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Recently I've been pre-occupied with making wines from foraged fruits. It's gone well - so far - with lots of fun learning along the way. Now I'm quite easy-going on the serious side in that if my wines turn out to vinegar I'll be upset but I'll have another go straight away. But, Cider, well...

Hello All, :thumb: I'm going nuts on my sterilisation (and improving my brewing practice in general). I have rinsed out my 25ltr carboy 5 times with a hosepipe; I've even had the container upside-down, spout lowest with a hosepipe inside giving it all a good spray. I've then left enough...

I'm doing my first WOW tonight - thanks to Moley's How-To guide. My juice has sweeteners in it: Sodium saccharide, sucralose and acesulfam-K (my goodness, what am I drinking here?) Incidentally, it states clearly there are no preservatives in it, so I'm a bit alarmed to see the 'sulfam'...

Went to ASDA today, which is not my usual shop, and got 2 litres of COSTA juice, no preservatives, for an amazing £1.15! There are four flavours to choose from; blackcurrant, apple cherry, multi-fruit and another I've forgotten. The only hiccup is that it does have sweetener in it. Look for it...

Has anyone ever pressed elderberry, boiled/simmered the remains and then pressed it again for the second time? Did it come out a decent wine or am I wasting my time?

My Black Cherry smells like it might have redeemed itself. There's 18 litres in a 25 litre opaque carboy. How on earth would I go about racking it when I can't see the sediment level? :doh:

For some strange reason I checked out the ingredients of my lemon juice bottle and founs potassium metabisulphate. Is this bad for brewing, please? (As in stopping the fermentation.)

I'm pressing fresh fruit. Once it's pressed and put into a container and left, a sediment will form. Given that I normally have more than enough juice, it is better for me to leave the sediment behind at this early stage to get more juice in the DJ or is this first lot of sediment essential to...

I'm sorry if this has been covered before - I haven't seen the answer around. I haven't bothered too much about weighing my fruit before pressing it - I just had a guess but that's really no good either as I've no records. If I can truthfully say I have virgin-pressed fruit with no added...

Are there any free wine, jam, food, etc, labels on the Internet that I can modify easily to print out, please? Although I used to be very tech-savvy, I'm now a proud luddite and so the easier, the better! :lol: Many thanks.

Do we have a tried and tested spiced, warming wine for Christmas, please? Many thanks.

I don't want to open up a can of worms that has already been squirmed, but I cannot find any links here or elsewhere that discusses the pro's and con's of white granulated sugar over golden syrup for both beer and wine making. Any pointers, please? Thanks.

A large batch of plum jam has failed to set properly - I have no idea why. Given the large quantities of fruit (4kg) and sugar (2kg), is it possible to use this in a DJ for making wine?

I'll be stocking up of the good old 5Ltr PET Water Bottle's to store my brews. Morrison's are currently doing two 5Ltr PET Water Bottle's for £1.80 - can anyone beat that for better savings?

My Pear in the DJ is doing really well. It's been nearly two weeks and with only half the total sugar it's been a vigorous brew with lots of activity. I'd expected to see some sediment forming at the bottom but that's not the case. Will that happen as the ferm'ing slows down so I can rack off...

Well, what a year it's been! I've had a massive harvest - far better than I ever dreamed possible - and next year looks like I might have yet more - if I haven't jinxed it by declaring it so already. The only thing that has done even better has been the fruit flies - Oh My Goodness; I'm sick...

Sorry, Admin, I'm really not sure where this goes. I have pressed some fruit, some of which I'd like to give to a friend who is on holiday this next fortnight. How do I best preserve/save this juice for him? Fridge, Freezer, ???? Many thanks

I'm new to brewing. I grow food free of charge for people with disabilities. I'm looking to expand this into drink and also honey next year. Although you kind folks will prob want to say hi, there's really no need as I've had the pleasure of saying hi to a few of you already - thanks for...

Okay, it's my first brew and I expect problems but I'll persevere! My 10 day old black cherry smells of vinegar - I haven't seen vigorous fermentation but I'll add some campden tablets in. 10 days is not too far in, is it? My 7 day old pear wine smells slightly of vinegar. Will treat with...

This is my very first post and very first wine brew. I plan to make wines free of charge for people with disabilities and so I must keep my costs to a minimum. To cut a long story short, I have around 60kilos of plums. To each full gallon demijohn I have boiled/simmered approx. 8kilos of plums...