Earlier in the week, I strained off the banana wine into a demijohn and it now looks like this;

 

 

 

 

Not very appetising at the moment, is it?  Banana wine needs more racking than other wines due to dropping a lot of sediment.  Once it does clear, it will be a lovely golden colour.


My Summer Lightning is also in the keg and priming as we speak.  In a couple of days, it will go into my cool garage to condition for a few weeks.  That's the plan!  It is tasting lovely, even at this early stage, so it might be a problem keeping my hands off it!!

Quick Update....

This is what I woke up to this morning.......!

 



 

 

 

The yeast is obviously doing its job well.  Also, the bitter aroma it had yesterday has been replaced by a lovely fruity/spicy aroma.  If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'll be chuffed :-)

 

 

 

Between all the beer-making shenanigans yesterday, I managed to mince the wheat to add to my banana wine.  

It has formed a crust on top of the wine and will need stirring once or twice a day to keep everything moist and get the flavours working.  I'll ferment it 'on the pulp' for about a week before straining into a demijohn. 

Rhubarb Wine

My first wine of 2014 is my old favourite, rhubarb.  I have used just under 3 pounds of rhubarb and 2 and a half pounds of sugar.  I am going to boil up a pound of bananas and top up with the strained juice.  This should add some body and, hopefully, a different aroma and flavour.

 

 

Unfortunately, the lovely pink colour will drop out as the wine ferments.

 

I don't have a source of free rhubarb any more so had to buy 3lb for £3.  I'm not sure how this compares to the supermarket price but it's grown locally and, though not certified organic, is grown without chemicals. Add this together with 35p (approx.) for the bananas and £1 for the sugar, it works out at 72p per bottle.  Not as good as 20p obviously, but cheap all the same.

 

More on rhubarb wine can be found here