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Often, on personal plots, gooseberries are grown “for a set”, at best, eating a few berries per season. Perhaps this is facilitated by sharp thorns, without getting hurt on which it is difficult to harvest. Meanwhile, 100 g of gooseberries contain only 44 calories and 10 g of carbohydrates, but a lot of vitamins and minerals. Its berries are used for obesity, metabolic disorders, as a diuretic, choleretic or laxative.
Gooseberries go well with dairy dishes, cheese, used to prepare sauces served with fish or meat. Jams are made from it, it is from this berry that “royal jam” is cooked according to a special recipe. Homemade gooseberry wine is not inferior to the best drinks made from grapes.
The benefits of gooseberry wine
It is worth talking about the benefits of alcoholic beverages only when you made them yourself from self-grown raw materials. In addition, you need to use wine wisely – women can drink one glass a day, men – two.
So, drinks made from gooseberries have the following healing properties:
- They contain organic acids, vitamins and minerals.
- Reduce cholesterol levels.
- Improve digestion.
- Restore salt balance.
- They have antimicrobial activity. For example, if you mix water and gooseberry wine 1:1, then after an hour, many pathogens will die in it.
Raw materials and containers for wine production
Gooseberries that are used to make wine must be ripe but not overripe. Greens contain an excessive amount of acid and little sugar, while overexposed ones emit a lot of methyl alcohol harmful to humans and ferment poorly. All rotten, moldy, unripe berries are mercilessly rejected so as not to spoil the drink. In addition, after collecting the raw materials, it is desirable to use them within a day, otherwise the useful substances and aroma will begin to evaporate.
As an inventory you will need:
- glass bottles;
- tank for wort fermentation;
- water seal or rubber glove;
- gauze.
Dishes for fermenting gooseberry wine should be washed well with hot water with the addition of soda, and sterilized glass bottles.
Gooseberry wine production
You can make gooseberry table or dessert wine at home, it all depends on how much sugar you add. If you add alcohol or cognac after fermentation, you can get a fortified drink. Gooseberry wines are well clarified, taste like white grapes, depending on the variety, they can be colored in golden and pink hues.
There are many ways to make gooseberry wine at home. The recipes offered by us deserve attention, because they allow you to make a quality drink, and are easy to perform. See for yourself.
If the recipe involves the use of wine yeast, which is difficult to buy, you can replace it with sourdough, the methods for preparing it are described in the article “A simple recipe for grape wine”.
Table wine
Dry gooseberry wine at home is easy to prepare, it will be light, fragrant and tasty. It is worth noting that this drink is very popular in France, and even someone who, and the inhabitants of this country, traditionally engaged in winemaking, know a lot about alcohol.
Ingredients
You need:
- gooseberries – 3 kg;
- wine yeast or sourdough – 90 g;
- water – 2 l.
Method of preparation
Grind selected gooseberries in any convenient way, you can even turn them through a meat grinder.
Pour water into the fruit gruel, stir until smooth, add yeast or sourdough.
Cover the dishes with gauze, put in a warm place. Fermentation should take place at 20-27 degrees for 3-5 days. Stir the wort with a wooden spatula every 8 hours, as the risen pulp prevents oxygen from entering and prevents the yeast from working.
Squeeze out the pulp, pour the juice into glass bottles, filling them no more than 3/4 of the volume. Install a water seal. If not, use a regular rubber glove to pierce one finger.
After the fermentation is over, the water seal will stop producing bubbles, and the glove will fall off, taste the taste of the wine. If it is very acidic, dilute the sugar with a small amount of wine (no more than 50 g per liter of drink) and return to the bottle.
Reinstall the water seal or put on a glove, leave until fermentation stops. If the taste of the drink suits, remove it from the sediment.
Cork and put the drink in a cool place for a month. Pour the wine every two weeks, freeing it from sediment.
Bottle, cork, put in the cold to ripen for 4 months. Then pour into a clean container, seal tightly and store horizontally.
Dessert wine
We offer you a step-by-step recipe for a delicious semi-sweet wine that will decorate any table. If you want to get a drink with a rich taste and strong aroma, you need to prepare it from black gooseberries.
Ingredients
Take:
- black gooseberries – 2 kg;
- water – 2 l;
- sugar – 4 cups.
The drink is prepared without yeast.
Method of preparation
Mash gooseberries or chop with a meat grinder.
Make syrup from water and sugar.
Transfer the berry puree to a fermentation bowl, filling it no more than 2/3 full.
Pour in the cooled syrup and stir well, cover with gauze.
Put in a warm place for 6-7 days for fermentation.
Stir the pulp thoroughly with a wooden spatula three times a day.
Strain the wort, squeeze out the pulp, pour into glass bottles, filling them 3/4 of the volume.
Install a water seal or wear a punctured rubber glove.
Leave to ferment in a warm place.
When the release of carbon dioxide stops, try the wine.
If necessary, add sugar, set to continue fermentation.
When the taste of the drink suits you, remove the wine from the sediment, bottle it, put it in a cool place to ripen for 2 months.
A simple recipe
Even a beginner can make gooseberry wine at home. A simple recipe will allow you to drink it immediately after removing it from the sediment.
Ingredients
Take:
- gooseberries – 3 kg;
- water – 3 l;
- sugar – 2 kg.
Method of preparation
Grind fresh berries and sprinkle with sugar for 2-3 hours.
Pour in slightly warm water, mix thoroughly and leave for 3-4 days in a warm place for fermentation. Stir the pulp at least three times a day.
Strain and squeeze the wort without installing a water seal, leave in a warm room for 5 days.
Remove the wine from the sediment, pour into bottles, cork them and refrigerate.
This simple recipe will allow you to try the drink in 3 days.
Wine from gooseberry jam
You can make excellent wine from gooseberry jam. It is not scary if it is sugared or sour – the main thing is that there is no mold on the surface.
Ingredients
You will need:
- gooseberry jam – 1 l;
- water – 1 l;
- raisins – 120
Method of preparation
Boil and cool the water, combine it with jam and mix well. Add unwashed raisins.
Cover the fermentation vessel with clean gauze and place in a dark, warm place for 10 days. Stir the pulp several times daily.
Strain and squeeze the wort, pour into clean glass bottles, install a water seal or put on a punctured rubber glove, leave to ferment in a warm place.
Taste the juice from time to time, if you don’t have enough sweetness, add sugar at the rate of 50 g per liter.
When the taste of the drink suits you, and the fermentation stops, pour it into clean bottles and transfer to a cool place for aging.
After 2 months, the wine can be filtered and hermetically sealed.
Conclusion
As you can see, gooseberry wine is easy to make. Prepare a drink according to any recipe and enjoy its exquisite taste.