The wine making is going well; we've just bottled some white grape juice wine made using cheap Tesco grape juice which has turned out at a mighty 13% abv and have started off two more gallons today. One is a Chardonnay kit from Wilkinsons that we've used before and which gave excellent results and the other is more of an experiment - say hello to Vimto wine.
I saw a recipe for Ribena wine here and fancied trying something similar so I've substituted Vimto for Ribena. Apparantly it makes a strong wine and is a bit like sherry. The yeast has frothed up and started bubbling already and I only put it in an hour ago.
If you fancy joining me in experimental Vimto wine here's the recipe:
600ml Vimto cordial (use the regular one, not sugar free)
1kg caster sugar
1 sachet of wine yeast
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Water to top up to the neck of a one gallon demi john
Mix together the sugar, Vimto and enough water in a large saucepan to make it all less gloopy. Boil for 10 minutes; this boils off the preservatives in the Vimto which would otherwise prevent fermentation.
Leave to cool until luke warm. Pour about 500mls of the mixture into a jug and tip in the yeast and yeast nutrient. Pour everything into the demi john, fill with water up to the neck and take a reading with a hydrometer so you can work out abv later on. Fit the air lock and leave in a warm place.
That's what I've done so far. From here on in I believe it's a case of leaving it to ferment for a couple of weeks then tasting it and checking the abv until you're happy with the sweetness and alcohol content, at which point you kill of the yeast. Once I find out how it goes I'll finish off this recipe. At this point the hydrometer reads 1.07 which might be too low as I've added a lot of water, but I'll find out given time. I don't know how it will turn out but the whole thing's only cost around £2.50 to make a gallon so I won't be heartbroken if it goes wrong.