_Another way._
Take twenty-four pounds of currants; bruise them, and add to that quant.i.ty three gallons of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it twice a day; then strain the liquor from the fruit; and to every quart of liquor put one pound of sugar. Let it stand three days, stirring it twice a day; then put it in your barrel, and put into it six-pennyworth of orris-root well bruised. The above quant.i.ties will make five gallons.
_Red or White Currant Wine._
Take to every gallon of juice one gallon of water, to every gallon of water three pounds and a half of the best Lisbon sugar. Squeeze the currants through a sieve; let the juice stand till the sugar is dissolved; dip a bit of brown paper in brimstone, and burn in the cask.
Then tun the wine, and to every three gallons put a pint of brandy. When it has done hissing, stop it close; it will be fit to drink in six months, but it will be better for keeping ten or twelve.
_White Currant Wine._
To each sieve of currants take twenty-five pounds of moist sugar, and to every gallon of juice two gallons of water. Squeeze the fruit well with the hands into an earthen pan; then strain it through a sieve. Throw the pulp into another pan, filling it with water, which must be taken from the quant.i.ty of water allowed for the whole, and to every ten gallons of wine put one bottle of brandy. In making the wine, dissolve the sugar in the water above-mentioned, and put it into the cask; then add the remaining juice and water, stirring it well up frequently. Stir it well every morning for ten successive days, and as it works out fill up the cask again until it has done fermenting. Then put in your brandy, and bung it quite close. In about eight months it will be fit to drink; but, if you leave it twelve, it will be better.
_Damson Wine._
Take four gallons of water, and put to every gallon four pounds of Malaga raisins and half a peck of damsons. Put the whole into a vessel without cover, having only a linen cloth laid over it. Let them steep six days, stirring twice every day; then let them stand six days without stirring. Draw the juice out of the vessel, and colour it with the infused juice of damsons, sweetened with sugar till it is like claret wine. Put it into a wine vessel for a fortnight; then bottle it up; and it may be drunk in a month.
All made wines are the better for brandy, and will not keep without it.
The quant.i.ty must be regulated by the degree of strength you wish to give to your wine.
_Elder Wine._ No. 1.
Take elderberries, when ripe; pick them clean from the stalk; press out the juice through a hair sieve or canvas-bag, and to every gallon of juice put three gallons of water on the husks from which the juice has been pressed. Stir the husks well in the water, and press them over again; then mix the first and second liquor together, and boil it for about an hour, skimming it clean as long as the sc.u.m rises. To every gallon of liquor put two pounds of sugar, and skim it again very clean; then put to every gallon a blade of mace and as much lemon-peel, letting it boil an hour. After the sugar is put in, strain it into a tub, and, when quite cold, put it into a cask; bung it close down, and look frequently to see that the bung is not forced up. Should your quant.i.ty be twelve gallons or more, you need not bottle it off till about April, but be sure to do so on a clear dry day, and to let your bottles be perfectly dry; but if you have not more than five or six gallons, you may bottle it by Christmas on a clear fine day.
_Elder Wine._ No. 2.
To a gallon of water put a quarter of a peck of berries, and three pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar. Steep the berries in water forty hours; after boiling a quarter of an hour, strain the liquor from the fruit, and boil it with the sugar till the sc.u.m ceases to rise. Work it in a tub like other wines, with a small quant.i.ty of yest. After some weeks, add a few raisins, a small quant.i.ty of brandy, and some cloves.
The above makes a sweet mellow wine, but does not taste strong of the elder.
_Elder Wine._ No. 3.
Take twenty-four pounds of raisins, of whatever sort you please; pick them clean, chop them small, put them into a tub, and cover them with three gallons of water that has been boiled and become cold. Let it stand ten days, stirring it twice a day. Then strain the liquor through a hair sieve, draining it all from the raisins, and put to it three pints of the juice of elderberries and a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the whole into the cask, and let it stand close stopped, but not in too cold a cellar, for three or four months before you bottle it. The peg-hole must not be stopped till it has done working.
The best way to draw the juice from the berries is to strip them into an earthen pan, and set it in the oven all night.
_Elder Wine._ No. 4.
Mash eight gallons of picked elderberries to pieces, add as much spring water as will make the whole nine gallons, and boil slowly for three quarters of an hour. Squeeze them through a cloth sieve; add twenty-eight pounds of moist sugar, and boil them together for half an hour. Run the liquor through your cloth sieve again; let it stand till lukewarm; put into it a toast with a little yest upon it, and let it stand for seven or eight days, stirring it every day. Then put it into a close tub, and let it remain without a bung till it has done hissing.
Before you bung up close, you may add one pint of brandy at pleasure.
_Elder Wine._ No. 5.
Half a gallon of ripe berries to a gallon of water; boil it half an hour; strain it through a sieve. To every gallon of liquor put three pounds of sugar; boil them together three quarters of an hour; when cold, put some yest to it; work it a week, and put it in barrel. Let it stand a year. To half a hogshead put one quart of brandy and three pounds of raisins.
_Elder-flower Wine._
To six gallons of water put eighteen pounds of lump-sugar; boil it half an hour, skimming it all the time. Put into a cask a quarter of a peck of elder-flowers picked clean from the stalks, the juice and rinds of six lemons pared very thin, and six pounds of raisins. When the water and sugar is about milk warm, pour it into the cask upon these ingredients; spread three or four spoonfuls of yest upon a piece of bread well toasted, and put it into the cask; stir it up for three or four days only; when it has done working, bung it up, and in six or eight months it will be fit for bottling.
_Sham Frontiniac._
To three gallons of water put nine pounds of good loaf-sugar; boil it half an hour; when milk-warm, add to it nearly a peck of elder-flowers picked clear from the stalks, the juice and peel of three good-sized lemons, cut very thin, three pounds of stoned raisins, and two or three spoonfuls of yest; stir it often for four or five days. When it has quite done working, bung it up, and it will be fit for bottling in five days.
_Mixed Fruit Wine._
Take currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and a few rose-leaves, three pints of fruit, mashed all together, to a quart of cold water. Let it stand twenty-four hours; then drain it through a sieve. To every gallon of juice put three pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar; let it ferment; put it into a cask, but do not bung it up for some time. Put in some brandy, and bottle it for use.
_Ginger Wine._ No. 1.
With four gallons of water boil twelve pounds of loaf-sugar till it becomes clear. In a separate pan boil nine ounces of ginger, a little bruised, in two quarts of water; pour the whole into an earthen vessel, in which you must have two pounds of raisins shred fine, the juice and rind of ten lemons. When of about the warmth of new milk, put in four spoonfuls of fresh yest; let it ferment two days; then put it into a cask, with all the ginger, lemon-peel, and raisins, and half an ounce of isingla.s.s dissolved in a little of the wine; in two or three days bung it up close. In three months it will be fit to bottle. Put into each bottle a little brandy, and some sugar also, if not sweet enough.
_Ginger Wine._ No. 2.
Twenty-six quarts of water, eighteen pounds of white Lisbon sugar, six ounces of bruised ginger, the peel of six lemons pared very thin: boil half an hour, and let it stand till no more than blood warm. Put it in your cask, with the juice of six lemons, five spoonfuls of yest, and three pounds of raisins. Stir it six or seven times with a stick through the bung-hole, and put in half an ounce of isingla.s.s and a pint of good brandy. Close the bung, and in about six weeks it will be fit for bottle. Let it stand about six months before you drink it. If you like, it may be drawn from the cask, and it will be fit for use in that way in about two months.
_Ginger Wine._ No. 3.
To ten gallons of water put eight pounds of loaf-sugar and three ounces of bruised ginger; boil all together for one hour, taking the sc.u.m off as it rises; then put it into a pan to cool. When it is cold, put it into a cask, with the rind and juice of ten lemons, one bottle of good brandy, and half a spoonful of yest. Bung it up for a fortnight: then bottle it off, and in three weeks it will be fit to drink. The lemons must be pared very thin, and no part of the white must, on any account, be put in the cask.
_Ginger Wine._ No. 4.
To every gallon of water put one pound and a half of brown sugar and one ounce of bruised ginger, and to each gallon the white of an egg well beaten. Stir all together, and boil it half an hour; skim it well while any thing rises, and, when milk-warm, stir in a little yest. When cold, to every five gallons, put two sliced lemons. Bottle it in nine days; and it will be fit to drink in a week.
_Gooseberry Wine._ No. 1.
To every pound of white amber gooseberries, when heads and tails are picked off and well bruised in a mortar, add a quart of spring water, which must be previously boiled. Let it stand till it is cold before it is put to the fruit. Let them steep three days, stirring them twice a day; strain and press them through a sieve into a barrel, and to every gallon of liquor put three pounds of loaf-sugar, and to every five gallons a bottle of brandy. Hang a small bag of isingla.s.s in the barrel; bung it close, and, in six months, if the sweetness is sufficiently gone off, bottle it, and rosin the corks well over the top. The fruit must be fall grown, but quite green.
_Gooseberry Wine._ No. 2.
To three quarts of full grown gooseberries well crushed put one gallon of water well stirred together for a day or two. Then strain and squeeze the pulp, and put the liquor immediately into the barrel, with three pounds and a half of common loaf-sugar; stir it every day until the fermentation ceases. Reserve two or three gallons of the liquor to fill up the barrel, as it overflows through the fermentation. Put a bottle of brandy into the cask, to season it, before the wine; this quant.i.ty will be sufficient for nine or ten gallons. Be careful to let the fermentation cease, before you bung down the barrel.
The plain white gooseberries, taken when not too ripe, but rather the contrary, are the best for this purpose.