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Kitty[_3_] Kitty[_3_] is offline
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Default Making Wine Jelly or Vinegar with Homemade Wine

On Jan 31, 7:08*pm, "Garland Grower" >
wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> We have blackberries on my fiance's property. *He has about thirty 5 yr old
> thorny plants and last January we planted 100 of the new thornless
> varieties, needless to say we hope to have lots of berries this year. *Last
> year at then end of the season fiance made some wine with the berries that
> were too ugly to sell. *He is not all that experienced with wine but very
> experienced with beer brewing. *We're not really sure how to judge the
> outcome of this wine because neither of us are connoisseurs. *We are
> thinking of making Wine Jelly or Blackberry Vinegar out of it. *If I had to
> describe it, I would say it tastes kind of like a cross between beer and
> wine. *It's got beautiful color, of course, it's got some alcohol and
> whatever sugar was left in it fermented out in the quart jars to give it a
> little bit of zing (carbonation I guess). *It's also got a little bitter
> flavor. *It does not taste sour and it does not taste like Vinegar. *It's
> nice, but the flavor to me is not all that great. *I mean I could drink it
> just for the health/ antioxidant benefits, but it would be nice if it tasted
> a little better. *It's almost like it has an "unfinished" taste. *There is a
> little bit of lees in the bottom of the glass when you get done, if that is
> the right word. *I'm sure w/o tasting it you all can not advise properly,
> but I'll ask a couple questions about making vinegar or jelly.
>
> I've researched making vinegar and looked for culture on the Internet, I
> found 8oz jars for around $12. *The issue is that I have about three gallons
> of wine and recipe for vinegar states I have to use 96oz of mother. *(I
> think it's 8oz starter, 8 oz water, 16 oz wine).
> I wrote a guy on Ebay and he quoted me that amount and said if I wanted a
> large amount he'd order it. *Everything I've read says the mother continues
> to grow and get larger and you can cut off pieces and give them away/sell/
> whatever. *Why would I need THAT much starter? *I'm thinking you can just
> put in 16oz or so and let it go. *I think Blackberry Vinegar with some
> Rosemary would be divine.
>
> The other option would be to make Jelly. *I could wait till I get some Basil
> going and flavor it with that or other herbs. *I know the Vinegar would be
> good, I'm just not sure about the jelly.
>
> --
> Rita Foust
> Garland, TX
> Zone 7b-8a
> Farmer Jones Eco-Friendly Plants & Producehttp://www.localharvest.org/farms/M10383


may I suggest that you buy enough to get started with making the
vinegar and then just use the starter from that for the larger
amount?

Actually I'd never heard about using a "mother" to make vinegar. I've
made it by leaving Cider open to the air. I thought that was how all
vinegar was made. I'd like to hear why you'd need a starter to turn
wine into vinegar before I invested money into it. LOL Kitty