Bramble brandy and elderberry gin

[Chris]

Went for a walk in the woods yesterday and found the absolute motherload of brambles, so picked a pound to bring back with me. These have been turned into the beginnings of some Bramble Brandy.

My back garden has a very handy elder hanging over the back of it, so I today liberated it of about half a pound of ripe elderberries and have decided to try making some elderberry gin.

By an absolute stroke of luck, they should be just about ready for sampling around the time of the Winter Moot.

 

[John Fenna]

Setting up to get revenge on me?

 

[Broch]

I did wonder what the 1L kilner jars were for

 

[Chris]

Setting up to get revenge on me?

It only seemed the polite thing to do! Think I'm going to steal your 'Port' idea as well and use the blackberries a second time.

I did wonder what the 1L kilner jars were for

For pickling food as well as pickling people at the Moot, they're so versatile!

 

[Chris]

Right. Sieved the mixture now, approx 3 months later, and into a bottle until the Moot.

I’ve reserved the soaked berries to pour a bottle of wine over, which I shall call Port à la Fenna.

Tasted a small bit of the brandy and it seems suitably deadly. Hopefully I don’t get any mould or serious oxidation issues due to the empty space there, but we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Chris]

Topped up with more brandy to reduce the air in there and labelled ready to go.

 

[Woody girl]

That looks the job! I made raspberry vodka, and apple pie vodka this year(a cinnamon stick with sweet gala apples)
Also blueberry brandy, and cherry brandy.i gave the beech leaf noyou a rest this year as everyone is too scared to drink it, and i still have two bottles left. Wusses!

 

[slaine_23]

I’ve got sloe gin, cherry brandy, thought I had makings blackberry/bramble brandy. Made diy grand Marnier instead. Missed out on hawthorn gin this year, but the stuff from last year survives, mainly because it was hiding in back of cupboard as it does taste good.
What is the beech leaf potion?