Making Wine From Ribena

In following directions for “how to homemademixture allowed to ferment for ten days.
wine” It is important to note that Ribena is aSTAGE 2
perfect syrup which is famous for fermentingAfter ten days' fermentation, two bottles of 
‘must’ made from fruits.  In knowing theRibena and one  bottle of water were added and
how to homemade wine, wine makers use this tothe mixture allowed to ferment for a further ten
get extra special results. The rate to add it woulddays.
be one to two bottles per gallon. When makingSTAGE 3
wines from dried fruits, adding one or two bottlesAfter a total of twenty days' fermentation, two
of Ribena per gallon would all the more improvebottles of Ribena and one more bottle of water
the flavor and quality of the wine.  Similarly,were added. Fermentation was then allowed to
when making wines from fresh fruits that give acarry on to completion, taking, in all, three months.
red wine, one or two bottles or Ribena could beThe result was a good, round wine flavored
added to make up for other fruits. This way, youdelightfully but not too strongly of fresh
may disregard the SO2 preservative because theblackcurrants.
amount in the Ribena will not be enough to stopAt stage 3 it was borne in mind that, while most
fermentation, but it would be best to add it at theof the SO2 would have been driven off during
vigorous fermentation stage-during the first tenfermentation by adding those last two bottles, it
days.was, in effect, bringing the total SO2 content up
If you recommend to use Ribena in your how toto 175 parts per million. Fearing that the yeast
homemade wine recipes, bear in mind that eachmight be just a little weakened at this stage, it
bottle contains approximately eight ounces ofwas decided to drive off the SO2 in the last two
sugar, so you should reduce accordingly thebottles by raising the temperature of the to 70
amount of sugar in whichever recipes you aredeg. C.
using.  Undiluted Ribena is not readily fermentable,If you want to include this in your how to
because it contains just over seven pounds ofhomemade wine recipes  and have no suitable
sugar per gallon and is preserved with 350 partsthermometer, stand the bottles in a saucepan of
per million SO2-either of which is capable ofwater and during your how to homemade wine
preventing fermentation.endeavor, slowly raise the temperature until the
Obviously, our aim when following the how toRibena in the bottles has increased in volume
homemade wine directions  with Ribena will be toenough to reach the rims of the bottles. The
reduce the amount of sugar to about three and atemperature is high enough to drive off the SO2
half pounds per gallon, by using half  Ribena andand the heat should be cut off at once. The caps
half  water. In doing this, we shall reduce theof the bottles must be removed before heating.
SO2 preservative to around 175 parts per million.The whole of fermentation was carried out in
This amount is unlikely to prevent fermentation,narrow-necked bottles plugged with cotton wool,
though it could do so.fermentation locks being fitted after ten days.
***All water used in the process was first boiledRacking was not carried out until one month after
and allowed to cool naturally.the last addition. Monthly racking followed until
STAGE 1fermentation ceased. Even at this early stage the
Two bottles of Ribena were diluted with twice thewine was nice to drink, but it had improved vastly
amount of water (four Ribena bottles full). Yeastat the age of six months.
in the form of a nucleus was added and the