saw the elderflower champagne thread and wondered if anyone makes their own wine?

[lucysmam]

and how easy/cheap it is and how much space you would need to do it in? Just out of curiosity at the minute but if it sounds simple and inexpensive then I would most likely be tempted to give it a go!

I made some years agol, and it was easy and you only need somewhere to put a demi-john, can't remember what sort of temperature it should be stored in though, shouldn't get too cold iirc

DH tried it years ago. It was horrible. His friend tried it too. It was horrible. Some other friends are brewing it as we speak. I can predict the result already.

What were you thinking of making the wine from? Grapes? Other fruit or vegetables?

no but I like to dabble in fruit flavoured vodkas and gins..

DH has some one the go, he's done it for me bless him. I am very very worried about the end result and whether I will be able to drink it and sound genuinely as if I am impressed (which I get the impression I am expected to be !)

He has cheated and got some kit though. It lives in the garage, having started in the bath. I don't actually know any more than that.

My mum used to make her own out of everything.
She always managed to drink it too.

cthea, I haven't a clue tbh, was just curious after reading the thread about elderflower champagne and thought if it wasn't too hard and didn't need too much space I might give it a go.

blackcoffee, you make your own??

DH tried elderflower. Not a good idea.

hmmm, i think i might give it a miss and stick to netto's own lambrini type stuff after reading this!!

unless someone else who is successful comes along, then i may be persuaded to try it

I suppose if you're very serious (veering towards earnest) about it, you could join some forum for like-minded people (like "Selfsufficient-ish") and get some tipples tips on there.

lol@tipples! i'm not that serious about it cthea, was just curious as to whats involved but think i'll leave well alone for now

Here's the selfsufficientish forum if you get ideas again.

thanks cthea, i dont think i'll bother though, noone who answered seems very successful and i probably wouldnt be either

My dad always used to make stuff like elderflower wine, blackberry wine, rhubarb even- often with good results.
The one that DIDN'T work was pineapple- goodness knows what he was thinking
You do need a lot of space though for the bottles (for making, not the keeping I mean!)
Often people put them up on freecycle (demi-johns)
I know quite a few people who made beer at uni, from its, but it was neve rthat nice tbh, and IME cheap german lager from aldi/lidl tastes much better.

I have very fond memories of doing this with my dad when I was young. I cannot accurately represent what it was like as I was about 10 and only allowed to have a sip. It tasted great to me! The entertainment value of our projects like this was huge!

TBH I think wine was both more expensive, more "exotic" and harder to get then. I'd be surprised these days if it is cheaper than a reasonable £2/3 bottle and it almost certainly won't be as nice.

When I was at University I went to a party where the hosts had brewed their own cider from apples in the garden. It was, predictably, rank!

oops- my post was meant to say beer from kits