On Sat, 30 Jul 2011 21:48:48 +0100, Adrian Brentnall
wrote:

HI John

No particular tips - but we used to make wine with the Mirabel plums
that grew in the hedgerows when we lived in Suffolk, and very nice it
was too..

ISTR that it was worthwhile measuring the Specific Gravity of the 'must'
(= mashed up fruit before fermentation) and adding sugar to a specified
SG - as some years the plums were sweeter than others, and adding a set
amount of sugar wasn't the right way....

Simpler the recipe the better - 4lbs of fruit to 1 gall water, some
pectolytic enzyme helps the fruit to break down and release the juice.
Sugar as above, yeast to get things started.

After a week transfer from covered bucket to glass demijohn with
fermentation lock - ferment until it stops bubbling.

Rack off into bottles or clean demijohn. Not sure if it improved with
age - ours never lasted that long! g

Adrian

On 30/07/2011 20:36, john smith wrote:
Hi there!

We have a surfeit of plums this year - and very nice they are too! - but
rather than letting them go to waste. I was wondering how easy it'd be to
make plum wine? I've found a few recipes online but was wondering if anyone
here had any first-hand tips they could pass on?

Thanks in advance!


I used to make wine obsessively for years -- probably a good thing
that I stopped! I never measured the Specific Gravity, though I know
it's the counsel of perfection. 2lb sugar to 4lb plums if they're good
and ripe, half lb more sugar if they aren't quite. Plums and damsons
make excellent wine, but they are prone to pectin hazes, so Adrian's
dead right about the pectolytic enzyme. Add a tumblerfull of
concentrated grape juice if you've got any: it adds a touch of "real
wine" character.

--
Mike.