National Homebrew Club Ireland

I thought I had already posted this one and was just going to update it with a few pics...
But anyway, here we go... Rosehip Wine.

(http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/eoinlayton/Beer/18112013805_zpsa3e6834c.jpg)

It was an excellent year for roses all around my area, which made for a very pretty summer, and now it has a bounty of rosehips all over the place.
I left my house and walked about a mile in total picking from the hedgerows as I walked and ended up with about 2kg of rosehips, the fruit of the rose.

Rosehips are a weird little fruit. First you have to watch your hands because of all the rose thorns that surround them.
Next you have to watch all the seeds in the middle.
If you decide to eat a few on the way, nibble the flesh off the top and bottom and leave the seeds alone.
The seeds will make your tongue 'itchy'!

By this time of the year, they've been hit wth a few frosts, and that's when you want to pick them
The frost softens up the flesh, releasing sugars and making them easier to pick.
Pick ones that still have a good red or orange colour, and dont bother with ones that have become very mushy or brown.
You'll see a few with bubbles coming out of them, these ones are frementing on their own and taste delicious, like a sweet cider.

The rosehip 'berry' itself is packed with vitamins, especially vitamin C - they have a LOT of vitamin C.
Traditionally, rosehips would be used as a suppliment for colds/flu, stomach/digestion, kidneys problems, arthritis.
It's so good for you that one of its nicknames is the 'Apothecary Rose'
It's pretty much just a big pick-me-up that's been forgotten like pretty much everything else in the hedgerows.

Anyway, how better to treat one of nature's marvels than to turn it into wine.
Maybe the it'll help me heal some of the damage it'll do to my liver.

The inredients are pretty much the same as my elderberry/blackberry wine, with nothing but fruit, water, sugar, a teabag and yeast.
You'll be using 1.5kg of rosehips. Smash them to a pulp in the food processor and cover in boiling water to kill any nasties.

• 1.5kg rosehips
  
• 1.3kg sugar
  
• a gallon of water
  
• a teabag
  
• wine yeast
  
  - Blitz the rosehips in your food processor
  - Cover in boiling water
  - Mix the sugar in until dissolved
  - Brew a cup of tea (black ) and add it
  - Move to primary, cool to your yeast's preferred temperature and pitch the yeast.
  - Cover it lightly and stir daily for a week
  - Strain it into a demijohn and top it up to the neck with pre-boiled water
  - Rack once primary fermentation is stopped, then again after 3 months.
  - Clear naturally with more time or with finings
  - Bottle and age for at least another 6 months
  
  Here's a view of it before separating out the seeds and skins:
  (http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/eoinlayton/Beer/02122013836_zpsa8cb2424.jpg)
  
  This picture really doesn't do the colour justice.
  It's a great orange colour after moving from primary, with more vibrant orange sediment:
  (http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/eoinlayton/Beer/02122013843_zps3e5f998a.jpg)

Look at the colour of that bubbler ;D

That's my oldest bubbler, it's been through the wars and I love it  ^-^

Another excellent post, sir. Rosehips make a lovely wine, but in my opinion benefit from ageing more than nearly any other. Young rosehip can make paint stripper taste like nectar.

aye, 6 months is generally my testing time for wines but they usually get forgotten about and get plenty of age ;)

Talking of ageing Rosehip wine:

My last two years harvest are about to meet up with a hive full of honey to make a "Melomel" which is just a nice old word for Rosehip Mead!

MAY just be ready this time next year :)

stuck this through a brightening pad and bottled tonight.
Finished a bit higher than expected at 1.002, but that leaves a bit of sweetness which I like.
Crystal clear without any finings.
I'll store it away for 6 months or so.

(http://i.imgur.com/QPAcjhM.jpg)