GARDENING AND HOME BREWING

judsoncarroll4

https://www.almanac.com/gardening-and-home-brewing

Tave

Apple cider vinegar and wine are on my brew list. I'm waiting for hop seeds to arrive; I hear they're hard to germinate, but I'm going to try.

Torey

I have made cider, then apple cider vinegar, from scratch. Both were excellent.

My husband has made beer before but always from a kit. I have hops growing now and didn't before so maybe he will try again and do it from scratch.

We have tried wine before from a variety of fruits as well as dandelion. The dandelion was a lot of work for very little return and the wait for it to mature was a long one. The fruit wines were all pretty puckery.

I have made fruit liqueurs many times and they always turn out very well. As a matter of fact, just the other day I found a gallon jar half full, on the back of a lower shelf in my cold room that said Cherry Brandy 2016. Just decanted it and it is wonderful! Very smooth. My husband is so used to me making medicinals that he asked if he needed (cough, cough) to be sick (cough, cough) before he was allowed to drink it (cough, cough). 😂 I'm going to make a thickened sauce out of the strained cherries and make Black Forest Cake! So if you are making a fruit brandy, don't throw out the fruit afterwards.

judsoncarroll4

Being about half French and very rural, I've always embraced the old saying that "we eat anything that moves".... the other half being mostly Irish... and a good bit Yorkshire... with a long a history of country wines, I reckon I'll ferment most anything that doesn't move!

Monek Marie

You can cook down apple cider and use a teaspoon or two to make a fruit drink later. It does not need refrigerated. If you cook it down even more you can make you own pectin. That pectin mix will sooth a sore throat and kick a cold out of you system fast.

Home made apple cider is the best!

Just make sure you air the wine properly or it will blow and you have fruity chunks hanging from the walls and ceiling. (not me this time!)

marjstratton

I have made apple cider in the past. It was really good. Need to do it again if I get a good crop this year. I do need to reinvest in the proper equipment. I last made it so many years and moves ago that I no longer have the equipment.

ltwickey

I love making strawberry wine, but haven't done it in a few years. My last endeavor was a honey mead! So good! Definitely on my to-do list!

VickiP

I used to have a cider press. A friend of mine and I would go to a local orchard and haul off the windfalls. We made many gallons of cider. The nice thing about cider is you can drink it unfermented, then fermented and then eventually end up with vinegar to use the way one does. I have brewed a lot of beer over the years and I like using fruit in mine. In fact my favorite recipe is a Cherry Cream Ale. It is a recipe another friend and I worked up as a commemorative batch for an event we used to attend. I haven't made beer for a while since I can no longer drink it. I may have to give wine another go, fewer carbs, LOL.