[paulsol]

hi all...after making many wines from all all sorts of fruit.berries vegetables  and others i found the best wine is DAMSON wine...so...after obtaining two 200l blue barrels (one with top removed) and a trip to the pyo orchard for 140lb of well ripened damsons...
ok now the hard bit...damsons in barrel ..add 15 gallons boiling water....5lb minced raisins....half pound of grated root ginger...juice of 8 lemons....aspirins....enzymes when cool..ferment 5 days...stir well daily
now for the hardest bit....extract as much juice as possible...transfer to closed barrel....boil much water..dissolve necessary sugar...cool..add to juice...add yeast nutrient and yeast...maintain suitable temperature and ferment till it stops..remove wine...clean barrel...replace wine.i made 65 gallons of wine from that!!
the secret of making good wine is..the least exposure to the air the better the wine
i have made 2 batches that way...top grade wine!!

[BobE]

Sounds brill to me

[Capt Zero]

Your not far from me and we don't have any Damsons yet....2 trees of our allotment and no fruit to write home about.   I wish we had a PYO near us.

ps..whats the aspirins for?? never heard that one.

pps...how much did the Damsons cost??....if you don'tmind me asking.

[Kleftiwallah]

The only fly in the ointment is that P.Y.O. which implies paying for the damsons.  There is a stretch of damson bushes that no-one seems to use/know so I gets me wellies on and a gurt big bucket (or two).  Cheers,   Tony.

[paulsol]

hi...we went to Evesham to pick them..it was a day out for neices and nephews...i think it was about £35 for the damsons..the second time we went down to Evesham for damsons i found a produce auction and purchased from there.....unless of course you can find free fruit!!
one aspirin tablet per gallon or two was recommended in a wine making book.

[BobE]

one aspirin tablet per gallon or two was recommended in a wine making book.

I think that kills wild yeasts.  Same as a campden tablet.
Then you put in your own yeast.  (Wild yeasts can't get to the alcohol level we want.)

[paulsol]

no...i think it acts as a nutrient...i will have to dig the book out...a headache in itself!..anyone got an aspirin?...lol

[Capt Zero]

I'm wondering if the aspirin is like putting a Vitamin B tablet in a brew??....that's  a nutrient...works on the yeast cells much like it works on ours...helps them to grow....which helps the yeast.

I lived in Evesham for 40 years, will have to see what I can sort out.

[paulsol]

Gordon Bennett!!!.....I REMEMBER NOW..IT WAS NOT ASPIRIN....I MEANT VITAMIN B TABLETS.....sorry all...perhaps it would have self-cured any hangovers?...lol

[Capt Zero]