Learning by doing is my way. I like to get the gist of things, understand the basic principles, and then just give it a go. Rather than get bogged down in minutiae and too much detail, I find it far more satisfying to experiment. This isn't always for the best in terms of results, but then, how much is it about results? Who knows? Who cares?
I've been experimenting with wine making now for about 2 years, with only limited success so far - at least in terms of output good enough to share with anyone else. Last night I cracked open my last bottle of apple wine - vintage 2018 - and marvelled at the clarity of the first glass. So marvellous it was I forgot to take a picture for comparison, but here's what the last glass looked like:
I think this is what can charitably be called "the dregs". You see, the wine had "thrown a deposit", meaning that while fermenting, some residual yeast or other by-product of the chemical process had sunk to the bottom. When I bottled it, some of this residue made it through the straining bag and sank to the bottom of the bottles, too. So the first glass or two poured looks clear and crisp, but after that, the newly disturbed liquid looks, well, in the case of apple wine, like milky piss. Not very appealing. Having said that, two glasses was all it took to get me nice and tipsy, so I least I can vouch for the alcohol content. Moving on.
This year I've been blessed with an abundant blackcurrant harvest. So early this week I helped myself to an easy 2kg (with enough left over for several jars of delicious jam) plus a bag of strawberries, which immediately became the beginnings of this summer's wine. First of the summer wine. Ha ha ha.
I'm using one of the simplest recipes in the book for blackcurrant wine (the only deviation being the addition of a couple of fat strawberries, because strawberries are nice (and because I picked them early into a fasting period, so had to do something with them while they were fresh that wasn't eating them). The recipe requires only fruit and sugar, pectic enzyme, yeast, and yeast nutrient. No fannying about with wheat or cirtus or anything else I didn't have immediately to hand. The recipe also promises the wine will be ready in just three months - a mere moment in wine making terms. No second rackings required - which means (if I understand this correctly) no residue to filter out. So by October, I should have a clear and fruity supply of home made red wine. We'll see.
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| Blub. Blub blub blub. Hopefully. |
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