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Often, gooseberries are grown on household plots "for a set", at best eating a few berries per season. Perhaps this is facilitated by sharp thorns, which are difficult to harvest without being hurt. Meanwhile, 100 g of gooseberries contain only 44 calories and 10 g of carbohydrates, but there are 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, and are used to make 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 on par with the best grape-based drinks.
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.
- Reduces cholesterol levels.
- Improves digestion.
- Restores the salt balance.
- They have antimicrobial action. 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, which are used to make wine, must be ripe, but not overripe. Greens contain an excessive amount of acid and little sugar, and overexposed emit a lot of methyl alcohol, harmful to humans, and ferment poorly. All rotten, moldy, unripe berries are ruthlessly discarded so as not to spoil the drink. In addition, after harvesting, it is advisable to use the raw materials within a day, otherwise beneficial substances and aroma will begin to evaporate.
As inventory you will need:
- glass bottles;
- wort fermentation tank;
- water seal or rubber glove;
- gauze.
Dishes for fermenting gooseberry wine should be washed well with hot water with the addition of soda, and glass bottles should be sterilized.
Gooseberry wine production
You can make table or dessert gooseberry 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 shades.
There are many ways to make gooseberry wine at home. The recipes offered by us deserve attention, because they allow you to make a high-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 its preparation 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, aromatic and tasty. It is worth noting that this drink is very popular in France, and only someone, 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.
Cooking method
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 raised mash obstructs oxygen and prevents the yeast from working.
Squeeze 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 puncture one finger.
After the fermentation is over, the odor trap will stop emitting bubbles, and the glove will fall off, try the taste of the wine. If it is very sour, dilute the sugar with a little wine (no more than 50 g per liter of drink) and return to the bottle.
Reinsert the odor trap or put on a glove, leave until fermentation stops. If you are satisfied with the taste of the drink, remove it from the sediment.
Cap and store the drink in a cool place for a month. Pour the wine every two weeks, freeing it of sediment.
Bottle, seal, refrigerate for 4 months to ripen. Then pour into a clean container, seal it 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 gooseberry - 2 kg;
- water - 2 l;
- sugar - 4 cups.
The drink is prepared without yeast.
Cooking method
Mash or chop the gooseberry berries with a meat grinder.
Boil the syrup from water and sugar.
Transfer the puree to a fermentation dish no more than 2/3 full.
Pour in the cooled syrup and stir well, cover with gauze.
Place in a warm place for 6-7 days to ferment.
Stir the pulp thoroughly with a wooden spatula three times a day.
Strain the wort, squeeze 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 production of carbon dioxide stops, try the wine.
Add sugar if necessary, 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 for ripening 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 the sediment.
Ingredients
Take:
- gooseberry - 3 kg;
- water - 3 l;
- sugar - 2 kg.
Cooking method
Chop fresh berries and cover with sugar for 2-3 hours.
Pour in lukewarm water, stir thoroughly and place 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 it in a warm room for 5 days.
Remove the wine from the lees, bottle, seal and refrigerate.
This simple recipe will allow you to taste the drink in 3 days.
Gooseberry jam wine
You can cook great jam wine gooseberry. It is not scary if it is sugar 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 g.
Cooking method
Boil and cool the water, combine it with the jam and stir well. Add unwashed raisins.
Cover the fermentation dish 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 pull on a punctured rubber glove, ferment in a warm place.
Taste the juice from time to time, if you do not have enough sweetness, add sugar at the rate of 50 g per liter.
When the taste of the drink suits you and 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.