So the autumn fruit is gone! Time for dried fruit!

For any alcoholic brew that doesn't fit into any of the above categories!
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Reg
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So the autumn fruit is gone! Time for dried fruit!

Post by Reg » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:30 pm

Yup!

The hedgerows are bare but you fancy brewing up something to fox granny for Xmas then you can make sherry like wines from dried fruit.

I'd recommend Prune, Arpicot and Raisin! Which has the benefit of offering a Chritmassy flavour plus ehem keeping you regular! :P :D :blink: It's also cheap to produce.

I have a recipe if anybody is brave enough! :huh: :D

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Post by Reg » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:44 am

Well the original recipe comes from a 1970s home brewing book so is quite reliant on sugar which can produce a bit of a thin wine for the palette...

I'll post the original and then make some suggestions fro improvement.

QUOTE 1.5 Kg Dried Prunes
250g Dried Apricots
20g Raisins
1.375 Kg Cane sugar
10g citric acid
2g grape tannin
30g gypsum
15g cream of tartar
Pectic enzyme
Campden tabs
Sherry yeast with nutrient

Wash all dried fruit to remove the oils they are coted with and soak them in hot water.

Cool

Add the acid, pectic enzyme and a Campden tablet, cover and leave for 24 hours.

Add the gypsum, cream of tartar, tannin and sherry yeast with nutrient - you may wish to activate the yeast first. Frement on the fruit for four days.

Strain out and add half the sugar pour the must into a fermentation demjohn and ferment as usual under an air lock.

Referment in the same way with the remainins sugar.

Rack the wine and add a Capden tablet.

Now this mimics the natural fortification process except by using sugar and should lead to a fino or dry type sherry.

For quality I would try using grape juice concentrate in equal weight to replace the sugar and in this way you can eliminate the need for grape tannin.

For Xmas, I would try adding a few cloces and some cinnamon bark to the intial fruit mixture to give it some Xmas spice.

Personally, I prefer a sweeter sherry at Xmas and as it's Xmas, you could deactivate the sherry with a Campden tablet and add a little honey to sweeten it which should add to all those Xmas flavours. I'd also consider some orange and lemon zest in the original fruit must.

Chemists are now very sensitive about selling citric acid to people because it's also used to cut various white powders that are used for other recreational purposes although you can still get it if you explain why you need it. As we are going for a Xmas feel, the juice of a lemon or two could be used instead of the citric acid.

finally, if the prunes feel like too much, other Xmas fruits such as figs may be substituted or more apricots and raisins may be used instead. (But remember a raisin wine is a very dry wine). :D

Cheers!

Reg

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Post by Reg » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:40 pm

Depends on how much you like your granny? :blink:

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Post by Reg » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:01 am

QUOTE Coke a Cola used to contain a small amount of cocaine and look how sucsessful that is

I've often heard that one, although I've never been able to sort out whether it was an urban myth. Coca Cola Syrup was originally a medicine like a cough syrup which one guy used to put soda in to make it more drinkable, so I guess it's probably true!!! :lol:

QUOTE That aside... which one is Cane Sugar, Tate and Lyle, Silverspoon or Whitworths ?

Tate and Lyle is cane sugar, the others are beet sugar but can be inverted to make them more suitable for brewing purposes. :)

QUOTE and as I have all the ingredients to hand except Grape Tanin, is there a suitable alternative to save me a trip to th HB shop?

http://www.makewine.com/makewine/tannin.html is one source traditionally used in home brewing. My suggestion would be that as this is a recipe that relies on must fermentation a couple of bunches of value grapes from Tescos in the must would provide some nice fresh tannins that might be deficient in the raisins.

The problem with both tea and grapes is the amount of tannin will be unpredictable, but if you err on the side of caution, you can always sought things out at a later stage.

QUOTE I always keep a few kgs of citric acid handy, I use it to descale the kettle, washing machine,shower head, and clean all my copper homebrew gadgets.

Whatch out! you'll have the fizzers knocking on your door! :blink: :D

QUOTE I've also got 30 L of bargain cider on the go...
QUOTE
30L of Tesco Value Apple Juice £9.90
1Kg Sugar £1
2 Sachet Champagne Yeast £2

1 week in a primary, 1 week in a clearing tank and it's ready to drink (or bottle it with 1/2 tsp per pt to get fizzy cider)

:beer Mmm... temptingly easy!

QUOTE Anyone have suggestions for mulling spices for cider?

Pretty much the standard approach to mulling wine is to dilute a robust red wine with 50% more water by volume and to add an orange studded with cloves. Also sliced oranges, the juice and zest of a lemon and cinnamon bark. This should then be warmed without boiling whilst dark brown sugar by the desert spoon as the wine bitters through heating to balance the flavour. A good slug of brandy should be added towards the end of the warming process to add aroma and a bit of punch to the drink,

For cider, I would suggest the dilution was unnecessary, but the cloves and the cinnamon would still go well with an apple based flavour. My instinct would be to go with sliced lemons for cider rather than sliced oranges as the cider drinker prefers a more astringent taste.

So Stick with the Orange studded with cloves, the lemon juice and cinnamon bark and add slices of lemon instead of orange. Do not dilute and use light brown sugar to taste if the heating causes the cider to bitter, but go easy on the sugar as a little bitterness is not a bad thing in a cider. (It almost certainly will, but I can't be sure of the effects of the tannins here). Try a slug of calvados instead of the brandy.

My guess is that the resultant brew should be nice hot or chilled.

:beer Cheers! :beer

Reg

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Post by Reg » Fri Dec 02, 2005 6:50 pm

Ahh well, I thought I'd divide by 5. There should be a demijohn on cider on it's way as soon as the champagne yeast arrives.

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