What have you got brewing at the moment

[frozenthunderbolt]

Anyone got a fix for rhubarb wine that has finished working? It's still a bit acidic, and is lacto fermenting judging from the taste have sulphited and used potassium sorbate to stabilize now.
Any particular suggestions for blending or some such?

[MKG]

Well, if you have got a malo-lactic ferment going (slightly "frizzante" on the tongue?), wait until it's finished - it often improves wine (stabilising your wine won't stop a malo-lactic ferment). If it's still over-acidic, you could try a bit of precipitated chalk, or even a couple of crushed eggshells, to reduce acidity.

Or, you could get together with geigercounter and blend your wines, which may solve both of your problems

Seriously, if you have any dull-tasting wine which is under-acidic, they're blendable. Apple would be good, but that's rarely low in acid. Some blackberry wines are commonly low in acid (in which case they taste too "fruity"). Elderberry sometimes turns out to be under-acidic and over-tannined, and that's a prime candidate for blending with something like rhubarb. Plum is another good one.

Having said all of that, if your wine is only just on the acid side (if you see what I mean), than a slight sweetening (make sure that it is absolutely finished and well-racked) can successfully mask the acid.

Mike

[sub]

we've got:

damson wine on its 3rd rack from last october
elderflower wine started last week with dried elderflowers
gorse wine which was picked yesterday and has just had yeast added this morning

[fran]

I've got coffee wine on the go using the recipe from 'the' book. Not necessarily for drinking, but for using in desserts and cakes

[scallywag]

2 gallons of blackberry jam wine (based on the fruit-tea wine process) but with jam strained through muslin.

5 gallons of muntons beer-kit wine. For the first time I'm brewing this in one of those plastic pressure barrels (with the lid unscrewed to prevent an explosion!) - the cunning plan being to be able to use the tap to bottle it rather than having to mess with a siphon. Not sure whether that will prove easier or not, certainly getting the beer kit ingredients into the barrel was a hassle and in the end needed me to chop the end of a 2-litre plastic coke bottle to use as a uber-funnel. All valuable learning experiences...

[frozenthunderbolt]

2 gallons of blackberry jam wine (based on the fruit-tea wine process) but with jam strained through muslin.

5 gallons of muntons beer-kit wine. For the first time I'm brewing this in one of those plastic pressure barrels (with the lid unscrewed to prevent an explosion!) - the cunning plan being to be able to use the tap to bottle it rather than having to mess with a siphon. Not sure whether that will prove easier or not, certainly getting the beer kit ingredients into the barrel was a hassle and in the end needed me to chop the end of a 2-litre plastic coke bottle to use as a uber-funnel. All valuable learning experiences...

You will probably still have to racks it using a syphon several times in order to be able to bottle using the tap. If you dont, then it is highly likely the sediment will cover/be deposited in the tap inlet, sorry.

What i have found works fairly well is to get some largeish bore clear tubing and jam a spiggot tap into that to use for bottling - that way you have the ease of a tap to control the flow with the clarity that a judiciously employed syphon enjoys.

[Fast-Frog]

I'm just kit brewing at the moment - not ready to progress to 'proper' brewing yet...but have:

Conditioning:
Muntons Wheat Beer (which tasted lush out of the fermenter)
Coopers Canadian Blonde
(THBF) Cheeky Vimto

Fermenting:
Muntons Elderflower Cider

To Do:
Coopers Mexican Cerveza and some fruit beers

[frozenthunderbolt]

some fruit beers

I think this is a nice idea - anyone have proven combination's of fruit and style of beer?

[indy]

I am making my first attempt at kit beer have had some success with wine, so hoping if I manage to make some decent beer it might save doh some pennies

[frozenthunderbolt]

Having bragged about my new demijohns i didnt tell what i put in em!

1 mixed berry wine - elderberry, blackberry, raspberry and guava
1 coffee wine - already tastes like Tia Maria - should be fun to have a caffeine buzz and be tipsy at the same time!
1 Peach wine - smells a bit like rotgut - pretty harsh and still isnt clearing despite finings and pectic. I'll 'mature it' (hide it somewhere and forget about it for a few years - has worked before)
1 fig wine - doesnt smell like figs anymore, but doesn't smell or taste hydrocarbony either (yet) - i'll try make it a stron desert wine i think.
1 Pyder - of my own invention - perry+cider combination - nashi type pears and some nice tart brayburn apples + some sugar to give it a boost. Smell through the airlock was just like that of the Yellow Chocolate that was briefly released in NZ
1 perfumed wine - has lychees, persimmons, quinces, apples, and chillaen quavas in it - smells divine and is beautifully pale and shows no sign of darkening.

I am considering starting more Beer soon as my treacle stout is starting to run low and we have drunk 1/2 my double hopped laarger, hence my Q. regarding fruit flavored beers earlier

Bring on the next 6 Demmi's

[RobHed]

Currently have some bottled apple wine waiting for the Summer (like us !), some coffee wine (which is slowly disappearing !) and a gallon of redcurrant wine (put into a demijon last week and is nicely bubbling away ready to be filtered and de-sedimented).

[Bromd123]

Just started out nettle beer and a TC, after reading about the nettle beer i went out and bought some homebrew equipment to give it a go. Must say its looking good

I did exactly the same lol i think its about 2 days from being bottled then only a week to wait cant wait!!

[prison break fan]

I like the idea of coffee wine! Is it just like making tea wine? pbf.

[RobHed]

I like the idea of coffee wine! Is it just like making tea wine? pbf.

Oooh, I don't know - never tried or made tea wine ! All I know is that coffee wine is like Tia Maria and is recommended to be drunk as a liquer only !

[prison break fan]

MKG is the person to ask about the tea wine, it is really easy and quick! I lack patience!! cant wait a whole year for something! pbf.