Plum Wine

[Ely]

I've picked a load of plums off the nearby bushes and plan to make some wine. I've never made wine before. I've looked at a few recipes and they seem to suggest fermenting in a fermentation bucket before progressing to a demi john. I'm wondering if I can get away with using one of my honey buckets as I do not own a fermentation bucket at present. Do the fermentation buckets have valves?

 

[pargyle]

I've picked a load of plums off the nearby bushes and plan to make some wine. I've never made wine before. I've looked at a few recipes and they seem to suggest fermenting in a fermentation bucket before progressing to a demi john. I'm wondering if I can get away with using one of my honey buckets as I do not own a fermentation bucket at present. Do the fermentation buckets have valves?

Get yourself a copy of CJJ Berry .. First Steps in Winemaking .. the bible of homebrew - it's a free download somewhere on the internet if you can't find it for pennies in Amazon ...

You will never look back ....

And yes ... a fermentation bucket is just that ... doesn't need an airlock in the early stages as the fermentation will be fairly vigorous, after a few days, a week at most, you will need to drain it off the lees and then get it into a container with an airlock fitted - doesn't have to be a demijohn - any vessel that's food safe and can be sealed will work - it's just a bit satisfying to see it working away in a glass demijohn with a gloop gloop from the airlock as the CO2 bleeds off ... something about getting back to a bygone age when everyone made their own wine and beers ....


Ahhh - Just found it :

https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B85Sjko84hEzY2ZjNWNjZjMtMWI0Zi00MmMxLWI1NzYtOGZlMDE3NTliOTZm

 

[oliver90owner]

If your honey buckets were 25l, then they are about the same, but I expect your buckets are 10l.

Depends really on how many plums and how much you wish to make.

An airlock is required for the anaerobic part of the fermentation, but not necessary for the initial start of the fermentation.

Covered to exclude the dreaded fruit flies is important (they carry the bacteria that convert your ethanol to ethanoic acid!).

So, apart from smaller batches, go for it.

RAB

 

[Ely]

Get yourself a copy of CJJ Berry .. First Steps in Winemaking .. the bible of homebrew - it's a free download somewhere on the internet if you can't find it for pennies in Amazon ...

You will never look back ....

And yes ... a fermentation bucket is just that ... doesn't need an airlock in the early stages as the fermentation will be fairly vigorous, after a few days, a week at most, you will need to drain it off the lees and then get it into a container with an airlock fitted - doesn't have to be a demijohn - any vessel that's food safe and can be sealed will work - it's just a bit satisfying to see it working away in a glass demijohn with a gloop gloop from the airlock as the CO2 bleeds off ... something about getting back to a bygone age when everyone made their own wine and beers ....


Ahhh - Just found it :

https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B85Sjko84hEzY2ZjNWNjZjMtMWI0Zi00MmMxLWI1NzYtOGZlMDE3NTliOTZm

Ah great. Thanks.

 

[Tom Bick]

A friend keeps making plum wine as he is given a few bags each year from a neighbours plum tree. The problem is I don't think I have tasted a good plum wine from him and does not rate it either. He recently gave a bottle from 2009 and although not terrible it's not great and will need to be boxed with a cheap white to improve it. My advice would be make some lovely plum jam and go and pick some elderberries as I did at the weekend and they make a lovely wine.

 

[Ely]

If your honey buckets were 25l, then they are about the same, but I expect your buckets are 10l.

Depends really on how many plums and how much you wish to make.

An airlock is required for the anaerobic part of the fermentation, but not necessary for the initial start of the fermentation.

Covered to exclude the dreaded fruit flies is important (they carry the bacteria that convert your ethanol to ethanoic acid!).

So, apart from smaller batches, go for it.

RAB

You're right, the buckets are 10l. The fruit flies were a nightmare when we ran a pub. Hovering over the taps. I plan on filling two demi johns. So, is it not important to exclude air on the initial stage?

 

[Ely]

A friend keeps making plum wine as he is given a few bags each year from a neighbours plum tree. The problem is I don't think I have tasted a good plum wine from him and does not rate it either. He recently gave a bottle from 2009 and although not terrible it's not great and will need to be boxed with a cheap white to improve it. My advice would be make some lovely plum jam and go and pick some elderberries as I did at the weekend and they make a lovely wine.

I was planning on doing both. There are a few elderberry bushes just coming to fruit actually

 

[Ely]

Just looked at this recipe for elderberry. What does it mean by 'nutrient' in the ingredients?

http://www.rivercottage.net/users/ourgoodlifeuk/blog/elderberry-wine/

 

[steph333]

Hi

Plum wine tends to be very sweet my Japanese neighbour loves it though . For Uk tastes try 1 measure of bourbon 2 of plum wine and 2 of soda water makes a refreshing mix.

Stephen

 

[bontbee]

yeast nutrient (available from home brew suppliers, incl Wilkos) - not sure if there is a non-commercial equivalent. I have just made up some black berry and damson, and I have used strong tea instead of tannin, marmite for vit B1 and lemon juice for citric acid. (if this is not right, would someone be kind enough to let me know?? but I have got these substitutes from CJJB and/or Harry Riches)

Another substance which helps fruit wines to clear, is Pectolase, but you need to add this at the start, before the yeast.

Also, as per CJJB, don't forget to stir a wine/melomel made with fruits while the fruit is still in the bucket, to break up the "crust". Once you have gently filtered, to separate the "must", (ie the extracted fruit flavours in the liquid), then put it in a demijohn.

 

[pargyle]

Just looked at this recipe for elderberry. What does it mean by 'nutrient' in the ingredients?

http://www.rivercottage.net/users/ourgoodlifeuk/blog/elderberry-wine/

Some ingredients don't have enough 'nutrients' in them to get the yeast working properly so you buy 'Yeast Nutrients' from a home brew supplier or on line and add a small amount (depending on the recipe) to the mash to help the yeast work .... An hour with CJJ Berry will make you an expert ...

Tom is right about Plum wine - it you don't add some substance to it then it's very watery and lacking body .. a pound or so of wheat or raisins will give it a real wine texture rather than the insipid and fairly bland wine you would get from just plums ... personally ... I make plum jam or preserved plums or plum pies for the freezer... just about everything except plum wine .. there are better ingredients about that you can use - as Tom says ..elderberry and elderflower both make really great wines (but with many of these wines you are looking at a year at least for them to reach their best so let's hope you've got patience and plenty of room to store them !).

Phil

 

[Ely]

Cheers for advice. I bought the book for a penny! £2 off for delivery. My reason for wanting to make wine is because shop bought wine gives me an instant headache. Something to do with sulphites I think? There is a really good homebrew shop locally to me.

I think I will make jam out of the plums like I did last year and go pick the elderberry! Similar sort of process involved for fermenting?

 

[Tom Bick]

Another lovely wine from this time of year blackberry.

 

[pargyle]

Cheers for advice. I bought the book for a penny! £2 off for delivery. My reason for wanting to make wine is because shop bought wine gives me an instant headache. Something to do with sulphites I think? There is a really good homebrew shop locally to me.

I think I will make jam out of the plums like I did last year and go pick the elderberry! Similar sort of process involved for fermenting?

Wise move ..

My copy of CJJ is a paperback edition I bought in 1974 ... still going strong but held together with a variety of sticky substances ... some intentional, some not so intentional ... I think eventually it will be worthy of boiling up to make a nice full bodied dessert wine !

One of my favourites is his receipe for peach wine 'Peach Perfection' found in the August Section ... it's a really high alcohol content (18%) dessert wine and is a bit on the sweet full bodied side. I've heard that some naughty people have been known to put a gallon in a plastic bottle into the freezer, freeze off the water content and then use the resultant more concentrated alcohol to 'fortify' the rest of the brew ... sort of a peach sherry a bit reminiscent of Madeira. Of course, as a law abiding citizen, I would not dream of doing something illegal like distilling by 'any' means - including freezing.....

The one recipe I would avoid like the plague is his Parsniip Sherry (November section) - four years on and it's still undrinkable ... not sure it will EVER be drinkable ... might use it as drain cleaner.

My other major failure was coffee wine ... It redecorated the airing cupboard and most of the freshly laundered contents when I put it in the demijon a bit too early and the airlock provided a high pressure escape route for about half a gallon of dark brown goo ... the remaining wine, even when fully fermented and left for years and years, remained completely undrinkable (bitter beyond anything anyone's taste buds could accommodate) until it finally got consigned to drain cleaning duties ...

I won't go into the domestic disharmony that this and numerous other home brew adventures (or more accurately misadventures !) have caused .... but I would suggest that finding somewhere other than the airing cupboard for your fermentations is probably a good idea.

 

[Ely]

Wise move ..

My copy of CJJ is a paperback edition I bought in 1974 ... still going strong but held together with a variety of sticky substances ... some intentional, some not so intentional ... I think eventually it will be worthy of boiling up to make a nice full bodied dessert wine !

One of my favourites is his receipe for peach wine 'Peach Perfection' found in the August Section ... it's a really high alcohol content (18%) dessert wine and is a bit on the sweet full bodied side. I've heard that some naughty people have been known to put a gallon in a plastic bottle into the freezer, freeze off the water content and then use the resultant more concentrated alcohol to 'fortify' the rest of the brew ... sort of a peach sherry a bit reminiscent of Madeira. Of course, as a law abiding citizen, I would not dream of doing something illegal like distilling by 'any' means - including freezing.....

The one recipe I would avoid like the plague is his Parsniip Sherry (November section) - four years on and it's still undrinkable ... not sure it will EVER be drinkable ... might use it as drain cleaner.

My other major failure was coffee wine ... It redecorated the airing cupboard and most of the freshly laundered contents when I put it in the demijon a bit too early and the airlock provided a high pressure escape route for about half a gallon of dark brown goo ... the remaining wine, even when fully fermented and left for years and years, remained completely undrinkable (bitter beyond anything anyone's taste buds could accommodate) until it finally got consigned to drain cleaning duties ...

I won't go into the domestic disharmony that this and numerous other home brew adventures (or more accurately misadventures !) have caused .... but I would suggest that finding somewhere other than the airing cupboard for your fermentations is probably a good idea.

be interesting to find out what brewed book tastes like. No danger of me distilling. I'd be afraid of going blind and not a fan of many spirits. Not a fan of coffee and parsnips either! I like tea though. I had no idea you could brew coffee (apart from hot water)

 

[pargyle]

be interesting to find out what brewed book tastes like. No danger of me distilling. I'd be afraid of going blind and not a fan of many spirits. Not a fan of coffee and parsnips either! I like tea though. I had no idea you could brew coffee (apart from hot water)

Well ... You can make wines out of a whole host of things ... I've tried a lot of them and some are very good and some resemble Domestos. I tend to stick more to the fruit based ones these days and there are some very good grape concentrates you can buy that will make wines virtually indistinguishable from the commercial offerings on the supernarket shelves.

I understand that distillation by freezing is quite safe as you are not heating the various aromatics in order to concentrate the alcohol .. the danger with heat distillation is that you can end up with some really nasty benzene derivatives that will make you go blind - if not worse .. Simply freezing the water content out of a wine just concentrates (only by about 30%) the original 'safe' alcohol content. Of course I have only heard this.....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

coffee wine ... It redecorated the airing cupboard and most of the freshly laundered contents when I put it in the demijon a bit too early and the airlock provided a high pressure escape route for about half a gallon of dark brown goo

Hmm - reminds me of my foray into cider production. As my friend, like me has access to an orchard he decided we should try making cider - he built a press and we adapted a garden shredder to mash the apples (worked a treat)
So, having a bit of spare time during competing the building and decorating the new kitchen, the greenhouse was converted to a cider press room and I made up a 40 pint barrel of cider made up mostly from the two 'lanes' apple trees in the garden. The first fermentation took place in the safety of the gunroom upstairs and it was then barelled and given its second kick stasrt - i had meant to then move it out to the outhouse but being busy finishing the painting in the kitchen I completely forgot and went off to sea. A week later I received a photograph by email from SWMBO - our new kitchen ceiling with a lovely map of America(both North and South) stained in brown in the area above the cooker (which, coincidentally, is just below the gunroom) Needless to say, we've never made cider since!!! and I spent my next days off sealing and repainting the Kitchen ceiling - again!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ely]

People pay a fortune for apple scented air fresheners

 

[Ely]

Do you really need yeast extract, pectic enzyme and finings for blackberry wine? The reason for giving brewing a go (apart from the fun of it) is that I get instant headaches from shop bought wines ( and bottled beers). I assume this is because of one or more of the additives involved. If I need these additives, does anyone know if they are likely to cause headache (not meaning next day hangover)?

 

[Tom Bick]

All I add is the juice of a lemon, regular wine yeast and nutrient.

Next year I am going to give natural fermentation a go.