Search found 24 matches

by ilan
Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:32 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Wasted!
Replies: 1
Views: 1087

Re: Wasted!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it sounds as if that was rather good ! The fizziness on the tounge is often the last stages of fermentation whilst that sharp acid / burning taste is both a sign of a good high strength wine that would be improved with age and some form of sweetening if require...
by ilan
Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:11 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Sweetening home made wine /cidre
Replies: 1
Views: 1313

Sweetening home made wine /cidre

I think I have "overcooked " the latest brew its dry buy just to strong to enjoy as altho its cider(ish) its wine strength and out of balance it needs sweetening but adding sugar will cause a problem as its primed in bottles . but next time I make it are any of those artificial sweeteners ...
by ilan
Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:21 pm
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: The Wonder of Woolworth's
Replies: 26
Views: 5771

Re: The Wonder of Woolworth's

Mus admit only used them on the odd occasion , But I have a couple of there apple trees in the garden that are now over ten years old and doing well , also used to use there own brand of seeds as well .
by ilan
Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:52 pm
Forum: Looks like we made it
Topic: Fishing Floats Made From Seagull Feathers
Replies: 11
Views: 3676

Re: Fishing Floats Made From Seagull Feathers

Great looking floats do you not also use rocket sticks they make great floats with a bit of work and again free
by ilan
Sat May 10, 2008 9:57 pm
Forum: Swap Shop, Trading Area and Seed Swap Area
Topic: does anybody have any grape vine seeds that they wanna swap
Replies: 14
Views: 8495

For grape vines its best to take hard wood cuttings in the autum . I think growing from seed can be a bit risky as they may not carry any fruit or be poor croppers and it will take some years to find out ? perhaps repost in the autum and I sure someone will be able to post a few cuttings to you .
by ilan
Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:14 pm
Forum: Allotments, Veg Patches and Container Gardening
Topic: WOOD BURNERS
Replies: 18
Views: 8508

Whilst the instalation costs can be very high you need to ofset that against future fuel savings which can only go up ! The big proviso is if you can get enough fuel for it and can spend the time cutting it up ? I cannot see how an outside system could be practical as the chimney will still need to ...
by ilan
Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:10 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Urban home-made wine? Ask the experts time....
Replies: 14
Views: 5643

two months is a bit quick for a wine made from fruits etc due to the clearing required If you just want some cheap quick drinkable plonk then cartons of juce are the way to go with about 1 kg sugar and some lemon juice , and yeast make a starter bottle up with 250 mm water + tea spoon sugar few drop...
by ilan
Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:15 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: sugar amounts in wine
Replies: 8
Views: 3626

to make a realy good strong sweet wine takes a lot of skill just changing the yeast wont work tho a "port style " yeast helps as its high alcohol tollerant It will take about 10 lbs of dried fruits then you literaly feed the wine with sugar a table spoonfull at a time , the skill is in kee...
by ilan
Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:28 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Alcoholic Water???
Replies: 81
Views: 29050

Sounds great but dont over do the b1 or it will impart a distinctive taste , when I used to make it years ago we used to boil over ripe bananas up 1lb and add the juce to 2lbs sugar 1/2 carton grape juce juce 1 lemon and 1/2 tea spoon marmite + yeast to make it appear stronger a spoonfull of glycery...
by ilan
Sat Mar 08, 2008 3:58 pm
Forum: Alternative Energy
Topic: Woodburning Boiler
Replies: 7
Views: 3337

I think you have already covered the most difficult part in finding a sustainable scource of wood and experience cutting and storing it I feel that the huge amount of wood required is the biggest problem . You will need most likly to feed it every hour or so and its difficult to keep it in over nigh...
by ilan
Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:29 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: cider? maybe...
Replies: 24
Views: 11909

That would be one way of doing it but you run the risk of it fermenting again in the bottle ! plus the sulpher from the campden tablet can be off putting again you come back to commercial makers who high pressure micro filter to remove any possible yeast before bottling sweet ciders . however for ho...
by ilan
Fri Nov 09, 2007 8:31 am
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: What can I do with off milk?
Replies: 11
Views: 4852

Think you can use it to "paint" on new or harsh concrete/brick work/ terroacotta pots etc to encourage a aged greenish growth type look
by ilan
Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:45 pm
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Who's good at making apple wine?
Replies: 7
Views: 3433

Its a little difficult to say how much sugar did you use to start with ? For it to be a "good wine " it needs to in in balence so its no good making a wine with 5lbs of fruit and 3lbs of sugar so this wine may have finished just put it into a new jar leaving the sludge behind put it into t...
by ilan
Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:47 am
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Who's good at making apple wine?
Replies: 7
Views: 3433

The best thing to do is taste it ! is it very sweet may be too much sugar to soon is it fizzy still fermenting or very dry sharp almost finished or just sweet and no fizz stuck ferment ! If it has stuck and you used less than 2lbs sugar then just make up some more yeast in a bottle with sugar and ac...