[ang]

Have recently taken on an allotment and have more rhubarb than i know what to do with. I know of the usual recipes rhubarb crumble but wondered if anyone had a recipe a little different i could try or if anyone has a recipe for Rhubarb wine it would be much appreciated. ( anything alcoholic goes down well at our house).

[Jake]

Hi ang

We are trying this recipe from John Seymour for Rhubarb wine this year

15lb (6.8Kg) Rhubarb
2.5lb (1.1 Kg) Sugar
1 gallon (4ltr) Water
Yeast

Chop up Rhubarb and pour over boiling water and mash it up. Don’t bring back to boil. Leave to soak until next day. Strain off liquor and press fruit. Stir in sugar and bung in yeast. Leave to ferment, then rack it, then bottle it.

Racking is where you take off the scum or let the scum sink to the bottom and then siphon off the clearer liquor into another container. I think.

We haven’t tried this before, the book doesn’t say how much yeast to use so we are trying with a sachet of dried multipurpose brewers yeast (guessing this is fine from the 4 ltr of water used).

Also Rhubarb is excellent with Mackerel or Sardines, any fishy kind of fish.

[John]

Racking is where you take off the scum or let the scum sink to the bottom and then siphon off the clearer liquor into another container. I think.

You add finings to the wine before racking as I recall and this causes the bits to clump together and sink before you siphon off. Haven't made wine for years as we go on Viking raids to Calais

[Jake]

Thanks, I always wondered what finings did. We're into Ye olde world type stuff so making wine is part of that hobby. New to it though.

Beer brewing on the other hand I'm quite good at, I'd rather drink mine than the cans of gnats ****. There's only one pub in Luton that serves decent beer, The Black Horse. Never made it without a kit although my dad has and I might try this year, stinks though.

[John]

There's a pub up the road from here (about 15 mins walk) that does about 25 different beers (real ale) used to do good food as well but it got taken over some time back and the food quality has gone down, price up and it's not the friendly welcome it used to be. Sad.

I've never made beer but I've got the drinking of it down to a tee.

[GrannieAnnie]

I made some rhubarb wine once Jake, it came out as a rose and it was very nice.  Mind you the STRONGEST one I ever made was the rice wine!  Boy, did that pack a punch!!!! lol

[Jake]

Rice Wine, I've tried it in a Chinese restraunt and I thought I'd better go easy on it, almost like a spirit.

Anyway I came across some Rhubarb recipes here at springarbourfarm while looking for something to do with short rhubarb stems, (heather_s's thread in grow your own).

I like the sound of Rhubarb crisp.

[GrannieAnnie]

Mmmmmm, the rhubarb crisp sounds nice, fruit crumble with a slight twist!!! yummy

[Jerry]

Make rhubarb wine every year, method like John Seymours but bit more slapdash. And no chemicals.
Take your bucket. Put in clean chopped raw rhubarb. Boil kettles of water and pour on until rhubarb is just covered. Leave to cool to blood heat. Mash it about with a stout stick or something. Sprinkle a sachet of dried bread yeast on top and leave for 3 days with a bit of cloth tied over the top to keep muck out. Tie it tightly. After 3 days, tip the liquid slowly into another bucket, keep the cloth on, it acts as a sieve. (Put the rhubarb left in the cloth onto the compost.) For each half bucket full of liquid add about a pound of sugar Stir to dissolve. Put into demijohn with airlock, leave for 4 weeks in a warm place. 2 days before you wnat to do it, move it to a high worksurface, so it settles, then rack by siphoning off the liquid into another demijohn and throw the gunk at the bottom onto the compost. Do this a week later, and another week later too. Should be clear by then. If you want to bottle it, stop it fermenting by pasteurising - put it in a big pan and very gently heat to 70 degrees C for about 3 minutes with the lid on. I normally just keep it in the demijohn and pour from there!

[Jake]

Thanks Jerry, thats definately the way forward I think. I like no chemicals. I like easy even more.

[ang]

Thanks for the recipes. In another 10 months ish will probably slightly tispsy. Ps am new to the site and would like to say love it.

[John]

Ps am new to the site and would like to say love it.

You'd all best stop with the compliments and suchlike - I can't get my head through the door anymore!!!

[noshed]

That simple wine recipe is more orless what I used to do. Comes out as pleasant and fruity - keep a jug of in the fridge for emergencies.

[kooringa]

I have made rhubarb schnapps - the recipe is on my www if you fancy giving it a go, and is in the Nigella Lawson Domestic Goddess Recipe book

Makes lovely Christmas presents

[ang]

Have just tasted the first of my rhubarb wine. I ended up doing a version from a book and it's tasting very good. Would like to say thanks to everyone for their suggestions.