Kitchen Garden Forum

Anyone out there making Country Wine?

eh? what is country wine?

retropants wrote:eh? what is country wine?

To me it's what comes from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Australia, etc

...or even WALES

yes I make country wines. I tend to leave it more for winter time when the nights are dark and I can't get out. I think the definition of country wine is any wine not made with grapes. ie, elderflower, apple, parsnip etc. I have made pineapple using pure unsweetened juice. It didn't make the bottle as my OH loved it so much and drank it straight from the demi. good luck all

I make lots of wine and cider from whatever fruit or flowers are handy. My favourites are cherry, red currant and elderflower. Nettle beer is good and very quick too.

I tend to have a jam making year and a wine making year, depending what I'm running out of.

A pear wine I made a couple of years ago was also a winner - clear pale pink, quite sweet, and surprisingly strong. I only managed to drink one and a half glasses before it completely knocked me out for two hours. Luckily it was a Sunday afternoon and didn't matter. It's one I serve for a bit of fun to people who think they can take their drink.

We started making country wines last year, as a very pleasant way of using surplus fruits.
Results so far:
Rhubarb - we're drinking it now, and enjoying it. We've just started a big batch brewing with this year's rhubarb
Blackcurrant - too young to drink yet. It might turn out alright, but tastes a bit on the acidic side at the moment.
Gooseberry - still young, but we very much like what we've tasted so far.
Apple (from fresh apples) - still hasn't cleared, but tastes ok.
Apple (from cartons of pure juice) - was quick to make and quite drinkable
Pear: Went down the sink a few months ago - tasted like wallpaper paste
Pomegranate: Also went down the sink.
Elderberry: Too soon to say - renown for taking a long time to mature and become drinkable. At this stage, it seems promising.

I think that's the lot, but they say too much alcohol damages the brain, so I might have forgotten one or two

blackberry or plum are my favourites, beetroot was an aquired taste... ive been banned from repeating the sprout

Hi Richard,
I should damned well think that the "Sprout Wine" has been banned. I still remember the mayhem you caused at the Christmas Party the other year!
JB.

I missed the whole sprout wine debacle!

And I do make lots of country wines. So far the favourite is damson. Mmmmmm yummy, but strong!
Others include:
dandelion
apple
elderflower
rhubarb
elderberry
homegrown black grape

Well, if you drink wine and don't make it, you must be mad. The cost of a just drinkable wine from the supermarket around here is £4 when I make 6 bottles from a bag of sugar......... Country wine, any fermented drink not made from grapes. Elderflower very soon but I'm wondering about Bird Cherry flower, any one ever made it?

Well the Bird Cherry blossom wine is on it's way and I've just started some Mountain Ash flower. Never did either before so we will see what comes of them. Peter

I have a very old quince tree in the garden which produces lots of pear-sized fruit, though not every year. Some years ago I made several gallons of wine, some sweet and some dry. It was very strong, and strong tasting, and very enjoyable, but I gave up because I reckoned that my home alcohol intake was not a wise thing, especially as I enjoy a chat down the pub as well!
The quinces now go to various contacts who produce jelly etc.