Brewing for wedding

[Mellowinmycello]

Hello, I have been brewing for a few years, mostly 5L batches of elderflower champagne, elderberry wine, strawberry wine, blackcurrant wine, ginger wine, dandelion etc etc. All have been small batches because I'm picking the berries/flowers myself (not using kits), and the bottles have all turned out lovely!

I just got engaged and wondering if there's a simple wine I can make a big batch of for the wedding (50L or more) ? I live in Ireland and I haven't found 'grape juice' in any shops here, so making grape juice wine is not an option for me. And for all of my wines I've always waited a year before opening, so is there something that would taste good in 6-8months?

All ideas welcome, and if this is a bad idea i'd like to know that too! (Ps I only make wine, not beer).

 

[Rodcx500z]

Congratulations on your engagement, the wine experts will be along shortly

 

[Chippy_Tea]

All ideas welcome, and if this is a bad idea i'd like to know that too! (Ps I only make wine, not beer).

I also only make wine.
I have made many gallons of wine but i would not have the balls to make it for a wedding and if you cannot get grape juice of any sort i think the finished wine wouldn't go down too well with your guests.

You don't say where in Ireland you are do you have an ASDA near you?

https://groceries.asda.com/product/grapes-berries/asda-red-grape-juice/910000267188
If you can get some RGJ try this -

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ne-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/post-456519

 

[The Baron]

Welcome to the forum I am beer mainly, as Rod said the wine experts will appear

 

[Nottsbeer]

Congratulations.....exciting times ahead.

We did something similar for my wedding back in 2010. At the time I was making wine kits (I think Beverdale) and we decided to make both red and white for our wedding. I think the kits were around £50 each (making 30 bottles) and well worth it. I think we made 4 kits for the wedding (possibly taking 100 bottles....big family to keep happy!), probably spread over a 6-9 month period (only have one glass carboy). The kits came with stabaliser and the wine was great. In fact, we still have a couple of bottles left and crack one open each year, though they probably won't last too much longer.

I gather you are looking for supermarket grape juice to make something from? I've never done that but would highly recommend making your wine from kits if you can afford it. After a break of about 8 years, I made another kit earlier this year (March) and it tastes great, definitely aging well. This one was a Vinters (Winexpert) Classic Kit (White: Sauvignon Blanc). Having a quick look on line I think I paid £50, but not too sure now (I thought it was closer to £70, though I may have bought other things as well with it!) If you do go down the kit route I would recommend buying one that gives you the most grape juice in the box that you can afford. My other top tip is to find a restaurant locally that has nice posh wine bottles. We raided their bins (you should ask for permission) and had a fantastic collection of bottles, topped off with some very posh looking home-made labels.

Best of luck and enjoy the planning

 

[Mellowinmycello]

This is great information. Thanks so much for all your advice. I will order a few kits and begin ambushing my local wine bar