Silly Me!

[Stoney]

I made some blackberry and elderberry wine at the end of August, i juiced the berries and added sugar, water and yeast and it came to around 20l in the bucket. I was going to transfer it into 3 or 4 demijohns to ferment out. Now the problem is i completely forgot about the wine and it's been in the bucket since. It has been in the shed with a towel and a plastic bag over the top of the bucket. Now my question is has anyone else been this stupid? Do you think i will be able to rescue this brew or should i give up and start again with some dried elderberries?

[doofaloofa]

Suck it and see

[dave45]

has it fermented out? use a hydrometer and check... if it is close to 1.000 you are laughing - add finings and bottle it when it has cleared

[benner]

Taste it...oxygen getting to it might've caused a problem.

[Green Aura]

My guess is it won't have been airtight and so will have oxidised. As the others have said taste it and see. Even if it's not drinkable you should still be able to make vinegar out of it. Filter it and put it in demi-johns but just bung the top loosely with cotton wool balls, you want the aceter bacterium to get in. It may have already done it by itself - buy some pretty bottles and you have some very posh Christmas presents.

We made some from a herb wine - it hadn't been forgotten, it was just hideous. So we stuck it on a windowsill (as above) for a few months and it is fabulous vinegar for salad dressings etc. And it'll never go off - it's about as off as it gets.

[geordie]

If its off you could run it through a still, of course you will have to be somewhere it is legal to run a still!

[doofaloofa]

it's only illegal if you get caught


Did I say that?

[Stoney]

Thanks guys, i forgot all about it again today but i'll be trying it tomorrow. As for a sill, i've resisted building one up uo now.....

[Stoney]

I've just been out to it now and it's as clear as a bell, just a little sour but still quite fruity i just don't have the heart to pour it away...............

[doofaloofa]

Definitely make it into vinegar

A fancy bottle, some ribbon, a gingham top

BOOM!

Christmas presents