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Wine was thought to be for the upper crust. I didn't drink wine really until I was married and it took a while to get acquainted with it. I know what I like but know nothing at all about wines apart from it comes from grapes ( maybe I know a tiny bit more but can't tell you what wine it is ) My son has to know all about wine as it's his business and what he doesn't know as they say isn't worth knowing. In his cellar he has some very special wines at a price that I find unbelievable but he buys them at a high price and he has the clientele that demands that sort of wine. A couple from Holland dine often at his restaurant and take back thousands of euros of wine. His wine cellar is getting famous in this area.

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Yesterday we celebrated my birthday and went for a meal at the Brinsley Lodge. Food OK but the place itself needs  a serving of petrol and a match. For the first in many years I wasn't driving an

Getting back into home brewing beer after 26 years away from it. Miss a good glass of real beer. Next year I'll be collecting berries from our two Mulberry trees and making some wine from them. Also

I used to buy 50lb pails of pure barley malt when I lived in Oz, problem was it was made to suit the big breweries, then they started getting barley & wheat malt, just didn't taste the same.... I

I think I do Jill .....  Nothing  

 

Just Googled 'Pedestal' thinking it might be something you keep wine in/on, we have given loads bottles away over the years raffle prises, gifts from work etc must be connected don't drink Coca Cola either?  

Plus I don't  have drink in the house probably why I have trouble staying in? 

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From items I've read, population may be declining in the west, apart from immigration.  Don't quote me on that, I don't have a link to a site that proves it.

 

Re.  Wine and beer making.  I started making beer in the late sixties.  you could buy all the stuff at Boots.  It made a pretty powerful brew.  I continued in Canada and added wine making too.  After some years I realized it was getting the better of me and could end in disaster.  Being hung over at work most days gets old.  So I quit.  Long story I won't go there.  As they say, just be safe out there.

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Anybody had a go at making Sloe Gin?  We do a lot of walking and noticed masses of sloes in the hedgerows a month or so ago.  We’ve never attempted home booze making and thought we could give Sloe Gin a go.  Went to various shops to buy some kit for the process but came back home with nothing so then thought we’d do a bit of googling.  We had no idea that to make Sloe Gin you start off with a bottle of vodka (or cheap gin) then put pricked Sloe berries in it, and there was us thinking that you start from scratch with half a kilo of berries and it miraculously turned into gin!   There are now so many different gins available in the shops  that to me it seems a pointless waste of time to faff about trying to make it.   We’ve recently bought a bottle of Silent Pool Gin, expensive but probably cheaper than the gin-making kit and it won’t be cluttering up a kitchen cupboard for ever more, it’s nearly empty already. 

 

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I have a damson tree in the garden and give the fruit to a friend who makes damson gin. I like neither damsons nor gin. When the damsons have done their stuff with the gin, she makes alcoholic damson jam with them! Waste not, want not!

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You don't need a kit Lizzie just big air tight jars Sloes sugar and a bottle of Gin.

Damson Gin is also very nice and after you have drained them dip them in dark 

Chocolate let them dry and you have some lovely liqueurs.

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Reminds me of my late MIL.  She was a teetotaller all her life but she liked to make some kind of fruit drink.  can't remember which fruit now.  It used to ferment a bit in the bottles.  Can't have been much or it would have blown the corks.  Late wife, girlfriend as she was rhen, and I used to love it.  MIL thought it had a funny taste.  We just used to laugh and have another glass.  :biggrin:

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Yes Lizzie its a bit of a faff but sort of rewarding when you've made it yourself. I don't know if you can buy 90% proof alcohol in UK but here you can and I've made quite a few liquors with it including Limoncello plain and cream. One year we had so much mint that I experimented and made a mint liquor. It consisted of keeping the leaves marinating for a while in the alcohol (can't remember how long) then strain and filter it. Think we had to wait a month before we could drink it. It was quite refreshing after a meal. I have also bottled fruit in alcohol, even sultanas when they've been in the cupboard too long and have gone dry. you eat the sultanas with ice-cream and then drink the liquid.

Haven't done anything like that for years , maybe next year I might make some cream limoncello .I saved some really nice bottles for it.

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Not exactly a drink, but Golden raisins soaked in Gin are supposed to be really good for Arthritis and other aches and pains.  Just eight or nine a day.  You won't get a buzz out of that, but the aches in my legs and ankles seem less when I take them.  

 

Let them soak just covered in the Gin for a week to ten days before eating any.

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Must try that Loppy. I have a few raisins left from  Christmas 2016 when I made mince meat and Christmas cake . They went in the banana cake the other day and they were fine, not outdated. will definitely try them could do with a bit less pain.

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It's about 25 years since my wife & I unexpectedly found ourselves members of 2 wine circles but have never regretted it due to the attached social life we've enjoyed. We soon joined in not only the making of the wine but entering in competitions with other local circles at their annual festivals taking our entries in on the Saturday morning, they were judges during the afternoon and then we returned in the evening for the dancing & presentation of trophies if successful!

Oh dear, problems again with P.image ! the photo shows Bramcotes last festival 2 years ago with the entries ready for the judges but it should be up here !

 

 

                                                                   

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Thanks Plantfit.

it may be my fault as I appear to have 'saved' the copy photo incorrectly I

I was going to say that all but one of these 'festivals' are now just memories due to the work involved, 14 hours on  'the' day plus judges, music & venue to be booked beforehand. The work on a personal basis has also got a bit heavy on the the knees when washing/sterilising a dozen bottles or more and as you can see all the bottles have to be finished to competition standard  to have any chance of winning.

ATB to Eastwood Wine Circle for their 50th. festival next April(?) I've got a couple of 'reds' and a White kit to start so I'll be seeing you all, Cheers ! 

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Many years ago i had a good crop of parsnips. I had seen a recipe for parsnip and banana wine so I bought some spotty bananas and made a batch. It was ready in a few weeks. Two demi john's nice and clear.  New years party and I put up a couple of bottles and jokingly labelled it 'Afrodizzyack' . The ladies really went for it! Whooooo..............:crazy:

 

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