Hedgerow Brews?

[marcelxl]

Hi All,

After our Elderflower Champoo which seems a success I am thinking of dabbling again later in the summer/autumn with another hedgerow brew.
What other wines etc are a viable option to the (very) novice homebrewer from abundant wild ingredients, or has anyone has any particularly good results?
The obvious for me at the moment are the Elderberry (wine) and I do know of a couple of apple trees that usually just go to waste, so I would be interested in any experiences (recipes) for the use of either of these.

Gonna do a Sloe gin too to keep me company during the winter Pike and Grayling fishing when I'm not driving!

Thanks in advance

Marc

 

[Chrisj]

I'm afraid I don't have any recipes for you but how about Blackberries. I would have thought they would make a nice red wine or maybe Blackberry Gin or Vodka.

 

[durulz]

Cider or perry (or 'pear cider', as those too thick to learn a new word like to call it) are the obvious choices.

 

[hiraeth]

Elderberry port is a good one, as is peapod wine. Also i have had good results from beetroot , and wheat. Have just started a bottle of last years apple which was a good way to use up the surplus we had.( far prefer a couple of bottles of wine to a crumble)

 

[lannyman8]

cherry wine would be nice if you can get them, blackberry,elderberry,elderflower,plum,sloe wine is totaly awesome. cider from apple and pair, rosehip wine, nettle wine, dandilion and burdock beer all sorts realy.....

you can use anything to make wine or beer as long as its safe to eat realy. all i do is add 1 kg sugar to the chopped up fruit or pre doiled liquid to 4.5 litres of liquid ( total ) 2 tea spoons of yeast and 1 lemon juice, you could add the zest as well depending on your taste.

if your using the fresh fruit i just chop it up a bit if its big then add all the ingredients to a bucket and stir every morning & night for about 7 days, i do this first because it will throth right up to start with. i then transfer it to a fermenting jar/barell with an air lock and leave it untill there are no bubbles coming from the bottom. filter of the clear liquid into another clean jar and leave for another week just for good mesure. filter of into clean sterile bottles and depending on what wine it is leave for up to a year for the enzimes to do there thing.

wine that take a year to mature are:-

elderbery
sloe
rosehip
plum
nettle

they are just the ones i have found are better with a year of matureing.

hope this help all who wish to give it a go....

CHRIS....

 

[Shewie]

My dad used to make loads of Bilberry wine when I was a kid, I've never tried it but I can remember the state of my uncles after drinking it at Christmas.

 

[lannyman8]

I forgot to say you can also do all sorts of fruit wine by doing this:-

4.5 l sterile water
4or 5 whole lemons zest to
2 tea spoons of yeast
2-4 kg sugar depending on how strong you want your wine.

add all the ingredients together and disolve the sugar and yeast in the liquid while warm to give it a kick start, leave in an air lock container untill untill no bubbles apear, there will be a small layer os sediment at the bottom. filter of into bottles but only fill 3/4 full. take any friut of your choice cherry, sloe, elderberry, blueberry or what ever you can leave it whole as long as it fits into the bottle neck, fill the bottle untill the liqiud is to the normal filling level, you can also add 2 table spoons of sugar if the fruit is a little sour such as sloes. now cap as normal.
leave for 3-4 months giving it a shake every week, the clear liquid will take on the colour and taste of the fruit. when you drink the liquid you then have the boozey fruit to use in a cake or with scotch pancakes and ice cream.... YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!!!!!!

hope this help....

chris............

 

[lannyman8]

Rich i made some sloe wine the above way and oh my god how nice and yes i was in a state too...lol

 

[jonnie drake]

what about redcurrant...

 

[lannyman8]

the same but i would add a bit more sugar to a bottle maybe 3-4 table spoons but wo!!!!! that would be nice .......

 

[Gagnrad]

They used to make gale beer in the North Country. St. Hilda's convent at Whitby was making it back in Anglo-Saxon times, and doubtless it was being made long before that.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/galswe03.html

Nettles can make the basis of a brew, too.

 

[lannyman8]

spruce tips have been used years ago for flavouring beer instead of hops. have never tried it but will do one day.......

 

[Gagnrad]

spruce tips have been used years ago for flavouring beer instead of hops. have never tried it but will do one day.......

You can make a "beer" from them, too, as well as using them as flavouring/preservative for barley-malt beer in that way.

Dorothy Hartley says Scots Pine is suitable.

The gummy tassels of the spruce are brought gradually to the boil to release the essential oil and flavour. As soon as the oily scum shows on the surface, pass a large plate across the surface drawing the scum aside and slip out the spruce, put in another bough, and continue doing this till you have a thick scum of spruce oil, and the water is well-impregnated with the essence. Strain, and to 16 gallons of warm spruce liquor, add 16 lb. of treacle, stir till dissolved, and put in about ½ pint of fresh yeast. Let it work, covered, for three days, and then strain off into a cask. Do not bung up until fermentation has practically ceased. It can be drunk within a week or so, but it is best kept for some months.

Spruce beer is made all over Europe. The German black beer is made from spruce, and the Russian Army used to have a special brew enlivened with horse-radish, ginger, mustard and all manner of spicery.

Spruce beer also has noted antiscorbutic properties

I've certainly had German "black" beers that weren't spruce - rather dark lagers that were much like a English stout, but I'd be interested to try one that was. That Russian army brew sounds interesting, too.

The British Army in North America used to make spruce beer and serve it to the troops in the 18th century. I don't know whether that was because it was known to be antiscorbutic, or just that it was cheap to make. (AFAIK the American drink back then was cider (or imported rum) - rapid expansion westwards helped to kill that, apple orchards needing time to become established, and prohibition finished it off.)

British Army spruce beer recipe here:

http://www.janeausten.co.uk/magazine/page.ihtml?pid=219&step=4

 

[lannyman8]

Hugh did a dandilion & burdoc beer flavoured with spruce tips instead of hops on a river cottage program.........

 

[rik_uk3]

After a camp I usually leave a few Stella''s in the hedgerow for the next visit, they taste pretty good.

 

[DaveBromley]

ATM Ive got a gallon of elderflower wine maturing nicely I also have a gallon of Hawthorn wine that is ALMOST ready to drink and last night i found a recipe for alcoholic ginger beer that only takes 24 hours to brew!!and is ready to drink immediately so ive got a gallon of that brewing too lol.

I would brew in larger quantities but i only have limited demijohns

Thanks Dave

 

[sam_acw]

Perry is a good idea, not like the "pear cider" in pubs which seems to be alcohol and syrup with a pear scent!

 

[DaveBromley]

The ginger beer worked a treat "hic"

no seriously great recipe if anyone is interested i'll post it only took 24 hours and i reckon it 3-4% not bad for £2.50 a gallon lol

Thanks Dave

 

[lannyman8]

awesome dave put that up for us all mate.....

 

[eel28]

ATM Ive got a gallon of elderflower wine maturing nicely I also have a gallon of Hawthorn wine that is ALMOST ready to drink and last night i found a recipe for alcoholic ginger beer that only takes 24 hours to brew!!and is ready to drink immediately so ive got a gallon of that brewing too lol.

I would brew in larger quantities but i only have limited demijohns

Thanks Dave

The ginger beer worked a treat "hic"

no seriously great recipe if anyone is interested i'll post it only took 24 hours and i reckon it 3-4% not bad for £2.50 a gallon lol

Thanks Dave

Would love to see that ginger beer recipe - sounds like its worth a go