fruit lready contains natural sugars, and b) the marmite brews are starting to smell a little bit sickly sweet. Using unrefined sugar might help to compensate.

Add the yeast and nutrient and put the lid on and off it goes.

The point of this is not just to make alcohol, but to make something that tastes nice. So it's not going to be a fortnight job. When it stops fizzing, I will strain out the fruit remnants, bottle it, and leave it for a few months.

Raspberry and blackberry wine on christmas day? Mmmmmm!

Update:

Ah. The best laid plans of mice and men go aft astray....

It just wasn't happening. The now defrosted fruit floated to the top of the liquid, but there didn't appear to be any fermentation taking place. I was worried that with air in the top of the demijohn, the fruit might start to go mouldy, so I removed the airlock, and added some ordinary white sugar.

Went out for a bit and came back to find that the red liquid in the demijohn had pushed it's way up into and through the airlock. I moved it to the bathroom, and emptied some out, and Bren cleaned up the mess.

This started to happen again, although I caught it before it spilled over and emptied yet more liquid out.


I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this one.


driving lessons in Wallasey?