How to make damson wine

There is something very special to me about home made country wine and especially damson wine. A damson must be as close as it gets to a grape, which is why there are much fewer extra ingredients for making this wine. Generally I leave it for around a year or two.

Now for two of my favorite damson wine recipes

damsons

This page is continued from the Damson section of country wine page

Damson wine recipe 1 of 2 (Country summer style)

Ingredients :-

3 lb ripe damsons
3 lb sugar
1 gallon cold water
pectic enzyme
campden tablets
gp wine yeast
yeast nutrients

Instructions :
pick or buy damsons as ripe as possible, remove stones and wash them well. put the 3lb. damsons in a large saucepan or preserving pan, and pour on a gallon of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the damsons are tender but not mashy. strain off the liquid through muslin into a plastic bucket. the damsons can now be used as stewed fruit or for making jam. add 3lb. of granulated sugar to the liquid in the bucket and stir well with a plastic spoon until the sugar has dissolved. leave to cool right down, then add pectic enzyme and a crushed campden tablet. allow 24 covered in a warm atmosphere before stirring in the yeast and yeast nutrient. the leave in the warm for three days before you transfer into a fermentation demi-john, fit an airlock and ferment until dry, when the fermentation has stopped, rack and clear before bottling. some may be required during fermentation and a tablespoon of sugar added once or twice should do no harm. you will de able to drink it in six months or perhaps before that. but the longer you keep it the better it will be.

Damson wine recipe 2 of 2 (Old country)

NOTE: Old country recipes tend to be less reliable

Ingredients : -

3 lb ripe damsons
3 lb sugar
6 pts cold water
pectic enzyme
campden tablet
gp wine yeast
yeast nutrients

Instructions :
choose ripe damsons; wash them; remove the stones and place in a plastic bucket. Pour over cold water stir with a plastic spoon.
A hand written recipy that was given to me some time back says:-

Cover bucket and leave until a thick mould has formed on top. May take weeks, keep the bucket covered. The flavour of the wine will be better if there is a good thick mould. when the mould is thick enough; remove carefully; in onepiece if possible.
I would never do this its far better to start fermentation sstraight away by removing the stones and pulping the damsons such that fermentation can begin with the pulp present. I would remove the pulp after few days. The likely hood of it turning to vinigar rather than forming a safe mould is too high. I have herd it said that repeated freezing & thawing is great for getting more flavour out. I also have herd it said that you should use normal damsons and not damson plums but I am not sure about this. I know the Damsons on my mum's tree make great wine.

Strain off the liquid off into another bucket and 3lb. of granulated sugar, a crushed campden tablet and the pectic enzyme, stir well with a plastic spoon until the sugar has dissolved. cover the bucket and leave for 24 hours: then put in yeast and yeast nutrient, re-cover and leave in warm for three more days, stirring each day. strain into a fermentation demi-john, keep in warm and ferment until dry. rack into another demi-john, to clear before bottling. you can drink it in six months, but it will improve in flavour if you can keep it longer.

[Home] [Sitemap] [Fermentation] [Cider] [Beer] [Wine] [Other drinks] [Shops] [Recipe Design] [Grow your own] [Reviews] [Hangover]

Sitemap

[Damson wine][Parsnip wine][Stuck brew][Mulled wine]

[Back to the TOP of this page]

All text on this site is purely the contributing author's personal views and should not be taken as fact.
No responsibility is assumed or implied for anything that happens as a result of reading these views.